The Bengals look to recover from a dismal showing on Monday Night Football when they were trounced by the Buccaneers. That could be the wake-up call Cincinnati needs to focus on the upcoming season that has them looking for a fifth straight playoff berth. However, the Bengals are just 3-9 under Marvin Lewis during Week 3 of the preseason.
ODDS
Back at home where they covered the spread in their preseason opener, the Bengals are 3.5-point chalk. The total opened at 42.5.
QUARTERBACK ROTATION
The Bears are likely to give Jay Cutler a half of action, if not more, to work with his rebuilt receiving group in the dress rehearsal game. The first unit was vastly improved last week with Cutler connecting on 8 of 9 throws leading the Bears to three first half field goals. He had a touchdown run called back by penalty. Jimmy Clausen will take some snaps in the second half and we’re likely to see David Fales, who got his first preseason action last week, get series or two.
The release of Josh Johnson is a clear sign the Bengals are going with Andy Dalton and A.J. McCarron as their two quarterbacks entering the regular season. After receiving 57 snaps in the preseason opener, Johnson didn’t get on the field Monday. The Bengals left their first-team offense in the game until it finally moved the ball for a field goal just before halftime. McCarron played the entire second half completing 11 of 15 attempts for 97 yards in his first NFL action. The Bengals are hoping to give McCarron extensive playing time in the last two preseason games since he missed the opener. Keith Wenning is also on the team’s depth chart, but is a likely candidate for the practice squad.
COACHES' MOTIVATION
It’s important to remember that it was only a preseason game, but the Bengals flat out didn’t show up Monday in Tampa Bay. Turnovers on three straight series limited the offense in the second quarter, missed tackles by starting defenders led to big gains for the Bucs in the first quarter. All around the Bengals were simply outplayed and lost 25-11 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score. That leaves head coach Marvin Lewis searching for answers for a team that many feel could contend for supremacy in the AFC. Instead, those folks are questioning Cincinnati’s legitimacy as a repeat playoff team. The good news is the short week leaves little time to stew in the aftermath of an embarrassing defeat. The bad news is the short week allows them fewer reps to iron out the problems.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“Obviously you want to come out and play well every time we’re on the field. But it’s just preseason, these games don’t’ count. But anytime we’re out there keeping score we want to win and we want to play well. It is what it is, but glad it happened to us now and hopefully it won’t happen again.” – Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton following Monday’s loss to Tampa Bay
POSITION BATTLE TO WATCH
Martellus Bennett will enter the 2015 season as Chicago’s top option at tight end, but the backup position is wide open. Dante Rosario, Blake Annen, Bear Pascoe, Chris Pantale, Zach Miller and Kevin Greene are all competing to be Bennett’s backup. Pascoe and Rosario have received the majority of reps with the first-team offense during the preseason in two-tight end sets, but Miller lined up with the first team offense last week against Indy. At one point against the Colts, the Bears had four tight-ends on the field at the same time on the goal line. Pascoe and Rosario appear to be the front-runners for the No. 2 spot but Miller and Annen could push for the job with a strong showing against the Bengals.
INJURIES
The Bears lost left tackle Jermon Bushrod when he exited practice with a recurring back problem. Outside linebacker Pernell McPhee also skipped practice this week with a chest injury, while receivers Alshon Jeffery and Marquess Wilson remained out.
Starting safety George Iloka left Monday’s game with a knee injury and, although the injury isn’t presumed to be serious, the Bengals will likely give him some recovery time. Linebacker Emmanuel Lamur also left with a hamstring injury.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Chalk it up to a bad night for the Bengals in Monday’s blowout loss at Tampa Bay. It’s unusual for a team with so much depth and talent to get blasted like that, but they did and they move on. The dismal showing doesn’t do anything to lessen Cincinnati’s chances of another postseason run, if anything it’s a galvanizing moment for the club. They get on their own turf and put that loss in the rearview mirror.
Cincinnati 26, Chicago 20
BookMaker opened the spread for this Saturday matchup at -3.5 in favor of the Bengals. The NFL odds total surfaced at 42.5. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
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