The Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals begin their preseason schedule Thursday night. For the Bengals, it’s a chance for the starters to shake off the rust before the reserves come in and start fighting for a roster spot. The Lions are taking a different approach. Coach Dan Campbell said the team will rest most of his starters against the Bengals, aside from a select few, most notably first-round rookie Blake Miller. That will give the reserves plenty of time to defend the reserve spots and maybe even push the starters for playing time. It appears Detroit will wait until next week’s preseason home game against the Washington Commanders to put its starters on the field. In this post, we’ll provide step-by-step analysis, combined with highlights, injury news, and scoring updates for the game. When the game starts at 7 pm ET, just come back to this post and refresh for updates as the game progresses. The Bengals won the toss and deferred, giving the ball to the Lions and rookie quarterback Luke Altmyer first. The trip got off to a promising start. Altmyer delivered a nice pass to Jacob Saylors for an early third-down conversion, and hit Cedrick Wilson with a beautiful ball for a 23-yard gain. However, on the next play, Altmyer’s pass bounced high off Isaac TeSlaa’s face and was intercepted. Joe Burrow and the Bengals took control and quickly hit Ja’Marr Chase for a 17-yard gain to move Cincy to midfield. But a sack by Ahmed Hassanein on second down forced a third-and-long. A screen pass was stopped 10 yards from the uprights, and the Bengals punted it away. Detroit followed with a 3-pointer after Altmyer’s pass deflected at the line and his third-down attempt to TeSlaa fell incomplete. Burrow was then able to lead the Bengals into Lions territory, but thanks to a nice run by Trevor Nowaske and a quarterback hit by Eric O’Neill, Detroit forced a fourth down. Bengals kicker Evan McPherson kicked a 56-yard field goal to give the Bengals a 3-0 lead with 3:42 left in the first quarter. Again, Altmyer led a promising drive into Bengals territory, including a nice breakaway play to tight end Jackson Meeks for 17 yards. stood tall from the start, now with Joe Flacco as the Bengals’ quarterback. Ennis Rakestraw started with a good deflected pass. A failed snap on the second attempt set up a third-and-long at the other end of the quarter break. Cincinnati was able to convert on third down with a pass against Rakestraw in coverage. The Bengals began to bother Rakestraw, including another third down where the Bengals gained 8 yards with nine needed. They tried it on fourth down and converted with a short run through the stomach. A few plays later, Rakestraw made a low tackle attempt and appeared to suffer an injury. He headed to the locker room after being evaluated in the blue tent. The Bengals were within field goal range, but running back Kendall Milton fumbled in the red zone and Lions rookie cornerback Keith Abney recovered. After a holding call on the Lions’ offensive line, Detroit fumbled when Altmyer’s handoff attempt failed and Cincy recovered. A few plays later, Flacco connected with Jack Endes on a 4-yard touchdown with Aamaris Brown and Thomas Harper trailing in coverage. 10-0 Bengals. Josh Dobbs replaced the Lions and led a promising campaign for Detroit. Dominic Lovett caught a nice curl from 10 yards which he turned into 15 yards. Dobbs then ran 9 yards, moving the chains once again. However, a sack on third-and-10 took the Lions out of field goal range and they punted. Detroit’s defense was able to force a three-pointer after Nick Whiteside rejected a deep shot on third down. The Lions offense took control at their own 36-yard line with 2:50 left in the half. Thanks to a defensive pass interference call, Detroit converted an early third-and-10. Jacob Saylors then made a nice 27-yard run. A pair of holding calls on Miles Frazier set the Lions back and forced a 46-yard attempt by Jake Bates, and he drilled it. But a penalty to the Bengals gave the Lions 5 more yards, and Dan Campbell looked like he was going for it on fourth-and-11. Instead, they tried to get Cincinnati offside, and then they had Bates come back for a 41-yard attempt and he did that too. 10-3 Bengals. The Bengals returned the kickoff to the Detroit 47-yard line, with kicker Jake Bates making the touchdown-saving tackle. That turned out to be huge, because Detroit got a four-and-out on defense. Rookie defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard took pressure that forced an intentional ground ball on fourth down, and the Lions took control of the Bengals’ side of the field with 7 seconds left. A 9-yard run by Jacob Saylors set up a 52-yard Bates field goal and he drilled it again. Bengals 10-6. Detroit’s defense got a quick three-pointer, but their offense started inside their own 10-yard line after a botched Dominic Lovett punt return and a block in the back. Luke Altmyer returned to the game at quarterback to start the second half. However, he led a quick 3-pointer after Lovett dropped a low pass and his third-down pass was rejected at the line. The Bengals broke the stalemate with a steady drive into Lions territory. They converted a third-and-11 with a quick slant that went 13 yards against Khalil Dorsey. The Lions cornerback made up for it with a nice open-field tackle on a nice play, and two plays later, on third-and-9, the Bengals beat the blitz with a pass up the middle for 15. But the Lions’ red zone defense held firm, particularly this third-down sack by Hassanein, his second of the game. The Bengals settled for a short field goal to make the score 13-6 Bengals. Detroit was able to get into Bengals territory with a 24-yard run by Raheem Blackshear, who was helped by good blocking from center Michael Niese. But a botched third-down snap ended the drive and Detroit punted.
