Overall, I was pleased with how the Bengals played today against the Vikings…..my takes

The Good

-Burrow looked sharp, managed the game well, and didn’t force anything

-Jamar Chase’s preseason hands issue appears to be over. He needed to get his feet wet and get comfortable, and did that very well today

-The team as a whole looked sharp and focused-only a couple of penalties, and none of the exasperating variety-as opposed to the Vikings-they literally might have set a new team record

-The defense looked tight and professional-everyone performed  their responsibilities and did not get caught out of position. The LBs played very well and the DL consistently brought pressure-BJ Hill might be a steal

-Joe Mixon wants to be a bell cow leader on the team and played like it

-McPherson was ice-he is a very talented K

-the OTs played well in pass pro

The Bad

-Trey Hopkins got eaten alive in pass pro by the Vikings DL 

-Perine and Sample totally whiffed on blitz pickups and got Burrow hit

-Taylor had some strange play calling-going for it on 4th at his own 30 while up 14; not aggressively going for the first down to close out the game in the 4th

-Eli Apple gave the Vikes their first TD all by himself in one drive, I’ll be glad when Trey Waynes actually gets on the field for the Bengals

Overall, the team played well and the defense really looked tight-Taylor put them in a couple bad positions with his decisions.