Winners and Losers From Lions Preseason Loss to Bengals

After a longer offseason than most Detroit Lions fans expected, preseason football was back for Motown on Thursday. The Lions traveled down to Cincinnati for their first preseason test.

While the Lions did not suit up most of their starters, Cincinnati sent their starting units out to begin the game. In the end, the Lions came up short, but barely, falling 16-14 to the Bengals.

After the first test of the season, who passed and who needs some work?

Winner: EDGE Ahmed Hassanein

After a promising preseason in 2025 was derailed by injury, Hassanein started his 2026 campaign with a jolt of energy. In his first snap, Hassanein was able to break through and sack Joe Burrow on second-down, which would help force a punt.

He started the second half by forcing some pressure on an incomplete pass to bring a Cincinnati punt. His third quarter was not done, as he added a second sack with a third-down strip sack, although the Bengals recovered it.

Loser: WR Isaac TeSlaa

Isaac TeSlaa did not have a memorable first quarter in his game action of the year. TeSlaa saw his first target go through his hands and into the facemask, popping the ball up and giving the Bengals an easy interception.

His second target, also in Cincinnati territory, did not help matters either. TeSlaa dropped a fourth-down pass on a 50/50 ball where Luke Altmyer again turned to the second-year pro to make a play.

That said, being responsible for two turnovers in opposing territory in one quarter is not a stat any receiver wants in a campaign to win the WR3 spot.

Winner: RB Jacob Saylors

With starter Jahmyr Gibbs inactive, alongside Isiah Pacheco and Sione Vaki inactive with injury, it was well known that Saylors would be the primary back on Thursday. Saylors excelled in his touches, and he had plenty of them.

Saylors was the leading rusher and receiver at half, with just over half (83 yards) of Detroit’s 165 yards. He was a few inches from Detroit’s first touchdown of the preseason, barely being tackled by the ankles in the second quarter in the first scoring drive.

Loser: IOL Miles Frazier

Frazier had a rough evening in Cincinnati, with the lineman seeing extensive action during his preseason debut after missing all of the 2025 preseason with injury. The former fifth-round pick from LSU was whistled for three penalties in the first half alone.

The worst penalty came on a holding call during a third-and-19 conversion as the Lions looked to trim the gap from 10 points in the second quarter.

Loser: DB Thomas Harper

Any time a player is not a starter, special teams becomes an important part of emphasis during game day. For Harper, his day was a mixed bag.

On defense, the safety made some plays and had a relatively strong game. On special teams, however, Harper had two penalties, one hold and a facemask.

His facemask occurred on a fair catch inside the Cincinnati 10, giving the Bengals much better field position. His hold, meanwhile, occurred on a return, pinning the Lions for a three-and-out which led into a Bengals scoring drive.

Winner: K Jake Bates

Jake Bates is already in midseason form. The kicker accounted for the only Lions’ points in the first three quarters of the preseason opener, and neither were easy kicks.

His first one, with the Lions trailing by 10, came from 41 yards while it was raining in Cincinnati. Then, as time expired in the first half, Bates drilled a 52 yard kick to make it a four-point game.

Loser: IOL Christian Mahogany

Mahogany added two penalties of his own on Thursday, as the Lions did not have a game to remember on the discipline front. Last season’s starting lineman did show solid push in the run game, so it was not an awful outing for the lineman.

Winner: WR Tarik Black

The fourth quarter saw the turning of the page and more reserves coming in, and one player that stood out was Black. Black, a former Michigan Wolverine before finishing his career elsewhere, started his night with a long catch on a perfect throw from Altmyer. Unfortunately, it was called back for offensive pass interference.

Then, with the Lions down 10 late, Black came up huge on a drag route, speeding down the field for a 24-yard touchdown for Detroit’s first touchdown of the preseason.

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