The Washington Redskins didn’t perform particularly well in their preseason opener. They’ll look to change that in their second preseason contest against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Winning in the NFL preseason don’t matter. Everyone knows that at this point. But, the results of the game do matter. And the results in the Redskins preseason opener weren’t good. At all.
The Redskins did have some positives in their preseason Week 1 loss to the Browns. But the negatives outweighed those positives. Their offensive line looked problematic while their defense struggled on the first possession of the game and regressed in the second half. If the Redskins are going to be competitive in the 2019 season, they are going to have show improvement in their problem areas. And it has to happen fast.
That’s the beauty of the preseason though. The jump from Week 1 to Week 2 can sometimes be huge. And the Redskins will just look to grow after a rough start. Plus, the first-action jitters will be out of the way, so the younger players will have at least a handful of NFL reps under their belts.
In the second week of the preseason, the Redskins will play at home for the first time. They will take on the Cincinnati Bengals who are, for the first time in many years, undergoing quite a bit of change. Marvin Lewis is out as head coach and Zac Taylor is in. Now, Taylor will have a chance to remake the Bengals’ roster in his vision. And that could be similar to Sean McVay’s, as Taylor coached under McVay in Los Angeles.
The Bengals will provide a good test for the Redskins and should afford them an opportunity to learn more about their own team. Ahead of that Thursday-night matchup, here’s a look at a full preview, matchups to watch, and a score prediction for the Redskins vs. Bengals preseason meeting.
Redskins offense vs. Bengals defense
There are two major things to watch on offense when the Redskins take on the Bengals in the second week of the preseason. But the biggest storyline will be about how Dwayne Haskins is able to improve in his second preseason action.
Against the Browns, Haskins flashed brilliance at times but made far too many mistakes, including throwing two interceptions. In short, he looked like the raw, one-year starter that many expected him to be. He’ll need time to develop and the reps he sees in the second preseason game will go a long way to helping him adjust to the NFL.
The Bengals possess some depth in the secondary and while their starters may not get a lot of action, NFL veterans Tony Lippett, KeiVarae Russell, and recent Day 3 picks like Darius Phillips, Davontae Harris, and Jordan Brown should provide enough of a test in coverage for Haskins. He will need to show an improved ability to read the field and if he can build more chemistry with Darvin Kidsy, that could go a long way to helping him find more success.
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In short, the big thing to watch with Haskins is growth. If he shows some, that will be good news. If he doesn’t, then it will do a lot to strengthen the argument that he really needs a redshirt season as he adjusts to the NFL.
Elsewhere, the Redskins’ offensive line will be tested. The unit could barely block against the Browns, and the duo of Geron Christian and Ereck Flowers was a borderline disaster on the left side. That duo will have to stave off competition from Donald Penn and Wes Martin, who looked good as the second unit, but in general, the entire line has to block better. If they don’t, it will become clearer that the lacking depth is a major issue.
The Bengals have a nice stable of pass rushers that should test Christian in particular at left tackle. If he can’t block the likes of Jordan Willis, Carl Lawson, and Sam Hubbard, then the team will need to think about trying to coax Trent Williams out of his holdout or signing more tackle competition to battle with Penn and Christian for roster spots.
In terms of the skill positions, it will be important to keep watching what WRs Robert Davis, Cam Sims, Kelvin Harmon, and Kidsy can do in the passing game. They are likely battling for two, or maybe three, spots on the receiver depth chart, but Davis and Kidsy showed well against Cleveland.
Meanwhile, Samaje Perine will likely get a chance to prove himself again in this contest. Perine didn’t quite live up to expectations against the Browns, but he wasn’t as bad as some have indicated. He needs to show better pass protection skills and burst, but it would’ve been hard for any back to succeed behind the offensive line Perine played with last Thursday night.
Redskins defense vs. Bengals offense
The Bengals offense should provide a good test for the Redskins. Though Andy Dalton isn’t likely to play much, the team has a couple of intriguing backups.
Jeff Driskel started when Dalton was hurt last season while Ryan Finley was a fourth-round pick out of NC State. Finley showed well in the team’s preseason opener and his short to mid-range accuracy truly was reminiscent of Alex Smith‘s, much like his college tape. That should give the Redskins defense a goal: contain the short-to-intermediate game when Finley is on the field and make him beat you deep.
The big positions to watch against Cincinnati will be the Redskins’ safeties and linebackers. The Bengals have some solid receiving weapons, and they will have some good route runners, like Alex Erickson and Stanley Morgan Jr., who will have a chance to find space over the middle of the field. That was a major weakness for the team against the Browns, so it will be important to watch how players in these spots fare.
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The safety battle is particularly interesting, as former fourth-round pick Troy Apke could have some serious competition in the form of Jeremy Reaves. While many thought undrafted free agent JoJo McIntosh could challenge Apke, it’s the unheralded Reaves who has stepped up so far. Reaves was very good in the preseason opener and played well in space and as a tackler. Apke, conversely, still showed some issues in tackling particularly with angles. He’s still a great athlete, but it’s possible that Reaves could overtake him.
At linebacker, the team’s four-man group of Shaun Dion Hamilton, Jon Bostic, Cole Holcomb, and Josh Harvey-Clemons will be in the spotlight. Hamilton and Bostic looked a step slow in coverage early against the Browns while Holcomb and Harvey-Clemons were solid in that area. If that trend continues, mixing and matching these duos may make sense.
Of course, Hamilton and Bostic’s underwhelming performance may have been more about facing a very good quarterback (Baker Mayfield) in the first game and having to run a two-minute drill out of the gate. It will be interesting to see if they can play a bit better in this contest and show that they were just shaking off the rust in the opener.
One more thing to watch: the Bengals have little to no depth at the tackle position, so that could give Cassanova McKinzy and Ryan Anderson a chance to further separate themselves from the pack in the backup edge rusher battle. If McKinzy, in particular, has another big game, that should officially lock him into the roster, if he isn’t locked in already.
Score prediction
On the offensive side of the ball, the Redskins are going to have a tough time breaking down the Bengals defense. They have solid depth and youth on the defensive line and in the secondary, so that will afford them the opportunity to slow the ‘Skins’ offense, even if they do look better than they did against the Browns.
Exposing the linebackers’ lack of coverage abilities with tight ends and receivers over the middle of the field will be key if Washington wants to win. It remains to be seen if that will happen.
Defensively, the Redskins should match up fairly well with the Bengals, but they may have trouble containing Finley if he continues to be accurate as a passer. Improved play from the secondary could help and if Jimmy Moreland can generate some turnovers, that would be nice. But Finley may not give him many opportunities to do that.
Zac Taylor’s Bengals squad looks like one that should beat the preseason Redskins. Unless Haskins shows marked improved and Finley regresses, expect the ‘Skins to drop another game.
But again, the result doesn’t matter. All that does is that the team shows growth. Hopefully, they can do that after a very poor start to the preseason.