PHILADELPHIA — Safe to say, with the exception of the starters on offense, the Bengals have a lot to work on to get ready for Sept. 7 in Cleveland.
For the second straight year, Joe Burrow and the starting offense was the only highlight for the Bengals in their preseason opener as they fell to the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, 34-27, Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
The franchise quarterback started the night off with an incomplete pass for Tee Higgins that was slightly behind him over the middle. Then Burrow completed his final nine passes, including touchdown tosses to tight end Tanner Hudson and Ja’Marr Chase to stake the Bengals to a 14-7 late in the first quarter. Chase finished with four catches on four targets for 77 yards. Hudson had five catches on seven targets and a pair of 12-yard touchdown grabs, one each from Burrow and Desmond Ridder.
First 9 ➡️ 1 TD hits different #CINvsPHI on Bengals Preseason TV Network pic.twitter.com/8S6KJyiznp
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 8, 2025
Burrow finished 9-of-10 for 123 yards and the two touchdowns and a quarterback rating of 157.5. Hudson finished with two touchdowns on the night
His protection offered by the offensive line was solid, with some pressure but no sacks and no hits. The starting offensive line was right tackle Amarius Mims, right guard Lucas Patrick, center Ted Karras, left guard Dylan Fairchild and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
Starting right guard Lucas Patrick was called for a chop block that wiped out a rollout touchdown pass from Burrow to Chase in the back of the end zone. Two plays later, Burrow hit tight end Tanner Hudson over the middle and – in a flashback to opening day of 2024 against the Patriots – Hudson made it to the goal line. But this time Hudson didn’t have the ball knocked out of his hands and scored the first touchdown of the preseason.
On the second offensive drive, Burrow gave Chase a chance to show off his trademark “spin and go” move, catching the ball at the Eagles 29, spinning and outracing the Philadelphia secondary for a 36-yard touchdown, and a 14-7 lead.
On defense, the Bengals did not dress Trey Hendrickson, BJ Hill, Cam Taylor-Britt, Dax Hill, Marco Wilson and Cedric Johnson.
Rookie Shemar Stewart came on late in the first quarter with the first team defense briefly before playing primarily with the second unit in the second quarter. He played all over the defensive line, both on the left and right defensive edge as well as playing inside next to Joseph Ossai on a dual pressure of Eagles starting quarterback Tanner McKee that forced a rollout on third down and an incompletion. Stewart also crashed in from the edge and tackled A.J. Dillon for a three-yard loss.
Philadelphia did not play their starting offense, sitting quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley and receivers Devonta Smith and A.J. Brown.
The defense was not good for either the first or second team unit in the first half as the Bengals fell behind, 24-14.
The special teams burned the Bengals at the end of the first half, as Ryan Rehkow’s punt was 54 yards down the middle and returned 46 yards, setting up a 20-yard touchdown over DJ Ivey.
It was a rough second and third quarter for Ivey. He was beaten over the middle for a third down conversion early in the third quarter. Then the Bengals appeared to get off the field on a missed 55-yard Jake Elliott field goal. But Ivey was offsides on the attempt and Philadelphia then converted a 4th-and-2. Later, Elliott converted a 23-yard field goal for a 27-14 lead.
Tahj Brooks had some positive moments, including a terrific pass protection block that allowed Jake Browning to find Charlie Jones for 11 yards and a first down.
Jake Browning was ineffective in leading the Bengals offense. The Bengals got the ball at the Eagles 23 after a 32-yard punt return by Jermaine Burton. But Browning couldn’t generate one first down and the Bengals had to settle for a 36-yard Evan McPherson field goal. Browning could have had three interceptions in the first half and early third quarter. He was finally picked off when he tried to flip a short release pass to Tahj Brooks, who had to save the pick-6 with a tackle late in third quarter.
Browning finished 6-for-14 for 62 yards and an interception before Desmond Ridder took over with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Myles Murphy and Logan Wilson got sealed off on a 38-yard Will Shipley run on Philadelphia’s first drive of the night.
Joe Giles-Harris, another linebacker brought in for depth and special teams in the offseason, picked off a pass from Kyle McCord in the fourth quarter and returned it for an apparent touchdown after getting up from the ground. But he was ruled down by contact upon review and the ball was spotted at the Philly 35. But like with the Burton punt return, the Bengals (led by Ridder) could not manage a first down and had to settle for a McPherson 51-yard field goal.
The Bengals fell to 2-10-1 in their last 13 preseason games, dating back to the start of the 2021 season.
