2010 NFL Preseason: Eagles at Bengals Preview, Prediction, and Pick

The Philadelphia Eagles led by Kevin Kolb, travel to the jungle in Cincinnati to take on the Bengals.

BetMania posted the odds for this game and have the home town Bengals as three point favorites. Sign up at Bet Mania and contact customer service with the NFL preseason promo code REGAW and get a free $50 bet on the game.

Here are some key issues for the game, to include a pick for the game:

Banged Up Birds and Bengals

The Eagles come into the game a bit banged up and have a laundry list of birds that will not participate. Offensive lineman Todd Herremans (foot), Jamaal Jackson (knee), and Nick Cole (knee) will not suit up. Cornerback Asante Samuel (hamstring) and running back Mike Bell (calf) are questionable, and will see limited playing time if any at all.

The Bengals have their share of injuries as well. Bengal’s coach Marvin Lewis has already ruled out WR Antonio Bryant (knee), FB Fui Vakapuna (shoulder), WR Robert Geathers (foot), LB Rashad Jeanty (leg), S Tom Nelson (knee) and OT Andrew Mitchell.  RB Brian Leonard (foot) was not listed by Lewis but should probably be ruled out as well.

Defensives are down

The Bengals will be playing on a short week, after the Sunday night tilt against the Broncos. They will have the advantage of playing two preseason games prior to this one.

Even though it’s the third game, the Bengals' starting defense still has work to do. In the first two games, the first string committed three penalties that led to 17 points by the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. All three penalties came on a turnover or on third down to keep drives alive.

The Bengals defense will have their hands full with Kevin Kolb, wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin and tight end Brent Celek, who played for the University of Cincinnati.

Playing Time

Both coaches talked about playing time for their starting unit on Thursday. Eagle’s head coach Andy Reid expects to have his starters play the entire first half of Friday’s game.

When Lewis was asked on how much the first team might play on Friday: “They’ll play a little more than they did last week (OK, maybe a half). Some guys, some guys won’t play as much as they did last week.”

Prediction and Pick

The Bengals come into this game off a short week and with defensive problems, which means that they did not have much time to try and fix the communication issues. The offense looked great for the Bengals as they were able to drive the field on numerous occasions and spread the ball all over the field, but they will get a challenge from the young Eagles defense.

The Eagles offense looked impressive against Jacksonville and both Kevin Kolb and Michael Vick ran the offense well.

The Eagles second-string defense allowed Jacksonville backup quarterback Luke McCown to pass for 244 yards and three touchdowns. Expect a better effort from the Eagles, as they focused on defense in several areas this week leading up to the game. The Eagles have better depth at the quarterback position and this will lead to an upset win by the Birds.

Play on the Philadelphia Eagles +3

Final: Philadelphia 28 Cincinnati 24