The Bengals saw off the Bears 27-9 in their latest preseason fixture on Friday night, adding another win to their opening run. It was a straightforward evening for the hosts, who controlled proceedings from the outset. To be fair, the Bears had looked sharp in their previous outing, but this one told a different story.
And here's the thing — the Bengals ended a barren spell with this performance. They'd only just managed a 16-14 win over the Lions the week before, scraping by when they could have pushed further. This time they came out with something more convincing.
The Bears had arrived with momentum, having dispatched the Browns 34-10 in their last outing. But cup football has its own rules, and sometimes the form you bring into a game means nothing once kickoff happens. Things came to a head early, and the Bears never really found their footing.
By then you could see the gap opening up. The Bengals kept knocking on the door and when they got through, they made it count. The Bears came for a cross they never reached, and that pattern repeated itself. There's no value left at that number — 27 to 9 tells you everything you need to know.
Preseason results don't mean much on paper, but they do show you where the edges are. The Bengals have not won since their opening game, but they're finding something now. The Bears were out of sight by half-time, and that's the sort of thing that doesn't happen often.