Last night’s game may not have ended the way Bengals’ fans wanted (a 25-yard game-winning Colts’ TD pass with 40 seconds left), but given that it was just a preseason game whose biggest impact was determining who makes the final 53-man roster, nobody is sweating it.

The starters had the night off, which was a welcome sign to fans who had their fingers crossed that there would be no more injuries to key players. The only tradeoff to that? The first half had about as much action as a Barbara Walters-James Lipton buddy cop movie. The score was tied at 0 at halftime, and even with the exciting final two minutes – which saw a 15-yard touchdown pass from Cincy QB Keith Wenning to wide receiver Alonzo Russell followed by Colts’ signal-caller Stephen Morris’ toss to Tevaun Smith for the clinching TD – it wasn’t a game you needed to set the DVR for.

Here’s the Good and the Bad from Thursday night:

The Good
* Preseason’s over. The next time Cincinnati takes the field, it will be at MetLife Stadium against the Jets on Sunday, September 11 – and it will be for real.
* No big injuries. The worst thing that happened was cornerback Chris Lewis-Harris leaving the game with a stinger.
* Backup DT DeShawn Williams played well, with three tackles (one for a loss) and three QB hits.
* Rookie linebacker Nick Vigil didn’t look like a rookie when he snagged an interception inside the Bengals’ 5-yard line in the second quarter.
* Not to be outdone by those other defenders, LB Trevor Roach made 11 tackles, including five on the Colts’ opening drive.
* Wide receiver Alex Erickson had a good game with three receptions for 44 yards and a couple of punt returns for 18 yards.
* Fellow WR Jake Kumerow also had three catches, for 60 yards. He has a shot to make the practice squad.

The Bad
* The backup offensive line didn’t show up last week. Thursday night was an encore.
* That previous point was evident in Wenning taking a few shots that didn’t need to happen.