A Good Start

Eric Allen entered the Hall of Fame last weekend. Tanner McKee is on his way after his performance in the preseason opener. Okay, maybe a bit of hyperbole, but McKee looked great as the Eagles beat the Bengals 34-27.

McKee went 20-25 for 252 yards and 2 TDs. He made good decisions. He was accurate. McKee gave his receivers a chance to make plays, which they actually did. He looked like a starting QB. You would think there would be a good trade market for him if the Eagles made him available, but they need McKee to be their backup this year. We’ll have to see what the future holds.

WR Johnny Wilson has struggled for much of camp. He came alive in a game setting, going 3-73. A couple of those were impressive catches. He did have one drop. Still, that was the kind of showing he needed. Rookie Darius Cooper was the real standout, going 6-82 with a TD. Beyond the numbers, Cooper was impressive with how he played. He used good releases to get open on multiple plays. He showed strong, sure hands and plucked the ball away from his body. He showed good RAC ability. I think those two have a good chance to make the team at this point.

.@Eagles Darius Cooper with a great release; great route and another perfect throw from Mckee. Birds with a razor sharp first half on offense. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/Sw4AckwndG

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 8, 2025

Ainias Smith caught 2 passes, including one for a TD. His highlight came as the punt returner. Smith made several guys miss and ran a punt back 46 yards.

Everyone who lined up a RB flashed. It was really impressive to see different runners having success with different style. Will Shipley had a 38-yard run, but I thought that was more on the blocking than anything he did. AJ Dillon looked good as a receiver. He’s got smooth hands. ShunDerrick Powell is as quick as a hiccup.

The #2 OL had a pretty good night. Things got a bit more erratic when they started mixing in the 3’s. LT Myles Hinton had a bad game. He made a slew of mistakes. Jeff Stoutland is high on Hinton so this one game doesn’t mean anything definitive, but it wasn’t good. Kenyon Green had a penalty and then got injured. Cameron Williams had a penalty. Lots of sloppiness.

DTR and Kyle McCord were up and down. DTR showed a better arm than I expected. I was disappointed that he didn’t seem more relaxed. He seemed to be playing fast. McCord looked like a rookie playing his first game. He finished just 1 of 5.

The #2 defense played against the Bengals starters in the first quarter. Joe Burrow marched the team up and down the field. Jamarr Chase finished 4-77-1. Coaches love to talk about how pressure and coverage go hand-in-hand. That was true on Thursday night. The Eagles struggled to pressure the QB and also struggled in coverage. Not ideal.

The winner of the Kelee Ringo-Adoree Jackson battle was…Jakorian Bennett? Neither Ringo nor Jackson played well. Ringo missed a tackle that led to a long TD by Chase. Ringo has to make that play. Eli Ricks was called for PI and dropped a pick-six. The one CB I liked was Tariq Castro-Fields. He had one tackle and broke up a couple of passes.

Sydney Brown hurt his shoulder while making a tackle. That’s not good considering he had a chance to be the starter. We’ll have to wait and see if his shoulder is okay.

The LBs were up and down. Smael Mondon struggled with his tackling early on. Jeremiah Trotter Jr led the team with 6 tackles. Jihad Campbell had 3 tackles. Both Trot and Campbell had chances for INTs, but dropped them. Ugh.

Patrick Johnson was the standout rusher.

Patrick Johnson got a sack taken away from him on the previous play. Responds with an INT pic.twitter.com/EiHCubB91z

— Billy M (@BillyM_91) August 8, 2025

None of the other edge rushers stood out to me. That’s not ideal.

The DTs did some good things. Rookie Ty Robinson had a sack and showed good athleticism. Gabe Hall got the pressure on the play where Johnson had his INT. I thought several guys played the run well. Cincy RBs finished 18-57.

The Eagles should come out of this game pretty happy. They got good answers at several positions. They came out relatively healthy. The overall team looked good. The third string offense had some struggles, but they were really young. Those guys are going to have issues in their first game.

There are still questions. Howie will have to decide if he wants to add a veteran safety or still thinks Drew Mukuba is the answer there. CB remains an issue. There is also the possibility of needing to add another veteran rusher.

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