Cincinnati Bengals' Preseason Struggles vs. Tampa Bay Are Cause for Concern

It's easy to paint the NFL preseason as "meaningless" in broad strokes, but the Cincinnati Bengals' Week 2 25-11 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers displayed some distributing trends the team is running out of time to fix. 

In many ways, the preseason is meaningless. Wins and losses don't matter, coaches more often than not employ vanilla schemes and players, especially starters, might not give it 100 percent.

But the Bengals hit Monday Night Football in Tampa Bay—where last year they squeaked by with a 14-13 victory against an eventual two-win team—and laid an egg in certain concerning areas. As a result, they played the starters on both sides of the football for almost a full half.

Let's start with the defense. After making a mockery of Eli Manning and the New York Giants last week, the Bengals allowed Tampa Bay rookie quarterback Jameis Winston to lead his team 80 yards down the field for a touchdown on the team's first drive.

As Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer pointed out, ugly tackling issues were a constant:

"

First thing Marvin Lewis lauded last week was sure tackling. Don't think we'll hear that tonight.

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) August 25, 2015"

He proved prophetic with a halftime quote from coach Marvin Lewis:

Dehner's colleague, Jim Owczarski, hinted at tackling and gap-control issues:

The phrase "tackling issues" is enough to make anyone familiar with the Bengals in recent years shudder. It has been a consistent problem and was Monday as Doug Martin rushed for 59 yards on only six carries, just shy of a 10 yards-per-carry average.

The NFL captured just one of his impressive runs, or cringe-worthy defensive lapses, depending on one's stance:

Even when Winston left the game, backup Mike Glennon got in on the action, reading a blitz and throwing a strike of a touchdown over the head of Cincinnati corner Dre Kirkpatrick, who will assume a starting role this year.

Andy Dalton and the offense were even worse.

To summarize at a glance, the Bengals had:

• Negative-two yards to start the second quarter. 
• As many turnovers as first downs (two) with nine minutes left in the second frame.
• Three consecutive turnovers with the first-team offense on the field.

It looked as bad as it sounds. A.J. Green bobbled a pass thrown his way for Dalton's first of two interceptions, which the Buccaneers took back for a score. While in no way his fault, Dalton's play seemed to crumble from there on, and he forced a pass into triple coverage for his second interception. Running back Jeremy Hill (who fumbled four times last year) accounted for the third turnover in a row with a fumble.

All of the above classify as major issues. It would be one thing if these were new occurrences on both sides of the football. But a checklist of what has hurt the Bengals in the postseason so many years in a row goes like this: poor tackling, blown plays and coverages, miscommunications on offense and turnovers.

Oh, and prime-time games. Never forget the prime-time game curse.

Tackling issues aren't new in Cincinnati. Neither are the continued Green-Dalton mishaps, as ESPN.com's Coley Harvey detailed: "According to ESPN Stats & Information research, seven of Dalton's 17 interceptions last season came when Dalton sought his favorite target, Green. Since 2011 when they were drafted together, 32 of Dalton's 72 career interceptions came when he targeted Green."

This is a concerning trend.

Part of it is simple rules of quantity given Dalton's affinity for throwing the ball Green's way, as any sane quarterback would. But the issues are something one would think the two would have ironed out by now with five years of playing together. On Dalton's end, a toss into triple coverage isn't exactly what someone should expect from a five-year starter now, either.

Brian Blanco/Associated Press

None of this means to suggest there were no positives Monday. A slim Andrew Whitworth looked great, as did the entire line at most times. Defensive end Will Clarke showed flashes. Geno Atkins looks like his former pre-injury self the team desperately needs him to be. Paul Dawson continues to play well, as advertised.

It also isn't meant to imply the Bengals can't squash these problems. There are two games left before things move away from exhibition territory, and big names such as Vontaze Burfict and Michael Johnson will return at some point.

The problem with Monday's otherwise meaningless loss is the nature of the issues. They are familiar hiccups performed by mostly familiar faces, and the clock continues to tick toward the start of another season.

If Monday's issues aren't resolved by the start of the season, it might feel quite familiar, too.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and are accurate as of August 24. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.