6 winners and 4 losers for Bengals in preseason loss to Buccaneers

Losers from Cincinnati's preseason opener

Jake Browning, Quarterback

Browning isn't losing that No. 2 spot on the depth chart just because he had an off night and Logan Woodside looked sharp in a quarter of preseason play. We've seen what Browning can do with starters against NFL quality defenses, we saw almost half a season of it, and what we saw wasn't bad at all, especially for a backup quarterback.

That being said, Browning did look really ugly out there with the second unit. The offense sputtered through the first three quarters, and only scored when he wasn't on the field. That's not to say Browning was entirely to blame, but he certainly wasn't helping matters, completing 10 of his 18 attempts for only 52 yards and an interception.

Browning's job should still be secure, but hopefully he can pick up his play against the Bears next week.

Brad Robbins, Punter

Brad Robbins didn't have a terrible night after his first punt, as his next two went for 50 and 60 yards respectively. However, because Rehkow overall did a better job, it automatically puts Robbins on the losers list, simply because teams never keep two punters on the roster at once. This isn't like defensive tackle or wide receiver or almost any other position where you have three or four other players on the bench at any given time. There's only one punter on the depth chart, and it wouldn't be surprising if Robbins is left off of it in favor of Rehkow.

Zach Carter, Defensive tackle

Taking Zach Carter in the 3rd round of the 2022 NFL Draft was a move criticized by many, and those people have only been proven right since then. Carter showed some flash in his rookie season, however as his role has expanded, he has hardly made a good impression on the Bengals faithful, and Saturday night was no exception. A particularly frustrating moment from him (and rookie DT Kris Jenkins) camee on the Bucs' first touchdown of the day, courtesy of former Oregon Duck running back Bucky Irving.

Pay attention to #95 on this play:

Carter will still most likely make the team, simply due to the lack of depth at the defensive tackle position. But hopefully his snaps are limited, or maybe he will use this game as a learning moment and start taking the steps to improvement from here.

Jackson Carman, Offensive tackle

Has there been a more disappointing pick for the Bengals than Jackson Carman since the decade started? Taking the Clemson product in the 2nd round over the provenly better Creed Humphrey may haunt the Bengals and their fans for a long time coming. It makes the Zach Carter pick look genius in comparison.

It seems every year since he was drafted in 2021, Carman has been a popular choice to cut amongst fans-- and for good reason. He hasn't had many bright moments since coming to the league, and even those are vastly outweighed by all of his lowlights. Their preseason matchup against Tampa Bay was full of them.

The theme of the game for Carman was discipline. Or lack thereof, rather. He was flagged not once, not twice, not thrice, but on four separate occasions. Three of which were for holding!

And penalties are only one part of the story, Carman was routinely getting beat on reps and looked generally lost out there. If he makes the final roster again after another poor season, poor training camp, and poor preseason, many will be baffled by the decision.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.