6 Eagles Who Need Big Games To Beat The Bengals

Suddenly the Eagles are 4-2, and coming off their best game of the season. A week after the panic of them barely beating the Browns, there is more to feel good about with the Eagles than there has been in nearly a year. The defense is clicking, and the offense just dropped 28 points on a top-10 defense, despite sitting their starters in the 4th quarter.

Related: 6 Numbers That Tell The Story Of The Eagles Crushing The Giants

Will those good vibes carry over into this weekend though? They are facing down the Bengals. If you look at their record, they do not look like a scary team. At 3-4, they have struggled to start the season. But what the record doesn't tell you is how close they came to beating the Chiefs and Ravens.

The Bengals can be formidable, no matter what the record shows. Their defense is a bit of a mess, and they have no run game to speak of, but Joe Burrow can still put up crooked numbers. He is still throwing to Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

The Eagles had bad opponents the last 2 weeks. The Browns and Giants both have good defenses, but they are also 2 of the worst offenses in the league. The Bengals can be beaten, clearly, but they won't roll over quite as easily as these last two teams. The offense might have an easier time this weekend than they did the past 2 weeks, but the defense is going to be tested. Especially this young secondary.

So what do the Eagles need to do this weekend to get to 5-2? Which players need to step up the most to leave Cincinnati with a win? Can the D-Line keep up how they have played in the last two games?

The Eagles rookie CB has been amazing 6 games into his career. He has faced some tough competition, including Malik Nabers last week, and has not blinked once yet. Last week he allowed just 15 yards, and his 6 PBUs this season are currently 4th in the NFL, despite having an early bye week.

It gets no easier for him this week. He will get either Ja'Marr Chase or Tee Higgins in nearly every play. As of yet, he has given you no reason not to be confident. But those are 2 high-level proven WRs, who have beaten proven corners. They have 9 combined TDs in 12 combined games.

If Mithcell keeps looking this good against the Bengals, it will be time to start talking about him as the Defensive Rookie Of The Year. He has been that good.

Let's not leave the other rookie out of this. He has only started 2 games and vs two bad offenses. But he has been equally impressive in that limited sample size. I don't put much weight into PFF grades, but since becoming the starter, he is the highest-graded player in pass coverage. He allowed just 3 yards last week. And he has been effective as a blitzer too.

If you are blitzing from the secondary, you need to get home fast. Because chances are someone is going to be open. DeJean's natural speed allows him to do just that. The several times he has blitzed so far, he got to the QB right away.

Between him and Mitchell, the Eagle might just have their CB duo going forward. We will find out even more this weekend. There is a lot of pressure on the two rookies. Usually relying on rookies this much is bad. But with them, Eagles fans can feel oddly confident.

Fred Johnson did not have an easy time the last 2 weeks filling in for Jordan Mailta, he came in for him vs the Browns, and had to block Myles Garret. last week he drew Brian Burns. Now he gets yet another Pro Bowl in Trey Hendrickson.

He struggled against Burns early on. He settled in a bit as the game went on, and actually blocked well on run plays, but he still allowed 4 pressures and a sack. Can he keep the ship steady this week? No one expects him to shut Hendrickson down, but can he keep him from blowing up the Eagles game plan? The Eagles might want to make things easier on him by running it early and also giving him some TE help, but it will still fall on Johnson to just be better versus a very tough player to block.

This is cheating, because it is more than just 1 player. But whoever the Eagles 4 or 5 D-Linemen are on any play, needs to win. Winning against bad O-line svs bad Qbs is one thing. Now they need to do it vs an elite QB. Joe Burrow is not the guy you want to blitz a lot. One of his elite traits is quick reactions to blitzes. In this game, the front 4 are going to have to win, so Burrow does not have the time.

Josh Sweat now has 3 straight games with a sack. Nolan Smith has looked like a different player. Jalen Carter is looking like the guy people think will one day win DPOY. And even Bryce Huff has been productive. Was that just playing the Giants and Browns, or is it real growth? If the Eagles want to slow down this offense, it better be the latter.

Outside of the Browns game, Barkley has been dominant every week for the Eagles. He is 4th in yards, despite having the bye week, and 2nd in yards per game. Now he gets to face a team that has struggled to stop the run all year long. It should be another day that is heavy Barkley. Not just because they can expose this defense on the ground, but because it will keep the ball out of Joe Burrow's hands more. 

Running the clock has been a very effective way to combat high-powered offenses in the past. In the 1 game the 2022 Eagles lost with Jalen Hurts at QB, it was because Washington simply ran it over and over, and the Eagles offense barely got to touch the ball to get into a rhythm. They obviously need Hurts and the Eagles WRs to be great too, but they should go into the game planning to run it a lot on the Bengals. 

Throughout the first 4 games, few Qbs took care of the ball worse than Jalen hurts. But coming out of the bye week, he has actually protected the ball. 2 straight weeks without a turnover, after having 10 straight games with one. He has made smart throws and held onto it when under pressure, even though we was under pressure a lot. This is despite him still taking some deep shots, with a 40+ yard TD to AJ Brown in both games.

He has not been a world-beater in those games. In the Giants game, they mostly ran the ball. But he has been efficient when called upon and made several impressive throws. That might be all they need him to be most weeks. Protect the ball, play efficient Football, and have a couple of wow plays a game. There is enough talent around him for that to be good enough. It would be great if he is 2022 Hurts again, and I won't rule out seeing that guy, but playing like he did in these past 2 games, vs. two good defenses, should be enough with how good the offense is around him. 

If that guy shows up vs the Bengals, they could be in great shape. If the guy from the first 4 weeks shows up, and they give Joe Burrow extra chances with the ball in good field position, it could get ugly. The Bengals defense has been very weak, and only have 8 takeaways in 7 games. So the expectation should be for Hurts to have another clean game, and for this offense to put up some points.