TO sparks Bengals in victory

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

Terrell Owens put some bite back into the Bengals’ offense.

Owens caught a 43-yard pass along the sideline, setting up the only touchdown by Cincinnati’s starting offense Friday night in a 22-9 preseason victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles couldn’t keep up with the 36-year-old receiver.

Owens caught a perfect throw from Carson Palmer along the right sideline, stretching over Joselio Hanson to pull it in before going out of bounds at the 6-yard line. Bernard Scott ran it in on the next play.

Owens had three catches for 67 yards in the first half, and ran 1 yard on a reverse.

So far, he’s been the Bengals’ top receiver.

“That’s what they brought me here for, right? Deep threat,” Owens said. “Beat your guy, get down the field, make the catch. We’ve got it all in our arsenal.”

His over-the-shoulder catch set up the only touchdown while both teams had their starters in the game. Cincinnati got the better of it in the half, but had to settle for the one score.

“We gave up a couple big runs, more than we wanted to, then they had the big play to T.O.,” safety Quintin Mikell said.

Philadelphia’s main goal was to get a touchdown out of its starters. In the preseason opener against Jacksonville, quarterback Kevin Kolb led the Eagles down the field on two possessions, but they had to settle for field goals.