Best win since… — 5 takeaways from Eagles-Bengals a day later

The Philadelphia Eagles have won three straight games.

They have won two straight by at least 20.

They look like a genuine football team again. And it is beautiful.

Both sides of the ball were tremendous in the Eagles’ 37-17 win over a dangerous Bengals squad. It is their first win over the Bengals since Christmas Eve 2000 at the Vet and their first-ever victory in Cincinnati.

Here are my five observations a day after the win:

This defense is legit

The Bengals opened up the game with a 17-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that took over 10 minutes off the clock. Joe Burrow was 11-for-12 and eight for his first eight on the drive with a touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase. They were five-for-five on third down. The Eagles’ defense got picked apart and chewed up by the Bengals.

But after that? Different story.

They increased their pressure on Burrow and tensed up their coverage, allowing just 10 points and 210 yards the rest of the way.

Another big key, they limited Chase to just 11 targets and 54 yards. The Eagles had great coverage and tackling on him all afternoon. Did not help my fantasy team, but it is ok.

Over the last three weeks, the Eagles’ defense has held the Browns, Giants, and Bengals to 29 points, just 640 net yards, and a measly 3.87 yards per play.

Shutting down the Browns was ok. It is Deshaun Watson. Silencing the Giants, was whatever. It is Daniel Jones. This was different. Burrow and this high-powered Bengals offense? Oh yeah. They gave up 29 to the Packers in the opener in São Paulo, allowed a game-winning 70-yard TD drive in the home opener vs. the Falcons, and got thrashed for 33 points in Tampa.

But since the bye, the whole thing has come together better and faster. This defense is one of the youngest in the NFL, and I feel like I write this every week, but they are only going to get better.

Maybe the early Week 5 bye was the best thing to ever happen to this organization.

The two biggest plays of the day

After going back and watching some of the game from Sunday, two plays stuck out to me as the daggers from the Eagles’ defense.

Cooper DeJean‘s fourth-and-1 stop on Chase and Isaiah Rodgers‘ pass break, which led to C.J. Gardner-Johnson‘s interception.

I want to start with DeJean because the kid is incredible. That stop on Chase was ginormous. DeJean is 21 years old, playing in his third-career game on defense, and made the biggest stop of the game in the open field against a three-time Pro Bowler.

DeJean broke it down to a tee, got to Chase on the screen pass from Burrow before he could turn upfield, and brought him down by the leg to force a turnover on downs at the end of the third quarter.

There was another play by DeJean inside the Eagles’ five-yard line. On first and goal, Burrow threw a ball to Trenton Irwin, who was cutting back toward the sideline. He received it, and he was met by DeJean, who read the play flawlessly and took him down by the neck. We have seen opposing players break that kind of tackle on the Eagles and score on numerous occasions.

DeJean let nobody by him. He has made such an enormous difference since Vic Fangio put him in the slot. He is a stud.

Now the Rogers and Gardner-Johnson play was just flat-out absurd.

The Eagles were up 10 with 12 1/2 minutes to go and the Bengals had a first-and-10 near midfield. Burrow launched a deep ball to Chase down the right sideline.

Typically, Darius Slay would have been there on Chase, but he had left the game with a groin injury. Rodgers was there in his place.

Rodgers had great coverage and batted the ball in the air right into Gardner-Johnson’s hands, who was waiting for it, and secured the Eagles’ first interception since Week 3 in New Orleans.

It was a pretty unbelievable play, and it sealed the deal for the Eagles. Saquon Barkley had a big run up the gut, leading to Jalen Hurts‘ second tush push of the game, putting the Eagles up 34-17.

It has been a long time coming

When was the last time we saw Hurts play how we did Sunday afternoon? He was efficient, aggressive, accurate, and mistake-free.

Hurts went 16-for-20, an 80% completion percentage, for 236 yards, including a perfect, 45-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith, rushed for three TDs, and had no turnovers for the third straight game.

Hurts’ passer rating for the season is up to 98.6, the ninth-highest in the NFL. His 69% completion percentage ranks sixth.

He has just 60 passes during the three-game winning streak, with just 17 incompletions. That may be why his turnovers are so low. A new offensive philosophy, perhaps?

Hurts is not forcing or rushing anything like he was earlier this season. He is letting the game come to him, driving the ball down the field, and being aggressive without turning the ball over. That is how you win football games.

We saw the 2022 MVP-level Jalen in Cincinnati. Good to have you back, old friend.

Smith, by the way, after having one reception for negative two yards last week, came back and six receptions for 85 yards and that big 45-yard TD. So, there you go.

Fred Johnson stepping up

How about Fred Johnson at left tackle against Trey Hendrickson on Sunday?

I did not really notice it watching the game live, but looking back on it, Johnson had the dangerous pass rusher clamped up.

Hendrickson has 7.0 sacks this year already, and he was held silent.

Johnson is a remarkably good run blocker but his pass blocking is not as satisfactory. But he held Hendrickson to no sacks, no hurries, no quarterback hits, and no tackles for loss.

Hurts and the Eagles’ offense does not have that kind of performance without Fred freaking Johnson. Have a day big fella.

A win the Eagles have needed

When was the last time the Eagles have won a game like this? On the road against one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL and a quality defense, and they dominated.

We did not learn much from the Browns and Giants win. But, man, we learned a lot of positives from this one.

The Eagles now find themselves at 5-2 with a three-game winning streak. The conversation about Nick Sirianni receiving the boot is starting to maybe flourish into praise for the head coach. He has his team bouncing back from early adversity and secure their spot among the NFL’s best squads. A season that a few weeks ago seemed like it was over now has so much assurance.

This was their best win since… when? I do not know. The first that came to mind was the Bills overtime thriller from last season. But the defense was mild in the game and the offense started slow. Could this be their most dominant against a good team since the NFC Championship Game against the 49ers? I do not know.

But, the Eagles are legit. I hope that does not backfire.

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