Game Preview – Preseason Game #2, Bengals at Redskins

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August 15, 2018

by Steve Thomas

Since last week didn’t work out so well, maybe this week will….???  Hopefully the team has put the debacle against Cleveland behind them and will rebound to play a competent hour of football.  Don’t laugh; it could happen.  Plus, realistically, you shouldn’t get too hung up on a win or loss at this point.  All we’re looking for is progress and some players to continue to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.  That truly shouldn’t be too much to ask, particularly for the team’s home debut in the new season.  And you know what?  Call me crazy, but I think they can do it.  I think we just might see a better game than we saw last week.

Please don’t make me look foolish, Redskins.

Game time & location:           Thursday, August 15, 7:30 p.m. ET, Fed Ex Field, Landover, MD; Gates open 5:30 p.m. ET;                                                     Red Zone parking lots open 2:30 p.m.; all other parking lots 3:30 p.m.

Television:                               NBC4/NBC Sports Washington/NBC Sports Washington Plus

Television announcers:         Kenny Albert/Joe Theismann/Sheree Burruss/Clinton Portis

Television replay:                   NFL Network, Friday, August 9, 4 am ET

 

DC-area radio:                        ESPN 980

Redskins radio network:       Click here

Bengals radio network:         Click here

Satellite radio:                        XM: 228 (Redskins broad.); Sirius: 98 (Redskins broad.); internet: 831 (Redskins broad.)

 

Redskins roster:                     Click here

Redskins depth chart:           Click here

Bengals roster:                       Click here

Bengals depth chart:             Click here

What to Watch For

Look like an NFL team, part deux

I realize that I said this very same thing before the Browns game, but this is really the most important thing, isn’t it?  I’d love the Redskins first team offense and defense to show up, play well for about a quarter or so, and generally look like they know what they’re doing.  There isn’t much precedent for this, but one can dream.

Stay healthy

If there’s one thing Jay’s made abundantly clear this week, it’s that he absolutely does not want any more injuries.  Given what’s happened to the Redskins over the past two years, I can hardly blame him for being a bit gun-shy.  Expect the team to play cautious and to take key players out earlier that we’d probably otherwise want.

Performance of the offensive line

It appears as though the Redskins intend to stick with the Geron Christian – Ereck Flowers combo as the starters for another week; keep an eye on whether these two make some progress and start to look presentable.  Donald Penn and Wes Martin should get in the game early.  On another note, we should also see Morgan Moses and Brandon Scherff make their first appearances of the year, albeit only briefly.

Wide receiver competition

As was the case last week, this position group remains the most interesting and competitive on the entire team.  The locks are the same as last week: Paul Richardson Jr., Terry McLaurin, and Trey Quinn.  Beyond that, watch for which receiver makes an impact against the Bengals, whether Darvin Kidsy, fan favorite Cam Sims, Robert Davis, or even a dark horse candidate like Steven Sims Jr.  We most likely won’t know how this group is going to shake out until after preseason game 4.

Dwayne Haskins’ progress

As I wrote about earlier this week (Click here to read), Haskins had something of a rough night last week, but did show enough for everyone to have some hope regarding his development.  With Colt McCoy out for yet another week, we’re going to see another game wherein Case Keenum will probably play about a quarter, Haskins takes the second and third quarters, and then somebody named Jalan McClendon plays the fourth quarter.  Watch for whether Haskins can limit the mistakes and look a bit more comfortable than he did against the Browns – in other words, let’s see if he can make baby steps of progress.

The first string running game

Derrius Guice is not yet cleared to play, as it turns out, but we’ll most likely see Adrian Peterson make his first appearance of the season.  I can’t imagine any scenario where he gets more than a handful of carries, but nonetheless, it’ll be good to see if the old man can invigorate a running game that, frankly, looked awful last week.