Larry Henry Jr
The Philadelphia Eagles’ 37-17 road win over the Cincinnati Bengals proved to be one of their better overall performances in recent time.
Nick Sirianni’s men moved to 5-2 on the season after extending their winning run to three games this fall. Quarterback Jalen Hurts did a solid job of moving the offense downfield on multiple occasions while the Eagles defense didn’t allow many big plays to a Bengals offense that has weapons.
Tailback Saquon Barkley registered 100+ rushing yards while wide receivers DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown both delivered impactful plays out wide.
With the Eagles now sitting second in the NFC East, I take a look at the major takeaways from Sunday’s win:
1.) Jalen Hurts minimizes the mistakes and leads Eagles offense impressively
For the first time in 2024, Jalen Hurts looked comfortable under center for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Hurts completed 16 of 20 passes for 236 yards and one touchdown while also pounding in three rushing scores of his own. The veteran gunslinger wasn’t sacked a single time by the Bengals defense, taking what they gave him and making smart decisions with the football.
Finishing the game with a 132.5 passer rating, Hurts is starting to pick up steam at the right time for the Eagles this season.
“Jalen puts the work in,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters postgame about Hurts. “That’s something that doesn’t get talked about enough, how much he loves football, how much time he puts into this game, and that’s what you want from one of your leaders on this team. We were able to look at some of the things we were inefficient at, things that we’re good at.
“He just puts so much work into it,” Sirianni added. “You’re the product of how you practice. I know you guys only get to see a portion of practice, but he’s been practicing his butt off. I don’t know if the ball on Thursday, the long practice, I’m not sure the ball hit the ground. It’s the work. There is no secret to success. It’s your habits, it’s your work ethic. Same things it took to win this game is the same thing it takes next game. It takes what it takes.”
2.) Defense makes big time plays in second half to shut down Bengals offense
The Philadelphia Eagles defense allowed 10 points in the first half in Cincinnati, but only allowed one score the remainder of the game to eventually pull away for the victory.
Vic Fangio’s defense held the Bengals to only 58 yards rushing and kept star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in check (nine catches, 54 yards, 1 TD). The Eagles also forced two turnovers at key points of the game, with C.J. Gardner-Johnson interception Joe Burrow and Nakobe Dean recovering a Mike Gesicki fumble.
Darius Slay’s injury was the lone blemish for the Eagles defense, but Isaiah Rodgers filled in nicely and helped force the interception of Burrow.
The Eagles defense has continued to improve each week, which is a great sign moving forward.
“We just have to keep on going,” Rodgers told reporters Sunday postgame. “You know we’re going to go into the film room. We’re going to see what we did wrong. Because it wasn’t a perfect game out there. So, we are definitely going to celebrate this moment just for the day and keep on going forward.”
3.) Saquon Barkley doesn’t find the end zone, but delivers 100+ yards
Saquon Barkley didn’t conclude Week 8 with a touchdown, but the veteran running back did deliver his latest gem in the Eagles backfield.
Barkley registered 108 rushing yards on 22 carries, adding to his impressive total already this season. He’s recorded 100+ scrimmage yards in six of the first seven games of the season for the second time in his career (first done in 2018 with New York Giants).
Barkley joined LeSean McCoy (2011) and Wilbert Montgomery (1979) as the only Eagles running backs to produce 100+ scrimmage yards in six of the first seven games of the season, continuing to follow in star-studded footsteps.
The Eagles will certainly rely more on Barkley as the season goes on and it looks like the former Penn State standout is ready for the opportunities.
The Eagles will return to Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday for a Week 9 showdown with the 2-6 Jacksonville Jaguars.
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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