Previewing Philadelphia’s Week 8 matchup.
The Philadelphia Eagles are headed to Ohio to take on the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on Sunday. In order to preview this Week 8 tilt, I reached out to our enemies over at Cincy Jungle. The astounding Anthony Cosenza kindly took the time to answer my questions about this upcoming battle. Let’s take a look at the answers. [For my answers about the Eagles, check out CJ.]
1 – The feeling here is that the Bengals are better than their record indicates. To what extent do you agree with that assessment?
I somewhat agree with that. Some Bengals fans have made some viral posts that the team is two fluke plays away from being 5-2:
A.) A pretty bad pass interference call on a fourth and long in the waning moments of Week 2 against the Chiefs where they had the lead. It led to a Chiefs game-winning field goal.
B.) A botched snap by a rookie punter (who is having an amazing season kicking the ball) that led to a missed long field goal in overtime, ultimately leading to a loss to Baltimore.
But, the defense was bad for a few weeks because of the acclimation of new players and missing other key ones to injury. And, the offense sputtered in Weeks 1, 6 and 7 for stretches. So, it’s more than just two plays. They were missing “the clutch gene” early this season, but have seemed to have found it more of late.
What we do know is that the Bengals we’ve become accustomed to since 2021 find their stride right around this time of year. The slow starts are maddening, but they’ve climbed out of holes to be relevant at the end of the last three seasons—even without Joe Burrow last year. Although 1-4 is a different animal than, say, 0-2, the consensus is that they will make things interesting by January.
2 – Joe Burrow has the third-best passer rating in the NFL this season with 14 touchdowns to two interceptions. What’s gone into his success?
Improved pass protection has helped, as has the ability to line up with “12 personnel”, instead of solely shotgun. They’ve had some nice plays on the ground from Chase Brown (who should be getting more touches over Zack Moss as the weeks continue), and that little bit of balance has helped.
Ja’Marr Chase (league leader in in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns) and Tee Higgins are playing some of the best football of their great careers, too. Add in that Burrow bulked up a bit this offseason to better withstand hits and continue on improving his arm strength and it’s all been clicking.
3 – What is the top reason to feel confident about the Bengals as it relates to this matchup with the Eagles? If the answer is Burrow, what else?
Burrow, yes, but the defense has finally been pulling their weight, too. Since getting healthy the past three weeks, there has been more pressures, sacks and effectiveness against the run.
There are nuances and exceptions to the overarching statement I just made, but it’s just been better, overall. To boot, almost every quarterback they’ve faced this year are known as high-level dual-threat guys (yes, even Daniel Jones), so their experience against them should help a little bit with Jalen Hurts this week.
4 – What is the biggest concern about the Bengals as it relates to this matchup with the Eagles?
Jalen Hurts, of course, for one. When he’s on, he’s one of the most electric players in the league. Even if my optimism about the Bengals’ defense is founded, a good game from Hurts will make it difficult for the Bengals to get a win.
Additionally, the Eagles’ wide receivers against the Bengals’ secondary is worrisome. The corners have been up-and-down, as have the safeties, and they may not have starter Geno Stone after also losing Dax Hill for the year. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith could have big days.
5 – Who wins this game and why? With the Eagles currently listed as 2.5-point road underdogs to the Bengals, what’s your score prediction? And then what’re you expecting from the rest of this Bengals season?
This is a really hard one to predict and is pretty much a coin flip game, hence the close line. The Bengals are kind of hot, winning three of their last four and two in a row. However, those three wins were against the Panthers, Giants and Browns, respectively…not exactly a group of world-beaters there.
Still, this is the time of year they traditionally get hot and turn the slow starts around. If the Bengals do win this one, it will be a great step towards legitimacy and getting back to .500 with a critical rematch against the Ravens a couple of weeks away. For me, it’s pretty much a pick ‘em game and one that should be entertaining.
