BENGALS RIP HAPLESS EAGLES IN PRESEASON NFL PLAY

It may only be the second week of NFL preseason action, but in Philadelphia there’s already cause for concern.  Against a Cincinnati Bengals team never known for their intensity in exhibition games, the Eagles’ offense came completely unglued and all but handed a 22-9 victory to the home team.  The Bengals hadn’t exactly ‘circled’ the game and despite the horrendous showing by the Eagles’ offense led by only 1 point at halftime and trailed at the start of the third quarter.  They were able to pull away in the fourth quarter thanks to a one man rushing effort from backup Cedric Peerman, who scored two touchdowns and ran in a two point conversion.

Cincinnati easily covered the -2 point price as home favorites to reward their NFL football betting financial backers with a pointspread victory.  The Bengals improved to 2-1 against the pointspread on the preseason and have covered in both of the games in which they were favored.  Entering the 2010 campaign, they had a record as one of the worst teams in the league laying points in exhibition games with a 11-20 ATS mark since 1990.
Philadelphia dropped to 1-1 SU, but has failed to cover the number in both of their games.  The 31 combined points scored went UNDER the posted total of 40.

The big story for the Bengals was the performance of newly acquired Terrell Owens, who caught three passes for 67 yards in limited action.  As you’d expect, ‘T.O.’ had plenty to say after the game:

"According to sources and anybody that analyzes talent or what-have-you: I'm 36, I've slowed down, I don't have it anymore. I'm a different person. I'm very talented, I keep myself in shape. So everybody can think I've slowed down. If they want to play me like that, that's fine."

The highlight of his evening was a 43 yard reception along the sidelines that set up the Bengals’ only touchdown by the first team offense:

"That's what they brought me here for, right? Deep threat. Beat your guy, get down the field, make the catch. We've got it all in our arsenal."

Starting quarterback Carson Palmer clearly likes having such a dangerous weapon at his disposal:

"He's as good as anyone when he gets on top of a corner. We're going to take shots when we get opportunities."

The Eagles had made the performance of their first team offense the big priority for the game, and it couldn’t have turned out worse.  Starter Kevin Kolb wasn’t bad statistically, going 11 for 17 for 126 yards but was unable to score a touchdown on two drives into the red zone.  Of greater concern is the fact that he looked uncomfortable—some writers went as far as to say he was ‘panicked’—trying to lead the offense. Backup Michael Vick was awful—1-5 for 6 yards and 2 interceptions—and looked like he’d have a hard time making a roster in the Arena Football League.  Third stringer Mike Kafka was better by default, despite two interceptions at 4-12 for 29 yards.
 
After the game, an exasperated Kolb had little to say:

"It's the same story. We need to do better."

Philadelphia will go back to the drawing board with their offense, and hope to show some improvement in their next preseason game on the road against lowly Kansas City.
 Cincinnati will play at Buffalo this Saturday.  The Eagles start their regular season on Sunday, September 12th at home against the Green Bay Packers.  The Eagles had opened a -1 point home favorite, but in a line move likely prompted by the team’s offensive woes the Packers are currently a -1 point road favorite.  The total in the game is set at 44.  Cincinnati will begin their regular season campaign on the road at New England earlier in the day.  The Bengals are a +4’ road underdog against the Patriots with the total set at 43.