Five front-line defenders missed the game because of assorted injuries. Polling experts might argue the results did not reflect a representative sample. Football fans might argue that preseason games are inherently irrelevant and ought to be ignored. But if the Bengals are going to charge full price for their dress rehearsals, they should not expect to be graded on a curve. Neither should they expect any allowances after a decade of epic futility.
People are impatient.
Next year is now. We've got two weeks and two days to get ready for Cleveland and we're going to need every second of it. Neither, evidently, can the Bengals. The 2-yard pass Cory Sauter completed to Andre' Rone in the fourth quarter was the 10th TD pass the Bengals permitted in four preseason games. But it was a lot.