Cincinnati Bengals 2014 Season Preview: Week 7 at Indianapolis Colts
Dec 8, 2013; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis (42) runs the ball during the second quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
This is an interesting game for the Cincinnati Bengals because they face Indianapolis, not only in the regular season, but also in preseason for the second year in a row. We will get to see at least a first half preview of week 7 in the preseason finale.
This will be the third straight week of playing a playoff caliber team after their week 4 bye. The problem this may cause for the Bengals, it is a road game. Going 3-5 on the road last season proves that they will have to take their game to another level here.
The Bengals and Colts have a little history. The Bengals have won the last 2 meetings, which were in Cincinnati, including a 42-28 win last season. The Bengals haven’t won in Indianapolis since 1997 and are actually are losing all time battle 16-9 going back to the Colts days in Baltimore.
The Colts have a talented quarterback in Andrew Luck, who doesn’t make many mistakes and is very confident in his on field abilities to see the field and throw the ball with accuracy. That makes a large task for the defense to get to Luck quickly.
NFL.com though has the Bengals Defense ranked 3rd and the offense ranked 10th. The Colts enter the season with a few upgrades from the draft but overall their defense ranked 20th with their offense holding them together ranking 15th, but only to get better with the experience behind Luck. The Bengals had an advantage in almost every category last year as well. A new year could bring new numbers but with the core’s of both teams still intact, it will be up to the improvements of both rookie and sophomore players to raise the bar.