By Tom James
CNHI News Service
INDIANAPOLIS —
In a game that didn’t mean a whole lot, except for those first-year players and veteran backups trying to win a job, Thursday night’s preseason matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals proved to be pretty entertaining.
With the Colts playing second-line players all evening, and Cincinnati working its own reserves into the game, the Bengals held on for a 30-28 win in front of an announced crowd of 62,226 fans at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Peyton Manning’s only appearance on the night came when he took the field for the opening coin toss, leaving it up to Curtis Painter and Tom Brandstater to direct the Indianapolis offense. Carson Palmer, Cincinnati’s starting quarterback, was in the game for one series before giving way to J.T. O’Sullivan and then Palmer’s younger brother, Jordan.
The teams were tied 6-6 at the half thanks to a pair of Cincinnati field goals from Mike Nugent (52 yards) and former Colts kicker Dave Rayner (39 yards). Both of the Bengals’ field goals came in the first quarter. Adam Vinatieri connected from 23 and 36 yards out in the second quarter.
Things got interesting in the second half. Cincinnati running back Cedric Peerman broke loose for a 93-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Then Jordan Palmer hooked up with wide receiver Jerome Simpson on a 17-yard scoring pass, giving the Bengals a seemingly comfortable 20-6 lead.
That’s when undrafted rookie wide receiver Brandon James and Brandstater got going. James caught a 26-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and later added a 23-yard TD catch in the fourth quarter. He also had a two-point conversion catch.
A second Nugent field goal and a 50-yard bomb from Jordan Palmer to rookie wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe closed out the scoring for Cincinnati, which has now won seven straight preseason meetings with the Colts (outscoring Indianapolis by a whopping 183-47 in the process).
But the night wasn’t over for Brandon James and Brandstater. James — who had four total catches for 56 yards and three touchdowns — hauled in a four-yard TD pass in the closing minutes to narrow the margin to two points.
Brandstater ended the night completing 10 of 18 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns. Painter, meanwhile, connected on nine of 20 passes for 114 yards.
Another undrafted free agent receiver, Blair White, had an impressive first half for Indianapolis. White caught seven passes for 132 yards in the game, five of those receptions coming in the first two quarters.
Jordan Palmer played most of the second half at quarterback for Cincinnati, hitting on 10 of 14 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. O’Sullivan connected on nine of 12 passes for 102 yards.
With the loss, the Colts (0-4) went winless in the preseason for the fifth time in franchise history and the first time since 2005 (0-5). The franchise also had winless preseasons in 1990 (0-4), 1981 (0-4), 1950 (0-7) and 1947 (0-2).
Indianapolis rookie cornerback Ray Fisher (shoulder) and offensive tackle James Williams (ankle) both left the game in the third quarter. Neither player returned.
Several injured Colts sat out the game, including center Jeff Saturday (knee), cornerback Jerraud Powers (foot), cornerback Jacob Lacey (concussion), offensive tackle Charlie Johnson (foot), offensive tackle/guard Tony Ugoh (toe) and defensive tackle Antonio Johnson (groin).
NFL teams must trim their preseason rosters to 53 players by 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Colts are expected to announce their final cuts sometime late Saturday afternoon or Saturday evening. An eight-team practice squad will be announced early next week.
