Welcome to the Jungle — Eagles at Bengals Preview

The Eagles have a winning streak! For the first time since November of 2023, the Eagles have won two games in a row. While the last two opponents have not been great, it seems as if this team may have finally turned a corner.

While the Bengals had another slow start to the season, they are not an easy opponent. The Eagles are currently 2.5-point underdogs in this game, but keep in mind that this game is being played in Cincinnati.

Is the Defense Legit?

The Eagles’ defense has not allowed a touchdown since the bye week, which no matter the opponent is a spectacular feat. These performances are now making a lot of Eagles fans question if the defense is legit, or if they just played terrible quarterbacks. This game should be able to tell us the answer.

Joe Burrow will be the best quarterback this defense has faced so far this season, and the Bengals receiving core will by far be the biggest test this secondary has faced. Burrow has been fantastic this season throwing for 1,759 yards, 14 TD, and 3 total turnovers. He is also completing 70.4% of his passes. The former Heisman Trophy winner at LSU is back to playing like the player everyone expected him to be. Burrow’s biggest problem in his career has been staying healthy, and so far so good on that front this season.

The Bengals will pose the biggest threat to this Eagles secondary they will probably face all season, as not only do the Bengals have an elite quarterback, they have an elite wide receiver duo. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are as good a wide receiver duo as any in the league and will be a big test for Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell. Chase currently has 39 catches for 620 yards and 6 TDs. He is second in yards in the NFL, and first in receiving touchdowns. Because of how well Quiyon Mitchell has played so far, I would be surprised if the Eagles have Darius Slay follow Chase around the field, but I also would not put it past them. Chase, like A.J. Brown, can impact the game like few wide receivers do, and if the Eagles want to win this game, they have to keep him in check. Higgins was added to Friday’s injury report as limited with a quad injury and is listed as questionable.

The Bengals’ biggest weakness on offense has been and still is their offensive line. So far this season Burrow has been sacked 18 times, which is just under 3 a game. The Eagles pass rushers have to get home in this game. Last week against the Giants they had a great game with 8 sacks, they don’t need 8, but they need to have Burrow under pressure all game long.

A New Offensive Philosophy?

Something to keep an eye on moving forward in this season is if there was a shift in offensive philosophy during the bye week. We have seen this before in 2021 under Nick Sirianni, and it will be something interesting to monitor as this season plays out.

In 2021 the Eagles decided that with Jalen’s play, and the lack of offensive weapons, they were going to become a running team. They ran the ball all the way to a playoff appearance, with a team that had a lot of holes. We may have seen a similar shift with this current team during the bye week. In the last two games coming off the bye, the Eagles have thrown the ball 39 times, while running the ball 81 times. The Eagles have run the ball just about double the amount of times they have thrown it over the last two games. And yes, a lot of these runs came with Kenny Pickett in a blowout, but the Eagles got and added onto the lead vs the Giants by running the football. It’s no secret that Jalen Hurts has not played well this year, and maybe we have seen a switch to take the ball out of his hands going forward.

We will need to see the full rest of the season before we can determine if the switch has actually happened, or if it’s just a two-game sample size. But what we do know is that Hurts needs to play better if this team is going to win this game, and do anything meaningful this season. While I thought Jalen was ok in last game’s win against the Giants, there were many who were extremely critical of the quarterback’s performance. He made a spectacular throw to Brown for the 4th down touchdown, but besides that, he left much to be desired. If the Eagles are going to win this week yes they need to continue to be dominant in the running game, but the quarterback needs to be dominant as well.

The Bengals’ defense has really struggled this season and is a big reason why they are 3-4. They rank 23rd in total defense, 21st in passing defense, and 21st in rushing defense. The Eagles should be able to put some points on the board against this unit, and hopefully, that can start in the first quarter. It’s impossible to ask the Eagles defense to not allow a touchdown for a third straight week, so I could see a potential for another close game.

Programming Note

This game was originally scheduled to kick off at 4:25 EST on CBS. This game has since been flexed and will kick off at 1:00 EST on CBS.

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