Preseason Week 1: Recap of Bengals’ 27-34 loss to Eagles

The Cincinnati Bengals took on the Philadelphia Eagles for his or her first preseason sport of 2025. The Bengals performed their starters for 1 / 4 towards the Eagles’ backups. The beginning offense did its job, however the remainder of the crew has room to enhance after this loss. Many of the sport, the backups and beginning protection seemed outmatched.

The Bengals’ offense began off the sport with the ball on offense. There have been no surprises, as they moved the ball effectively towards the Eagles’ backup defenders. Joe Burrow was six for seven for 71 yards on the opening drive. He hit Ja’Marr Chase thrice for 41 of these yards (not together with a landing that was referred to as again). Chase Brown additionally had an excellent collection with 4 touches and 24 complete yards. Nonetheless, it was tight finish Tanner Hudson who took the reception throughout the purpose line, carrying two guys on high of him. There was little or no resistance other than a penalty in a goal-to-go state of affairs.

Sadly, we noticed a really comparable story to how the final season performed out on protection. Cincinnati’s defensive unit confirmed little or no resistance towards the backups for Philadelphia. That included a 38-yard run by operating again Will Shipley via a gap any of us may have gained not less than 5 yards earlier than a defender was within the space for a sort out. The unit toughened up a bit close to the purpose line, however a “tush-push” on 4th-and-goal received the job executed, tying the sport, 7-7.

We then noticed some extra of the Chase Brown present, as he had 21 yards between operating and receiving on the following drive. It was Burrow and Chase combining for a landing to complete the drive, like we now have seen so many occasions at LSU and with the Bengals. Chase took a go towards the surface, and turned again inside, leaving the one defender with a shot of touching him within the mud. totaling 36 yards on the play.

The protection began off terribly once more. Defensive again Josh Newton had an interception taken away from him on the highest level for 27 yards. Then a 15-yard go on a play the place the go rush by no means even sniffed the quarterback set them up in discipline purpose vary. Fortuitously, they have been in a position to maintain them to a discipline purpose in the beginning of the second quarter.

That was the final we noticed of the starters on the market after two full drives. It gave the impression to be a wholesome outing for that aspect of the ball, which was finally crucial factor about Thursday night time’s matchup. Nonetheless, it was a disappointing outing for the protection that appeared to be taking part in effectively in coaching camp. At the very least the offense continues to be enjoyable, although, but it surely stays to be seen what issues will appear like on protection when Week 1 comes round.

We noticed a few of first spherical choose Shemar Stewart truly taking part in NFL soccer for the primary time, too. He had a sort out for loss and some pressures general. He seemed each bit like a man who has all of the instruments to be a dominant defender—it’s only a matter of him determining methods to put that collectively.

The remainder of the primary half was dominated by Philadelphia backup quarterback Tanner McKee. He merely checked out ease towards the primary and second-team protection with simply backups. He had a sneak in for a landing, a simple pitch and catch to a receiver proper beneath two defenders, and a 20-yard landing go earlier than the top of the half with 35 seconds remaining. That gave the Eagles a 24-14 lead on the finish of the half.

The third quarter had some enjoyable moments right here and there, from a Bengals perspective. Rookie linebacker Barrett Carter got here up with a really spectacular sack, whereas kicker Evan McPherson additionally hit a discipline purpose from past 30 yards, which was his first of the preseason. Jermaine Burton had a 32-yard punt return, however the Eagles additionally added a discipline purpose, which maintained a 10-point lead.

Backup quarterback Jake Browning capped off a tough night time with an interception to a defensive lineman on a display screen go. That arrange a simple dashing landing for the Eagles whereby the protection merely couldn’t get their arms on the operating again bouncing the soccer exterior, thus making it 34-17.

That led to Desmond Ridder getting into the sport early within the fourth quarter. He additionally had points, very like Browning. The most important downside being Cincinnati’s backup offensive linemen have been completely dominated by the backup Philadelphia line of defense. It will have been troublesome for anybody to function effectively in that state of affairs.

Linebacker Joe Giles-Harris had a spotlight play on the night, although. He intercepted a deflected go and turned it into a formidable return the place he ran via a number of tackles on his method to a pick-six. Sadly, an Eagles participant simply managed to the touch him earlier than he appeared to fall down from a teammate operating into him. It did result in McPherson hitting a 50-yard discipline purpose to chop the deficit all the way down to 14 factors. Ridder added a landing go because of a formidable catch by Hudson—his second of the night time.

It wasn’t precisely the outing one would need from the Bengals (significantly on protection) after an offseason questioning how this protection was going to presumably bounce again. It’s simply the preseason, so it could be a bit extra vanilla than when the common season comes. Nonetheless, tackling is tackling, and not less than the offense confirmed its trademark efficiency.

The Eagles defeated the Bengals 34-27 in Philadelphia within the opening preseason sport for the Bengals. And, whereas there have been a whole lot of points—significantly on protection and particular groups—there have been positives for the crew to construct upon,