Caged the Bengals — Eagles win 37-17

The Eagles have won in Cincinnati! For the first time ever the Eagles have won a game in the Magic City.

The Eagles for the second week in a row have a blowout win as they leave victorious 37-17. This was by far their best game of the season, and the team continues to improve as the season goes on.

MVP-Like Performance From Hurts

Jalen Hurts was absolutely fantastic today. At the beginning of the game, when he almost threw the interception in the direction of Kenneth Gainwell, it seemed like we were going to get a similar performance from the quarterback that he has had all year. Instead, he turned his game around and gave us a 2022-like performance. Hurts finished the game 16/20 with 236 yards and 1 TD. He added 3 touchdowns on the ground.

I thought Jalen looked quicker in this game than he had so far this season, which is obviously a good sign because he can be so dynamic as a dual-threat quarterback. Hurts also made some great plays with his arm, including a 45-yard touchdown pass to Devonta Smith. Smith ran a great route and made a great catch, but Hurts also made a great throw. Hurts’ deep ball is one of his biggest strengths as a passer, and it was good to see Smith get involved in the deep passing game.

In my preview article for this game, I talked about how I thought there may have been an offensive philosophy shift, turning into a run-first offense. That philosophy continued today with the Eagles running 39 runs, and 20 throws. At a just about 2/1 run-to-pass ratio, I think we can start to say they may have found their identity coming out of the bye. Saquon Barkley had another good day on the ground with 22 rushes for 108 yards. I am perfectly fine with the Eagles being a run-first team if Hurts is going to play that well in his limited attempts. It seems as if the offense has found its identity, and they have been playing better ever since.

Defense Dominates Again

After Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense walked down the field for a first-quarter touchdown I think we all thought we were going to be in for a long day defensively. But they turned it around and turned in another dominant performance. While yes, the Bengals were missing Tee Higgins, to hold that offense to under 20 points is very impressive.

The Eagles defense also created two turnovers! Isaiah Rodgers made a great play to for an interception, and Zack Baun forced a fumble.

Like the offense, the defense has really taken form since the bye week. A lot of that has had to do with the insertion of Cooper DeJean. DeJean made one of the biggest plays of the game when he tackled Ja’Marr Chase short of the line to gain on 4th down. It was a big-time play for a rookie to make in a big spot. DeJean has been very good since getting inserted into the starting lineup, and it seems like Howie Roseman has hit on his first two picks in last year’s draft with Quinyon Mitchell and DeJean.

A Look Ahead

During today’s pre-game show I mentioned that I believe that if the Eagles won this game, it could be a game we look back on as the turning point in this season. While that will take some time to see, it definitely could be a jumping-off point for the next few weeks. The Eagles will host the 2-6 Jaguars next week and then will head to Dallas, and then back home for the Commanders on Thursday Night Football. While you hope next week is not a look-ahead game, the Eagles are playing good football at a good time with their schedule. If they can string a few wins together in these next three games, they will set themselves up with a great chance to win this division.

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