The Sports Xchange

CINCINNATI — When we last left the Cincinnati Bengals, the offense could do little in a 26-10 playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

With wide receiver A.J. Green and tight end Jermaine Gresham inactive because of injuries, to go with wide receiver Marvin Jones and tight end Tyler Eifert on injured reserve, it’s no surprise the Bengals totaled just 254 yards while averaging 4.3 yards per play.

Quarterback Andy Dalton completed just 18-of-35 passes for 155 yards (8.6 yards per completion) and running back Giovani Bernard was the leading pass-catcher with eight for 46 yards. Tight end Ryan Hewitt, running back Rex Burkhead and wide receiver Mohamed Sanu all had three receptions for 37, 34, and 31 yards, respectively. Running back Jeremy Hill managed just 47 yards on 13 carries.

It was an ugly way to end another disappointing post-season game.

Fast forward seven months, and there is optimism again. Green is back, and so is Jones. Gresham wasn’t re-signed, but Eifert is healthy.

And, in their first preseason game, things were cooking immediately as Dalton and Co. marched down the field 52 yards in six plays in the first possession, which resulted in a touchdown in a 23-10 victory over the Giants.

There was Eifert for 12, Hill for 10, Green for 16, Dalton for six on a scramble, Hill for five and Sanu the final three for the score.

As Green said afterward, “That’s how this offense is. We’ve got so many guys that can make plays when their number is called.”

Those six plays ended the night for Dalton, who said, “Usually going into that game, you kind of feel how that first series goes. If it’s not exactly the finish that you wanted, you might go another one. So it was one of those things going into it for that first group where we were like, ‘Let’s go and put a good series together and watch these other guys play.'”

And that’s what they did.

Dalton echoed Green’s words, saying, “We’ve got options, and that’s the biggest thing. You can go different spots with it. We feel like we’ve got the guys where we can spread it around, so that’s what we were able to do today.”

Said Sanu, “It’s big, because you’ve got guys that can line up anywhere, play many different positions (that) are interchangeable within an offense. And that helps you tremendously because you can’t game-plan for guys that can line up anywhere.”

It was only one preseason game, and the first one at that, but Dalton and Co. showed they will be an offense to reckon with this season.