Bengals face 53-man cut deadline today
Cincinnati has to trim from 90 to 53 by 6 p.m. today, a harder job after a perfect 3-0 preseason left Zac Taylor without easy outs.
A perfect preseason just made the cuts harder, not easier
The Bengals capped their first unbeaten preseason in 20 years Friday, and by 6 p.m. today the roster has to be at 53 anyway — going 3-0 in August buys a coach nothing when the math still says 90 minus 37 walk out the door. "This will easily be the hardest 48 hours we face in terms of letting guys go," Taylor said after the win over the Eagles, according to Bengals.com. "I feel very confident. I think we got everything we need. We've got tough decisions, but I think we've got a really good roster."
Some of it was decided in plain sight Friday night. Wide receiver Dohnte Meyers played most of one drive and then sat the rest of the way, the kind of usage a staff only affords a player whose job is already secure, putting him alongside rookie Colbie Young among the receivers who have stuck. Left tackle Javon Foster spent the finale bouncing across the offensive line to make his case as the club's third tackle — a job Taylor called "still pretty open" earlier in the week, per Bengals.com — and a front that allowed just one sack in 420 total yards gave him a strong closing argument.
The tougher calls are elsewhere. Taylor named the defensive line and tight end rooms as still unsettled with the deadline bearing down, and credited general manager Duke Tobin and his staff for building the kind of depth that makes final cuts genuinely hard, per SI.com's Cincinnati Bengals desk. That's the trade a 3-0 preseason actually gets a coach: a harder Sunday, not an easier one.
Haynes breaks one loose to close out a perfect preseason
Cincinnati closed the preseason the way it opened it — comfortably — beating the Eagles 30-13 on the road Friday to finish 3-0 in the preseason. Evan McPherson was automatic, connecting from 29, 58 and 34 yards and adding all three extra points, while Colbie Young brought in one of three targets for nine yards and Tahj Brooks carried six times for 22 yards.
Eagles30-13
Bears27-9
Lions16-14The signature moment belonged to rookie running back Jamal Haynes, who broke a 39-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter — "Haynes to the house," as the team's own account called it in the moment. It was his first real burst of the preseason after limited earlier work, and it turned the closing minutes into a showcase for the backfield depth behind the starters.
Haynes to the house. #CINatPHI on CBS/Paramount+ t.co/SpGkzLiQHs
Brooks' night wasn't clean — he lost a fumble and managed just minus-6 yards on his only target, a reminder that August box scores cut both ways — but with Kentrel Bullock also getting a heavy fourth-quarter workload, the finale was as much about who Taylor trusted to close a game as who ended up in the end zone.
Chase's knee goes from a shrug to a question mark
The mood around Ja'Marr Chase's knee flipped this week. Days after he shrugged off a scare at practice — the moment Chase Scare Ends With a Shrug, Not a Setback covered here — Chase sat out Wednesday's practice, and Cincinnati now lists its top receiver as questionable, per Ben Baby of ESPN.com.
Chase described the original injury as a knee hyperextension suffered on a route from Joe Burrow, told reporters afterward that he "just prayed for a second," and walked off practice under his own power without a brace or a wrap. Wednesday's absence reads as precautionary rather than a setback, but it's the first designation next to Chase's name all camp, with the regular-season opener now two weeks away.
A new Bucs offense and a high number open the send-off
Up next is Sunday afternoon vs. the Buccaneers at Paycor Stadium. Tampa Bay finished its own preseason 2-1 but closed with a 19-0 shutout loss at Jacksonville, and Baker Mayfield sat out the preseason opener while new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson installed a new offense around him. Mayfield has been talking big through camp regardless — "We're gonna shock a lot of people," he told reporters, per ESPN — after a Buccaneers team that faded down the stretch a year ago.
Cincinnati opened as the favorite, with the line set at -3.5 and the total pinned at a high 51.5 — the kind of number that expects both offenses to have to answer for themselves rather than hide behind a punter. It's the first real form guide either team gets all year, four days after the roster that plays it finally gets set.