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- Mar 19, 2019
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• Preseason Week 4: Indianapolis Colts @ Cincinnati Bengals; 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29; FOX 59
The Colts and Bengals continue their annual Interstate 74 preseason finale rivalry with this matchup at Paul Brown Stadium.
The Bengals finished the 2018 season with a 6-10 record and a fourth-place finish in the AFC North Division. Cincinnati got off to a hot start, winning four of its first five games, but couldn’t keep up the pace, finishing with losses in nine of its final 11 contests.
The Bengals did defeat the Colts, 34-23, in the two teams’ 2018 regular season opener at Lucas Oil Stadium. Trailing by just four points, 27-23, with 40 seconds remaining, Indianapolis was in prime position to possibly earn a come-from-behind victory in head coach Frank Reich’s debut, but tight end Jack Doyle was unable to hang on to the ball just short of the Cincinnati 15-yard line, and safety Clayton Fejedelem was there to take the fumble 83 yards to the house for the game-sealing defensive touchdown.
This has been an offseason of change for the Bengals, who parted ways with head coach Marvin Lewis after 16 seasons at the helm of the franchise. He was replaced by 35-year-old Zac Taylor, who had previously served as Sean McVay’s quarterbacks coach with the Los Angeles Rams. The team has mostly re-signed its own in free agency, bringing back the likes of tight ends Tyler Eifert and C.J. Uzomah, tackle Bobby Hart and linebacker Preston Brown. But the team has also signed a couple key outside free agents: guard John Miller and cornerback B.W. Webb are among the more notable transactions.
Among those not returning to the Bengals in 2019 are tight end Tyler Kroft, linebacker Vontaze Burfict, tackle Cedric Ogbuehi and tight end Jake Fisher.
Cincinnati, as of now, enters the 2019 NFL Draft with 11 picks, including the 11th-overall selection in the first round. The team has one pick each in rounds one, two, three, four, five and seven, but has five sixth-round picks.