CINCINNATI — Football is back.

The Cincinnati Bengals kicked off their 59th season of football as they hosted the Detroit Lions Thursday night at Paycor Stadium, escaping the rain-soaked preseason opener with a 16-14 victory.

After a strong training camp, Cincinnati’s defense got the first opportunity to make a statement when Zac Taylor deferred the ball until the second half.

On the first play from scrimmage, Kyle Dugger stopped Tyler Conklin for no gain on a pass from Luke Altmyer. But the Lions began to move the ball after that, with the biggest play coming on a 23-yard Altmyer strike to Cedrick Wilson Jr. that set up Detroit at the Bengals’ 33-yard line.

On the very next play, however, the Bengals’ defense bowed its back when Jordan Battle picked off a tipped pass to give the men in stripes the football at their own 25.

Burrow and company began the night with a 5-yard run by Chase Brown and followed that with a 16-yard gain when Burrow found Ja’Marr Chase on an in-route. But the drive stalled after Ahmed Hassanein sacked Burrow for a 9-yard loss, and it eventually ended with a great punt by Ryan Rehkow that pinned Detroit at its own 4-yard line.

After holding the Lions to a three-and-out, the Bengals got the ball back at their own 30 and immediately went back to working the run game with back-to-back handoffs to Brown, setting up third-and-2. Cincinnati barely picked up the first down on the next play when Burrow found Drew Sample as he was flushed from the pocket.

After finding Andrei Iosivas for 9 yards, Samaje Perine had back-to-back 7-yard plays, the first of which moved the chains. But that was about as far as the Bengals would get after Burrow overthrew Mike Gesicki as he was hit from the backside.

Evan McPherson cashed in the offense’s early work by drilling a 56-yard field goal through the falling rain to give Cincinnati a 3-0 lead.

Burrow’s night was over after two possessions, handing the offense to Joe Flacco as the rain began to make its presence felt. Burrow finished 5-of-6 for 39 yards, completing passes to five different receivers while taking one sack.

Things did not start particularly well for the veteran signal-caller as the weather began to take its toll. Colbie Young dropped Flacco’s first-down pass, and Flacco fumbled on second down. But Young quickly redeemed himself with a 20-yard connection from Flacco to keep the drive alive. Later in the possession, Flacco would find Young again for another 8 yards.

Then came the kind of play only a rain-soaked preseason game could produce.

On third-and-3 from the Detroit 25, Jacob Bayer’s snap never reached Flacco. The loose ball rolled straight to Kendall Milton, who scooped it up, surged past the sticks and then coughed it up himself, allowing Keith Abney II to recover for Detroit.

And if that wasn’t enough of an indication of how sloppy the conditions had become at Paycor Stadium, the Lions gave the football right back.

On Detroit’s second play after the turnover, running back Jacob Saylors fumbled possession back to Cincinnati, with second-round pick Cashius Howell recovering the loose ball.

Two plays later, Flacco found rookie tight end Jack Endries wide open on play-action from 4 yards out to stretch Cincinnati’s lead to 10-0 with 9:35 remaining in the second quarter.

Flacco finished his night 5-of-8 for 51 yards and the touchdown, good for a 120.3 passer rating.

The Lions closed out the first-half scoring with field goals on each of their final two possessions, shrinking Cincinnati’s lead to 10-6 at halftime.

In the second half, Josh Johnson engineered a long drive, mostly through the air. But on third-and-5 from the Detroit 7, Hassanein once again got pressure on a Bengals quarterback and forced Johnson to fumble. Jalen Rivers quickly fell on the ball, allowing Cincinnati to salvage the possession.

McPherson followed with his second field goal of the night, this time from 33 yards out, giving the Bengals a 13-6 lead with 6:55 remaining in the third quarter.

Johnson settled in on Cincinnati’s next possession and suddenly began carving up Detroit through the air.

After starting the night 0-for-7, Johnson connected on seven of his next eight passes. One of his best connections of the night came when he found Endries, who broke three tackles en route to a 17-yard pickup.

The drive led to McPherson’s third field goal of the night, a 41-yarder that pushed Cincinnati’s lead to 16-6. McPherson finished a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals, accounting for 10 of the Bengals’ 16 points.

Johnson finished 10-of-19 for 84 yards after overcoming his rough start.

The Lions made things interesting late when Altmyer connected with Tarik Black for a 24-yard touchdown. Altmyer then ran in the two-point conversion himself to draw Detroit within two at 16-14.

Dan Campbell had his team attempt an onside kick, but undrafted rookie wide receiver Noah Thomas leapt high into the air to bring down the ball.

Detroit would get one final opportunity with 25 seconds remaining, but Bengals safety Russ Yeast intercepted Altmyer and returned it 14 yards, recording Cincinnati’s third takeaway of the night and finally securing the 16-14 victory.

NOTES:

• All camp long we’ve heard players talk about Colbie Young and Dohnte Meyers, and they were pretty much as advertised. Each flashed varying skill sets, with Young looking like a tall, Higgins-type receiver and Meyers looking like a dynamic, fast playmaker. Each also made mistakes, though Meyers’ ended up not costing his team when a catch that looked like a fumble was ruled incomplete. Young finished with two catches for 28 yards, while Meyers led Cincinnati with three catches for 29 yards. Noah Thomas looked pretty good, too, and his leaping recovery of Detroit’s late onside kick was one of the biggest plays of the night.
• Cashius Howell had a nice debut, recovering Detroit’s first-half fumble and showing some of the traits that have generated excitement throughout camp. He looks every bit the part, too. Fast, big, solid motor. There seems to be a lot to like about the Bengals’ second-round pick.
• Rookie tight end Jack Endries looks like a steal as a seventh-round pick. He looks fast, and he plays tough. Endries caught all three passes thrown his way for 25 yards and Cincinnati’s only touchdown of the night. He has made it clear that he has a chip on his shoulder, and the Bengals may have stolen yet another weapon for Joe Burrow.