Eagles Lose to Bengals, 22-9

Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb drops back to pass on Flight Night.

Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb, shown here on Flight Night, says the execution in the redzone still needs to improve.

After two preseason games, the Eagles first-string offense still hasn’t found the endzone. Tonight, the Birds couldn’t find a way into the painted dirt all night long. Meanwhile, the Bengals ground game came up with three touchdowns.

Bernard Scott opened the scoring with a six yard touchdown run for Cincinnati, while the Eagles scored the next nine points off the left foot of David Akers and led 9-7 after the end of the third quarter.

The Bengals moved ahead with two fourth quarter rushing touchdowns by Cedric Peerman. But the concern for the Eagles will continue to be the redzone offense.

“Again, we just have to execute in the red zone. I missed a throw there in the end zone and we also had that penalty that cost us,” said Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb. “I think we did some good things; it was a positive day, but we have to start fine-tuning those details.”

Kolb was 11-17 for 126 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. The first-year starter guided the Eagles into the redzone once, but Philadelphia couldn’t punch it in.

“It starts with me,” Kolb said. “Windows get tighter there, you’ve got to be able to execute and again, it starts with myself.”

Kolb is now 17-28 for 221 yards through an even three quarters of preseason playing time, but still doesn’t have a touchdown pass to his credit. The signal caller still felt that there were positives to be taken from tonight’s game though.

“We had a couple three-and-outs, let’s rally the guys and get it going. That’s what a game is all about. We felt that today,” said Kolb. “We all rallied up, got each other up, called up a meeting, got it together and put a few drives together. That’s what you want to see and that’s what you want to feel and we did that today.”

Part of the Eagles struggles on offense involved the offensive line. Philadelphia running backs carried the ball nine times in the first half for only 28 yards, and Kolb frequently felt pressure from the pass rush. The Birds are still without left guard Todd Herremans and center Jamaal Jackson, who both started training camp on the PUP list and have since been added to the roster. Backup center Nick Cole also missed tonight’s game with a knee injury.

The Eagles first string defense continues to impress though, having given up just seven points through three quarters. Philadelphia’s Quintin Mikell and Dimitri Patterson each came up with an interception in the first half.

While the defense did give up some big plays en route to Cincinnati’s first half touchdown, Mikell liked the way the unit bounced back. “You’re going to have good plays, you’re going to have bad plays, but the mark of a good defense is a team that – no matter what – you come back on the next play,” he said. “So, they had a good play. It was a good throw [by Bengals QB Carson Palmer], a good catch by T.O. [WR Terrell Owens]. At the end of the day we’ve got to keep playing ball and we came back and did what we were supposed to do.”

Injury Update

The Eagles said x-rays on wide receiver Jeremy Maclin’s arm/shoulder were negative.