Eagles win, but miss Jackson after he exits early with injury

KANSAS CITY - There is a reason NFL teams don't play the starters much in the preseason, and it doesn't really have a lot to do with the crucial need for an extended look at the Martell Malletts, Jerail McCullers and Jared Perrys of the world.

Andy Reid's plan to sharpen his starting offensive and defensive units with their most extensive preseason playing time last night started to veer off track on the Birds' first snap, when DeSean Jackson took a wideout screen 4 yards and got clobbered by rookie safety Eric Berry, the guy many fans wanted the Eagles to trade up to draft this year. Jackson left the field with what the Eagles said was an upper-back injury. He did not return to what would become a 20-17 win over the Chiefs.

Odds of an upper-back injury being something really awful are remote, but the offense without Jackson certainly lacked sharpness. Picking up blitzes seemed to be a lost art, as former Eagles practice squad linebacker Andy Studebaker roamed free for a pair of first-half sacks of Kevin Kolb.

By halftime, the most indispensable defensive player, defensive end Trent Cole, had ridden a John Deere cart to the locker room for right ankle X-rays, which were negative. Cole was followed by Mike McGlynn, the guy who ought to be the No. 3 center, but has started every preseason game because Jamaal Jackson is still recovering from anterior cruciate ligament surgery and Nick Cole has lost several weeks to mysterious knee soreness. For the final drive before the half, A.Q. Shipley, a longshot to make the roster (before last night, anyhow) was snapping the ball to Kolb.

McGlynn, knowing the enormity of the opportunity in front of him, returned for the second half.

The Eagles scored on that first drive. Shady McCoy took a Michael Vick handoff 18 yards up the gut, getting excellent blocking from just about everybody on the field. The Eagles started on the Chiefs' 22 following a fumble recovered by Trent Cole.

The Birds settled for a 39-yard David Akers field goal at the end of their third drive, a 16-play marathon that went off course when Kolb was pressured into an end-zone incompletion to Jeremy Maclin (who had a terrible first half in his return to his home state, dropping a long bomb and a couple shorter balls), then Jason Peters took the first of his two first-half false starts.

Kansas City had the ball much of the second quarter, thanks to a rare defensive delay penalty on the Eagles as the Chiefs were about to punt. Apparently, someone tried to entice a false start. Kansas City's bumbling offense promptly awoke and drove smartly downfield, Matt Cassel hitting a wide-open Dwayne Bowe in the end zone on third-and-goal from the 3.

The Eagles' 2-minute drill worked well enough to net a first down at the Chiefs' 24, but a Studebaker sack, a Maclin drop and a Peters false start later, Sav Rocca was punting.

Midway through the third quarter, Kolb had been sacked four times, all by linebackers, and had spent much of his time on the run. Running back Mike Bell, playing for the first time in the preseason, looked rusty. He gained 17 yards on eight attempts.

Kolb hit halftime 4-for-13 for 29 yards. He missed a few throws, but as so often was the case with his predecessor, other people's shortcomings made it hard to really evaluate how he played. No blocking, several drops, no running game after the first few series. We did learn that Kolb can scramble effectively, something that was way down the list of important things to establish last night. And again, as with his predecessor, there were times when you thought maybe the ball could have gotten out a little quicker.

Kolb, on the run, heaved a deep ball for Maclin into double coverage and got it picked off by safety Kendrick Lewis a bit past midway through the third, setting up a touchdown that gave the Chiefs a 14-10 lead, with 4 minutes, 42 seconds left in the third. Eagles reserve cornerback Dimitri Patterson suffered a finger injury on the touchdown play, an 11-yard Thomas Jones run against Birds' reserves. Patterson later returned.

After the pick, these were Kolb's stats: 6-for-19, 47 yards (2.5 yards per attempt), one interception, 19.0 passer rating.

Kolb, with Vick snaps interspersed, drove the Eagles into the red zone at the end of the third quarter. He faced second-and-6 after completing a pass to Maclin at the 12. But Vick came in for a QB draw that netted only 3 yards, leaving Kolb with a third down to convert. He had no receivers in sight as he rolled left and ultimately threw the ball away, his last snap of the evening, on the first play of the fourth quarter, before David Akers kicked a 27-yard field goal that brought the Eagles within 14-13.

Kolb's final figures were 12-for-26 for 111 yards and a 42.3 passer rating.

The Eagles to that point had converted only three of 13 third downs, and managed only four passing first downs.

The Eagles won when No. 3 QB Mike Kafka hit Riley Cooper with an 18-yard TD pass, with 23 seconds to play . . . Despite an emphasis on directional kickoffs from David Akers, the coverage again was haphazard . . . Asante Samuel might still be celebrating the lick he laid on tiny rookie running back/wideout Dexter McCluster, Samuel blowing up a red-zone screen . . . McCluster averaged 37 yards on two kickoff returns . . . Rookie corner Trevard Lindley got some first-unit snaps for Ellis Hobbs and came up with a nice interception, tipping the ball away from the receiver and then catching it . . . This was the Chiefs' first game in renovated Arrowhead Stadium . . . Todd Herremans played the first half at left guard . . . Rookies Brandon Graham and Nate Allen seemed to play well again. *

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