Bengals Defensive Backups Stymie Colts’ Starters Before Taking Loss In Preseason Finale

Like they did last Saturday against the Bears Ones, the Bengals’ backups gave the Colts’ starting offense fits before they fell to Indianapolis, 27-14, in Thursday night’s preseason finale at Paycor Stadium.

The Bengals’ offensive highlight came with 4:07 left in the game when rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton leaped for his second touchdown of the preseason at the right front pylon, climbing over Colts cornerback Clay Fields III for a 21-yard grab on a throw from quarterback Logan Woodside.

Burton, the third-rounder from Alabama, continues to show off his bountiful physical attributes. He came in averaging 25.3 yards per his four catches before racking up four more catches for 56 yards Thursday.

That cut it to 20-14, but the Colts finished off a 183-yard rushing day on Demitric Felton’s 40-yard touchdown in the last two minutes.

The most strenuous thing any Bengals starter did Thursday was quarterback Joe Burrow in street clothes chatting with old friend Andrew Whitworth before the Prime Video telecast, and now all that’s left is to cut the roster to 53 by 4 p.m. next Tuesday.

There was more to chart on the defensive side of the ball. After allowing an opening drive touchdown, the Bengals shut down quarterback Anthony Richardson on his last four drives with safety Jordan Battle’s pick-six, two three-and-outs and a sack.

They made life miserable for the backups, too, at the end of the first half. The Bengals forced three straight Sam Ehlinger incompletions from their own 3 on what amounted to the last three plays of the first half to keep it 7-7.

The last two came courtesy of big rushes off the edge. On third down, rookie free-agent end Justin Blazek, who had a sack of Richardson, also got a hit on Ehlinger. On fourth down, rookie Cedric Johnson came from the other edge, and forced a hurried throw with the help of blitzing linebacker Devin Harper.

With Cam Sample (Achilles) out for the year and Myles Murphy (knee) out for a while, Johnson, the sixth-rounder from Ole Miss, all but wrapped up a roster spot on the edge with another big outing. He added three tackles and had a sack was wiped out by Ole Miss teammate Daijahn Anthony’s illegal contact penalty at the safety spot.

It was the only penalty of the night for the Bengals after they committed 11 in last Saturday’s game in Chicago.

Also zeroing in on a roster spot, Wisconsin free-agent rookie linebacker Maema Njongmeta added to his NFL preseason leading tackles total with nine. Harper led the Bengals with 11 on Thursday.

Richardson, flummoxed by the Bengals Ones in Tuesday’s joint practice, hit his first six passes as the Colts took a 7-0 lead on a 12-play, 80-yard drive on their first possession of the game.

After tight end Kylen Granson let one go off his hands in the end zone, the Bengals blitzed rookie slot cornerback Josh Newton, and Richardson hit second-round wide receiver Adonai Mitchell on a crossing route against Anthony for a nine-yard touchdown pass.

But Richardson, who finished eight of 14 for 86 yards, completed only one more pass the rest of the way.

He threw inside when Granson went outside and safety Jordan Battle, sitting inside, broke on the ball and picked it off for a 14-yard pick-six that tied at seven with 3:01 left in the first quarter.

Then on the next series, the Bengals covered well enough that wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. dropped a diving catch over the middle on second down, and on third down Richardson overthrew second-round rookie wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to force a punt.

They forced another punt on the next drive with all the Colts starters in but at running back. Defensive tackle Carlos Davis, working against an offensive line boasting Pro Bowl left guard Quenton Nelson and Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly, stuffed a run for a two-yard loss on second down. On third and long, Newton had Mitchell covered in the slot in the middle of the field on Richardson’s low throw.

They had Richarson scrambling on back-to-back snaps on the ensuing drive and nearly came up with a turnover when Blazek knocked the ball out of his hand for a sack-strip, but Nelson recovered it.

Bengals wide receiver Charlie Jones, seeing his first action of the preseason, popped the game’s opening kickoff for 48 yards. He also returned two punts for 12 yards with one going for nine.

Bengals rookie punter Ryan Rehkow had a mixed night. He had a touchback and a 29-yard punt, but he also put one inside the 10 and one inside the 20.

Jaxson Kirkland shot into the roster picture early in training camp with his physical play at left guard, heightened his profile when he started at left tackle for last Saturday’s game in Chicago, and probably solidified a spot Thursday when he started at right tackle for the first time in his life. That’s two new positions in the pros in five days.

Kirkland got the start after working at right tackle for the first time with the Bengals during Monday’s practice and Tuesday’s joint practice when he went into a rotation with starter Trent Brown and tackle-guard Cody Ford. They’re managing Brown (back), while rookie Amarius Mims, the starter before he got hurt, is still out with a strained shoulder.

Kirkland, a 2023 undrafted free agent who spent all last season on the practice squad, is used to moving around. He played all 49 games in five years at Washington at everywhere but center. He actually played right tackle in last year’s Bengals preseason finale.

Cornerbacks Dax Hill and DJ Turner didn’t play, but even though Hill has been running with the Ones, the coaches are hesitant to anoint him the Opening Day starter with two weeks left of practice.