PHILADELPHIA _ Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, in pursuit of The Fast Start, didn't blink in choosing to accept the opening kickoff in Thursday night's preseason opener.
Quarterback Joe Burrow did him one better when he threw three touchdown passes on the first two drives in a powerful display against a mix of the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles' backups and starting candidates at Lincoln Financial Field.
All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase began defense of his Triple Crown by riddling the Eagles for 77 yards on four catches that included a vintage 36-yard give-and-go touchdown that gave the Bengals a 14-7 lead with 2:28 left in the first quarter.
That ended the first team's work for the night, an onslaught where the Bengals racked up 146 yards on their first 15 plays of 2025. After wide receiver Tee Higgins dropped Burrow's seam ball on the first pass of the game, No. 9 sifted his last nine for 122 yards, two touchdowns and a near-perfect 157.5 passer rating.
The running game looked just as crisp with running back Chase Brown picking up nearly five yads per his four carries while adding 24 more on three catches.
If you saw Ja'Marr Chase's 40-yard winning touchdown catch last season against Dallas, he replicated it Thursday. Against the blitz on first down from the Eagles 36, Burrow hit him with a quick throw on the sideline and when he spun away from cornerback Kelee Ringo, nobody else was there.
Chase also converted the first third down of the game when he ran a murderous third-and-five out on cornerback Adoree Jackson. Later in that drive, Burrow had all kinds of time to hit Chase on a 23-yard back-shoulder throw.
Chase's line could have been even better, but his red-zone touchdown catch was wiped out by a 15-yard illegal chop block. On this night, that was just a mere annoyance. Soothed, naturally, by a Burrow bolt.
This one went to tight end Tanner Hudson, a 12-yard touchdown through a zone just two snaps after the call on right guard Lucas Patrick.
The opening drive included running back Chase Brown getting tackled by his twin, Eagles safety Sydney Brown. But not before Chase smoked linebacker Smael Mondon on his way to a nine-yard pickup on a catch.
No wonder Burrow wants to play in these things. He's three-for-three on touchdown drives in his preseason performances of the last two years.
Last year at Paycor against Tampa Bay, the Ones got their only work in the preseason on a crisp opening drive consisting of 73 yards on 12 plays in 6:26 capped by Burrow's 10-yard touchdown pass to Higgins.
Burrow went 5-of-7 for 51 yards and a 131.5 passer rating in the 2024 preseason and went on to have one of the best regular seasons a NFL quarterback has put together. After Thursday's career-high 15 preseason snaps, he was somehow better with that 157.1 rating.
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