Game Preview: Preseason game 2 – Cincinnati Bengals at Washington

August 18, 2025

by Steve Thomas

Welcome to gameday!!!!!!!

Well, okay, it’s just a preseason game, so it actually isn’t worth all that excitement, but it’s better than nothing and we’re one step closer to football that matters.  To me, this game is pretty important, regardless of the fact that it doesn’t count against the standings.  Washington (a) didn’t play their starters or most of their second string players against the Patriots last week, and (b) got blown out.  If I had my way, I’d like to see the starters pay the full game against Cincinnati.  That won’t happen, though, and if last preseason is any guide, they probably won’t play more than 2 quarters at the most.  It isn’t enough, but it’s something.  What we want to see tonight is solid play from the starters on both sides of the ball.  Jayden Daniels needs to demonstrate that he’s continuing to build on last season.  The non-Daniels running game needs to show that it can be an above-average asset.  I doubt that’s going to happen, but we’ll see.  On defense, will all of the efforts that Washington put into run defense pay off?  It’ll remain a mystery until gametime.  Finally, the absolutely atrocious special teams performance from last week needs to not reoccur again.  Feel free to use this space as your gametime chat room.  We’ll regroup on Tuesday to talk about how this game went.  In the meantime, here are the game details:

Game time & location:           Monday, August 18, 7:30 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. ET, Northwest Stadium, Raljon, Maryland;                                                          Gates open 5:00 p.m. ET; Red Zone parking lots open 3:00 p.m.; other lots 4:00 p.m.

Television:                               ESPN

Television announcers:         Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Laura Rutledge

 

DC-area radio:                        ESPN 980 / WMAL 105.9 / 630 AM

Washington radio network:  Click here

Bengals radio network:        Click here

Satellite radio:                        Sirius: 225 (Wash. broad.); internet: 831

 

Washington roster:                 Click here

Washington depth chart:       Click here

Bengals roster:                       Click here

Bengals depth chart:             Click here

Roster matters

Washington has ruled out the following players:

QB Marcus Mariota

WR Terry McLaurin

WR Noah Brown

LT Laremy Tunsil

RG Samuel Cosmi

LG Brandon Coleman

DE Javontae Jean-Baptiste

LB Bobby Wagner

OLB Von Miller

LB Jordan Magee

CB Jonathan Jones