Cincinnati Bengals: 3 storylines for preseason Week 1 at the Chiefs
By Steve Rivera
The news may develop closer to kickoff as to who is and who won’t be playing in the Bengals first preseason game at Kansas City. That said, it will be the first look into how Taylor will be running the increasingly meaningless exhibition season.
It’s a tough call in Cincinnati. Even the casual observer would think a rookie head coach would want to get an extended view of how his team is shaping up. On offense, you might even think seeing a new game plan in real-time could be of value. However, today’s coaches are increasingly conservative with both first-team personnel and the actual regular-season game plan.
I get it. Why show what you don’t have to, and why risk an injury for games that don’t count? The exhibition season is nothing more than a money grab for owners. Even the once important ”dress rehearsal” that is Week 3 of the exhibition season is pretty much a yawn.
As I said, I get it. But if there was ever a time to challenge the new normal, it would be this preseason for the Cincinnati Bengals. Time to figure it out may nor be a luxury Taylor has. While few expect the Bengals to make any noise in 2019, many wonder about the trajectory of the organization. Taylor needs as much information as he can get, even if it’s from games in August that don’t mean much.