Game Recap: Bears fall to Bengals in second preseason game

The Bengals then took control by scoring touchdowns on their next three drives, surging to a 24-9 lead early in the third quarter en route to the win.

“Overall, it doesn’t matter if it’s preseason or not; it’s a bad feeling in that locker room after the game when you lose, particularly like that,” Johnson said. “When [you’re] down by multiple scores, you don’t feel like you made it very close there at the end …

“I said it at halftime to the crew: Just the penalties and the third downs on both sides of the ball, they really hurt us in the first half, and we weren’t able to get those cleaned up there in the second half. Eleven penalties for the game. We were 2 of 14 on third down on offense and we allowed 6 of 13 on defense, so not quite good enough. And when you add in the red zone, the fact that we were able to move the ball at times OK, but we couldn’t end up with touchdowns … those are major killers when you’re facing a good team like that.”

The Bengals took their first lead at 10-6 on Johnson’s 17-yard TD pass to receiver Colbie Young in the right corner of the end zone with 4:25 left in the second quarter.

After a Bears punt, Cincinnati marched 63 yards on five plays capped by Johnson’s 6-yard TD pass to tight end Tanner Hudson, widening the margin to 17-6 with :23 remaining in the half.

The Bears responded, closing the gap to 17-9 on Santos’ 44-yard field goal, his third of the game without a miss, as time expired in the first half. The kick came after Keenum had spiked the ball to kill the clock with :01 remaining after connecting with receiver JP Richardson for a 19-yard gain.