Five Takeaways from Cincinnati Bengals Preseason Loss Against Philadelphia

Thursday night’s preseason opener showcased one major difference for the Cincinnati Bengals but a whole more of the same in a 34-27 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Joe Burrow led the starting offense on back-to-back touchdown drives, completing 9 of 10 passes for 123 yards and scoring strikes to Tanner Hudson and Ja’Marr Chase.

His 15 snaps doubled his preseason workload through the first five years of his career, and his passer rating of 157.5 was .8 shy of perfect.

But Burrow called his performance “average,” which is either an incredibly harsh self-critique or an incredible humble brag.

But there was a lot more to glean from the game than Burrow’s performance, which included four completions to Chase for 77 yards.

Here are five takeaways:

Defensive Struggles

Sound familiar? The Eagles needed less than five minutes to erase the 7-0 lead Burrow built on his 12-yard touchdown pass to Hudson.

The Philadelphia backups scored on their first two drives and five of their first six, mixing explosive plays in the run and pass game.

Five of the Eagles seven explosive passes and one of their explosive runs (a 38-yarder through a gaping hole on their third play of the game) came in the first half against the Cincinnati starters and top backups.

It’s way too early to throw hands in the air and proclaim they are who we thought they were or label the Al Golden hiring as a bust.

But it is concerning.

The defense has looked good in practice against an elite offense, but most of that has come on scripted plays.

When the Bengals held a couple of unscripted periods last week, Burrow, Chase, Tee Higgins, Chase Brown and Co. exposed them the way the Eagles did.

Golden also used a much more vanilla approach in Philadelphia, as most defensive coordinators do in the postseason.

Still, allowing 34 points and 432 yards (second most in a preseason game in the Zac Taylor era) is troubling.

Not alarming, but concerning.

The Bengals will go from the Super Bowl champion backups to presumably the NFC runner-up starters when they face Jayden Daniels and the Commanders’ first-team offense on Aug. 18.

Golden’s defense is going to be a work in progress, even into the regular season. But that work needs to show improvement from the first preseason game to the second.

Because it will be an ominous sign if a poor start goes further in the wrong direction.

Shemar Stewart Snaps

The first-round pick continues to impress even without the non-participatory filter applied by his holdout.

Stewart had a tackle for loss, a pair of quarterback pressures and was disruptive on a handful of his other 18 snaps.

He didn’t enter the game until the second quarter, but that should change against the Commanders.

Even if Stewart doesn’t start for either Myles Murphy or Joseph Ossai, look for Golden to work him into the rotation with the starters, as he did on Stewart’s first snap of the game.

It was a third and 5 with the Eagles at the Cincinnati 26, and Golden lined up Stewart inside at tackle.

For the most part, Golden didn’t do a lot of subbing on the first two drives, choosing to let the starters get their work in before letting them do sideline interviews in street clothes.

Look for Golden to mix it up more and give Stewart a bigger role if Taylor sticks with his plan to play the starters for about a half against Washington.

Special Teams SNAFUs

For a preseason game, Taylor was notably harsh with his critique in the immediate aftermath, pointing out flaws on all three units.

But the special teams errors were especially damning, directly leading to seven points – the final margin – for the Eagles.

It would be easy to blame the miscues on the massive amount of moving pieces and newcomers that have to be managed in preseason games, but some of the biggest gaffes were turned in by guys familiar with their roles.

The rule about not being allowed to hit the long snapper has been in place for several years, and McKinnley Jackson was on the field goal/PAT block team from Week 6 on last year as a rookie.

His 15-yard penalty resulted in Philadelphia taking three points off the board and converting the automatic first down into a touchdown.

DJ Ivey lined up offsides on a 55-yard field goal attempt that Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott missed badly. Given a do-over from 50, Elliott put it through.

Penalties happen all the time on returns, but Maema Njongmeta led the Bengals in special teams snaps last year and coordinator Darrin Simmons was visibly upset with him after his illegal block negated a 21-yard punt return by Isaiah Williams ahead of the team’s final drive.

And then there was Cam Grandy with a holding call to negate Gary Brightwell’s 71-yard kick return.

Special Teams Surprises

Officially Brightwell finished with three kick returns for 93 yards for a 31-yard average. For perspective, the NFL leader last year, Dallas’ Kavontae Turpin, averaged 33.5).

Had Brightwell’s 71-yard not been reduced to 19 yards on the Grandy penalty, it would have been three returns for 145 yards.

Brightwell’s vision and quick acceleration could make him a sneaky player in the open competition for the kick returner job if he continues to produce like that in the final two preseason games.

Isiah Williams had two returns for a 26.5 average, and Jermaine Burton had two for a 21-yard average, although he also had a return reduced on a holding penalty by Jaylen Key.

Burton, who logged just a single punt return in 2024, had an impressive one against the Eagles in which he raced up nearly 20 yards up field to catch a ball many returners would have let drop.

And then after fielding the punt, he made several athletic moves up the sideline for a 35-yard return to set up a touchdown.

Brooks Bangs

Rookie Tahj Brooks has impressed with his burst and vision in camp, but there haven’t been any live tackling periods where he could show off his physicality.

That came Thursday night with Brooks lowering his shoulder and taking on Philadelphia defenders on multiple rushes.

He only had 26 yards on 10 carries, but he also was running behind the second- and third-time offensive lines, where were far from inspiring.

Brooks has been impressive as a receiver as well, but he had just one catch on two targets for 3 yards against the Eagles despite playing the third most snaps of any Cincinnati player on offense.

He didn’t enter the game until the second quarter when the starters’ nights were finished.

But like Stewart, Brooks earned some run with the first team against the Commanders.