In a preseason showcase built on quick strikes, special packages, and roster battles on the margins, the Cincinnati Bengals beat Washington 31–17 in Landover, a result that read less like August and more like a checklist of jobs won and lessons learned. For readers searching Washington Commanders vs Bengals match player stats, the story of the night lives in the numbers: disciplined possessions from Cincinnati’s quarterbacks, two sudden touchdowns from a roster hopeful just before halftime, and a Washington ground game that briefly turned the game into a track meet before stalling.
The quarterback ledger told the cleanest tale. Cincinnati opened with Joe Burrow taking three series, a carefully measured template for his preseason: timing throws to the flat, a red-zone read to his slot, and a short touchdown to close the drive. He finished 9 of 14 for 62 yards and a score—only a cameo, but a reassuring one for a team that has too often had to play catch-up in September. Jake Browning followed with the bigger volume and the bigger moments, going 16 of 25 for 159 yards and two touchdowns, both to Mitchell Tinsley in the final 38 seconds of the second quarter. Desmond Ridder added a single throw for seven yards. The Bengals’ passing column—26 of 40 for 206 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions—read like a manager’s dream in August: efficient, risk-averse, and ruthlessly opportunistic when Washington gifted a short field.
Washington’s usage was designed around insulation rather than revelation. Jayden Daniels, the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year and the entire point of the Commanders project, took one possession and turned it into a 14-yard touchdown sprint, slicing through the middle as if he were back in Baton Rouge.
The hinge of the game came with 40 seconds left in the first half. Browning, working the boundary with tempo, targeted Tinsley twice in 20 seconds. The first, a 13-yard timing ball to the front pylon, was about body control. The second, a deep right shot for 21 yards, was theater—late separation, firm placement, and a toe-tap finish that flipped the halftime script. Cincinnati walked to the tunnel up 28–14, not because it bulldozed Washington in yardage, but because it handled the moments that define the preseason: two-minute execution, red-zone clarity, and the freedom to let a fringe roster receiver make a case with the lights hot. That sequence sits neatly beside the league’s “What we learned” breakdown of the night.
Rushing balance vs. rushing bite. The Bengals did not run wild in terms of totals—87 yards on 29 carries at 3.0 per—but their situational runs were clean. Chase Brown punched in a one-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal to start the scoring and finished with 16 yards on five tries; rookie Tahj Brooks led with 47 yards on 11 carries, Kendall Milton added 22 on nine. It was enough ballast to keep Cincinnati on schedule and to manufacture play-action windows that eased Browning into those late-half scores.
Washington’s ground game flashed the opposite profile: fewer chains moved, more fireworks. In a nine-minute stretch, the Commanders uncorked a 27-yard touchdown by Jacory Croskey-Merritt, a 40-yard burst from Chris Rodriguez Jr., and Daniels’ 14-yard scoring sprint. By night’s end, Washington had 185 rushing yards on 30 carries—an eye-catching 6.2 per attempt—but only three points after halftime. That split matters: the run was explosive; the drive math, less so. Short-yardage penalties, backup-line misfires, and empty possessions turned a blazing first quarter into a quiet second half. Washington’s own instant analysis points to the extended penalties that kept Burrow on the field for Cincinnati’s opening score.
Receivers and roles. Cincinnati’s target map was democratic and deliberate. Tinsley finished as the headline with 5 catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Charlie Jones (4 for 32 and a score) earned the early-down trust that coaches crave in September. Kendric Pryor (3 for 35) and Andrei Iosivas (2 for 26) kept the chains honest, while tight end Tanner Hudson chipped in 3 for 18. The Bengals’ 26 receptions across 13 different players underlined exactly how preseason reps are scripted: widen the audition, lock in timing, and let one or two players seize the tape. A crisp Reuters recap captured the same balance.
Washington’s tape was more tentative: Jaylin Lane paced the group with 3 for 42, while one-off completions to Tay Martin, K.J. Osborn, Cole Turner, and Ja’Corey Brooks never strung into a rhythm. Some of that was by design. With Terry McLaurin out and snaps rationed across the depth chart, the Commanders treated the night as a lab—motions and looks to unlock run angles, then a few shallow-cross concepts to test spacing for Hartman and Johnson. The stat line—10 receptions for 85 yards—reflected that restraint.
Defense and disruptions. Cincinnati’s second-level speed showed up on the stat sheet and on the sideline cut-ups. Linebacker Barrett Carter and safety Tycen Anderson collected the interceptions, and the Bengals finished with eight passes defended, the kind of sticky coverage that rewards a patient rush even without gaudy sack totals. Across the board, Cincinnati registered 58 combined tackles and four tackles for loss, a snapshot of a unit treating August as a place to win on leverage and pursuit angles rather than simply hunting hits. The club’s postgame notes and quotes highlighted those takeaways.
Washington’s defense lived the duality of preseason: a strong opening series almost rescued by a third-down stop, undone by penalties that added 30 free yards and turned a punt into a touchdown drive; a later stretch when depth defenders strung run stops together, then surrendered two touchdowns in 20 seconds. Individual bright spots—edge effort from Andre Jones Jr., a half-sack logged on interior games, veteran fingerprints in the secondary—couldn’t change the down-to-down math in the second quarter.
Specialists decide the edges. Evan McPherson’s 54-yard fourth-quarter field goal was more than August bravado; it was proof of leg and operational crispness, the kind of long-range make that steals field position in real games. He finished a perfect night with seven points. Matt Gay answered Washington’s only second-half scoring drive with a 27-yard make.
In the return game, Washington flashed with 130 kick-return yards across five runbacks—an average of 26.0 per—headlined by Kazmeir Allen. Cincinnati’s returners combined for 88 kick yards and 32 punt yards.
What the team stats say once the spreadsheet settles: Cincinnati 293 total yards to Washington’s 270; 206 passing yards to 85; 87 rushing yards to 185; a clean 0 turnovers against Washington’s 2; and a lopsided 37:19 to 22:41 in time of possession. The Bengals ran 71 plays to Washington’s 49, an efficiency gulf that typically drives August outcomes even more than explosive plays. If preseason is an exercise in scenarios, Cincinnati won the scenario battle—more snaps for the depth chart, more quarterback reads on tape, and a special-teams rep that travels into September. Consult the full team stats for the granular splits.
Key sequences, drive by drive. After Brown’s early touchdown and Daniels’ quick equalizer, Washington ripped a three-play, 44-yard march capped by Croskey-Merritt’s 27-yard scoring sprint. Cincinnati stabilized, then owned the two-minute drill: Burrow to Jones from four yards to tie it, Browning to Tinsley twice in a blink to lead by two scores at the break. The third quarter slowed to a field-position exchange—Gay’s 27-yarder their lone payoff on a 15-play, 66-yard series—before McPherson’s 54-yard dagger iced it.
Context for the depth chart. Tinsley’s two-score burst will be the obvious headline; the quieter subplot is how Cincinnati’s staff staged those reps. Browning worked the boundary isolation on first-down shots and the quick game on second-and-medium, varying tempo between check-with-me looks and locked calls. That matters in August because coaches are not merely chasing points; they’re stress-testing installation against unfamiliar disguises. On Washington’s side, the staff showed—and protected—what matters most: Daniels’ legs as a force multiplier. The choice not to expose him to August hits or off-script throws was the only rational decision given the offensive line absences and the slick surface. The cost was a passing stat line that will look ugly in print and irrelevant in September.
Washington’s run room likely leaves camp with more clarity than it had last week. Rodriguez’s 6 carries for 62 yards included an outside-zone cut that beat a scrape exchange and a north-south burst that punished arm tackles. Croskey-Merritt’s 11 for 46 and a touchdown set a floor that staffs value for game-plan builds—decisive, pads square, finishes forward. Those snaps complicate the question of touches in September, and that’s a good problem for an offense that wants Daniels to pick his spots rather than carry the load.
For Cincinnati, the offensive line’s first-drive behavior is the tell. On the touchdown series, the Bengals ate a pair of negative plays and still stayed on schedule—short yardage, fourth-and-goal trust, and a center-guard double that gave Brown the crease to finish. Later, Browning’s scoring throws came from clean pockets built on quick protection wins rather than deeper, longer-developing concepts. If you’re looking for preseason markers that translate, those are the ones coaches point to on Tuesday mornings.
Player stats at a glance (Bengals). Passing: Jake Browning 16/25, 159 yards, 2 TD; Joe Burrow 9/14, 62 yards, 1 TD; Desmond Ridder 1/1, 7 yards. Rushing: Tahj Brooks 11/47; Kendall Milton 9/22; Chase Brown 5/16, TD. Receiving: Mitchell Tinsley 5/73, 2 TD; Charlie Jones 4/32, TD; Kendric Pryor 3/35; Andrei Iosivas 2/26; Tanner Hudson 3/18; plus eight others with a catch. Defense: interceptions by Barrett Carter and Tycen Anderson; credited with eight passes defended. Kicking: Evan McPherson 1/1 FGs (long 54), 4/4 PAT. A full sortable line is available via the box score.
Player stats at a glance (Commanders). Passing: Josh Johnson 6/9, 56 yards, 1 INT; Sam Hartman 4/10, 29 yards, 1 INT; Jayden Daniels 0 pass attempts, 1 carry, 14-yard TD. Rushing: Chris Rodriguez Jr. 6/62; Jacory Croskey-Merritt 11/46, TD; Sam Hartman 4/25; Deebo Samuel 1/19; Daniels 1/14, TD; others 7/19 combined. Receiving: Jaylin Lane 3/42; single receptions for Tay Martin (15), K.J. Osborn (9), Cole Turner (9), Ja’Corey Brooks (7) and others; 10 catches for 85 yards overall. Kicking/returns: Matt Gay 1/1 FGs (27), 2/2 PAT; Kazmeir Allen 3 kick returns for 82 yards; punts handled by Tress Way at a 50.8 average.
The officiating footprint is impossible to miss in August tape. Washington helped extend Cincinnati’s opening touchdown drive with a neutral-zone infraction and a defensive pass-interference call—the sort of avoidable yardage that reorders series scripts. In preseason, those 30 penalty yards are not just bookkeeping; they put backup corners in sudden-change situations and jackknife rotations built to evaluate, not to chase.
What it means, and what it doesn’t. Preseason scorelines tempt overreactions. Cincinnati’s 31–17 functions as a proof of concept—steady quarterback stewardship, a crisp two-minute drill, and clean special teams. Washington’s night, by contrast, is a reminder that August is a shield for September; the starter didn’t throw a pass, so the passing line belongs in pencil. The carry-forward trends live elsewhere: Cincinnati’s grip on time of possession, and Washington’s explosive run angles. One hints at weekly sustainability; the other needs a plan to turn long sprints into longer drives. You can see the same fingerprints in our Detroit game analysis and the Eagles matchup breakdown; for a broader frame, dive into this week’s league predictions and upset alerts.
By the time the tape clicks off, the preseason has done what it should: surface a handful of roster climbers, confirm a leg from 54, and leave just enough ambiguity to keep the cut-down conversations honest. On paper, the Bengals left Landover with a win. On film, they left with reps that matter. And for anyone tracking Washington Commanders vs Bengals match player stats for the archive, the columns will read like a mirror of those realities—clean in Cincinnati’s box, explosive but thin in Washington’s, and separated at the margins where August games are decided.
