Eagles-Bengals Up-Down Drill

↓ The rookie quarterback was OK for most of his fifth start, but when the Eagles defense forced another punt in the third quarter, Foles went deep and was intercepted. He underthrew Jeremy Maclin and the Bengals’ Leon Hall picked him off. It was Foles’ first interception in four games.

↑ Whatever he’s teaching, it was working. The Eagles defensive line was ferocious almost the entire game.

↑  Since being named the starting left defensive end, Brandon Graham has recorded 4 sacks and forced a fumble. While the Eagles had many reasons for getting rid of Jason Babin, the most important may have been getting more snaps to their 2010 first-round pick.

↑ All three of the Eagles interior linemen took turns blocking the great Geno Atkins, but Scott spent a good deal of the first half fending off the defensive tackle. He performed well. Atkins didn’t record even a tackle before the break.

↓  Another fumble? Really? And stop bouncing it outside. Please. The rookie has some great natural ability, but his instincts aren’t great. He needs to take a LeSean McCoy course on the cutback.

↑ The third-year wide receiver has done a commendable job filling in for the injured DeSean Jackson. Cooper has been an asset inside the red zone. All three of his red zone catches have been for touchdowns – the latest an 11-yard grab in the second quarter.

↓  April is an amiable fella, but his three-year reign as special teams coordinator has been much less than what was expected. The latest snafu on special teams came when Clay Harbor ran onto the field just before the snap and Matt McBriar’s punt was blocked by his own teammate – Marvin McNutt.

↑  There were shades of the old Cole Thursday night. The veteran defensive end recorded his first solo sack since Week 2 – yes, Week 2 – and make a strong stop against the run to open the second half. Whether it was the wide-nine holding him back or not it was nice to see the old Cole if only for one game.

↓  The Eagles had first and goal at the Bengals 2 just before the half, but a Reynolds false start pushed the Birds back. The Eagles center twitched before he snapped the football. The Eagles advanced to the one, but had to settle for an Alex Henery 20-yard field goal on the drive.

↑ The rookie recorded his fifth and a half sacks of the season on successive plays in the third quarter. Four and a half of Cox’ sacks have come in the last six games. The Eagles rookie defensive tackle deserves to be on any all-rookie team by the end of the year.

↓ The rookie linebacker made some nice plays Thursday night, but he was juked by Andy Dalton on his 11-yard scramble for a touchdown in the third quarter. Open field tackles are tough, but Kendricks shouldn't look that bad against an immobile quarterback.