Paul Domowitch: Eagles' backup RB Bell has a rough debut

KANSAS CITY - Mike Bell finally got on the field.

That's the good news.

The bad news is the Eagles' new running back wasn't able to do much with his first playing time of the preseason. He rushed for just 17 yards on eight carries in an ugly, 20-17 win over the Chiefs last night. Bell also appeared to blow a blitz-pickup assignment on one of the Chiefs' four sacks of quarterback Kevin Kolb, which is a major no-no when Andy Reid is your coach.

On a night when the whole first-team offense pretty much stunk up the joint against a Chiefs defense that finished 30th in the league in yards allowed and 30th against the run last season, Bell fit right in. His longest run went for 4 yards, and that didn't come until late in the third quarter. Before that, his longest run was 2 yards. He was held to 10 yards on five carries in the first half.

In his defense, it hardly was all his fault. The alert level on those concerns over the Eagles' offensive line shot up from yellow to orange after this debacle.

The Chiefs' 3-4 defense, which, by the way, is the very same scheme the Green Bay Packers will be using against the Eagles in 2 weeks, except with much better players, seemed to completely befuddle the Birds' blockers, despite the fact that they finally got starting left guard Todd Herremans back.

Kolb was sacked four times in three quarters of work and spent most of the night running for his life. He completed just eight of his first 21 passes for 69 yards.

The Eagles converted just three of 12 third-down chances in the first three quarters and while they rushed for 97 yards in those first three quarters, 34 of those yards came from Kolb (18 on three carries) and the team's other quarterback, Mike Vick (16 on three carries), who converted both of the Eagles' successful third-down tries in the first three quarters.

It's been a tough summer for Bell. Signed by the Eagles in March after rushing for 654 yards with the Super Bowl-champion Saints last season, he was penciled in as the main backup to starter LeSean McCoy.

But he spent most of training camp and the preseason sidelined by injuries, first a hamstring strain, then a pulled calf muscle. He finally was able to return to practice last Sunday and saw his first preseason action against the Chiefs.

"I was a little rusty," Bell said. "It was the first real contact I've had in a while. I've got a long way to go, I'll tell you that. A long way to go. My legs aren't where they should be. My reaction isn't what it should be.

"But it's encouraging because I did some things that I haven't done. I never had to pass-protect before with previous teams I was on. In previous seasons, I used to base how well I played on how many yards I had. But sometimes stats are deceiving."

Said coach Andy Reid: "I thought he did some good things. He was able to knock some rust off and get into game speed. There are some things he needs to work on, though."

This game showed once again how invaluable DeSean Jackson is to the Eagles' offense. He caught a pass on a bubble screen for a 4-yard gain on the Birds' first offensive play. One play later, with Mike Vick in at quarterback for Kolb, LeSean McCoy took the ball up the middle 18 yards for a touchdown just 57 seconds into the game to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

But Jackson sustained a neck strain on that first play and left the game after that. After the first possession, the Eagles' offense went to hell. It gained just 60 yards on 29 plays the remainder of the first half and only a 149 yards on 49 offensive plays without Jackson in the first three quarters.

If Andy Reid was on the fence at all about letting Jackson return punts this season, watching his offense without the Pro Bowl wide receiver might have him leaning toward using someone else, even if Jackson is one of the league's best punt returners.

* The Eagles' first offensive unit continued to struggle in the red zone, converting just one of three trips inside the 20 into a touchdown against the Chiefs. For the preseason, the No. 1 offense is 1-for-6 in the red zone.

* Ex-Eagles practice-squadder Andy Studebaker sacked Kolb twice in the first half.

* Left tackle Jason Peters, who had a red-zone penalty last week that negated a Kolb-to-Jason Avant touchdown pass, had a false-start penalty in the red zone on the Eagles' third possession, turning a third-and-9 into a third-and-14. A Kolb incompletion later, the Eagles had to settle for David Akers' 86th field goal of the preseason.

* It looks like the Eagles are going to use Mike Vick a lot in third-and-short situations this season. He entered the game in the first quarter on a third-and-2 and ran for 6 yards out of the shotgun. Replaced Kolb on a third-and-2 in the third quarter and ran for an 8-yard gain. Those were the Eagles' only third-down conversions in the first three quarters (they were 2-for-12).

* The lick Asante Samuel put on 5-7, 165-pound Chiefs running back Dexter McCluster on a flair pass in the second quarter.

* Darryl Tapp got a lot of reps in place of right defensive end Trent Cole, who left in the second quarter with an ankle injury.

* Chad Hall didn't help his chances of making the team when he misjudged a punt and let it bounce an additional 15 yards.

Send e-mail to pdomo@aol.com