Bengals Get Bungled: The Wrap

What a game.

When a team employing Joey Harrington and Chris Redman as its top two quarterbacks manages to put together a performance like that...well, you're getting kudos. Harrington looked like a man on fire out there instead of his usual bag of crap on fire impression, and even Redman looked passable out there. The passing game in general was light years ahead of what we've seen so far this preseason, which is a more than encouraging sign. Yeah, the Bengals pass defense isn't going to scare anyone, but the fact remains that all our QBs looked pretty good last night. I'd chalk that up as a victory.

I'd also say the receiving corps looked great. Jenkins finally did something, and it looks like he might actually be a really nice fit for the slot. White's numbers look good on paper, but he had another one of his infamous drops which marred what otherwise would've been another touchdown. Even Jennings came up with some nice catches, and I have to think he has the fifth receiver slot locked down at this point. He's done nothing but impress in the return game and looked like he could catch last night, too. It's really, really remarkable how much better this receiving corps looks than last year with the addition of only two players. Let's hope the bottom doesn't fall out when we hit the real season.

The defense is a little more of a concern. Jamaal Anderson looked fantastic, first off, and I don't think it's unfair to say that he's going to have a good rookie season. He has excellent instincts, something that wasn't advertised when the Falcons scooped him up in the draft. As a matter of fact, the front seven still looked pretty good throughout the whole game. My major concern is, of course, the secondary.

DeAngelo Hall and Jimmy Williams looked like chumps out there at times. When your elite corner who wants a giant pay raise is getting burned, you have to seriously question how elite he really is. I like D-Hall, but until his skills exceed how often he talks, we're not going to have a shutdown secondary. With Lewis Sanders starting over Chris Houston and the familiar safety tandem of Chris Crocker and Lawyer Milloy, the secondary has a real chance to be a liability this year.

But overall, this was a good, clean preaseason win with some encouraging signs. One more week to go, and then we'll find out if any of those signs hold weight.