Roob’s Observations: Eagles blow out Bengals in Cincinnati originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Three straight wins, two straight blowouts, a 5-2 record and the Eagles look like a real football team again.
The offense looked tremendous. The defense looked fantastic. And this just may be a fun season after all.
The Eagles went into Cincinnati Sunday and earned themselves a commanding 37-17 win over a dangerous Bengals team. It was impressive stuff all around.
Here’s our 10 Instant Observations as the Eagles have a three-game winning streak for the first time in almost a year.
1. This is a win the Eagles have needed for a long time. On the road against an elite quarterback and a quality team with all phases operating at a high level. We didn’t learn much from the Browns and Giants except that the Eagles could beat terrible teams with lousy quarterbacks. This was Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Trey Hendrickson and a scary matchup that the Eagles absolutely dominated. And despite blowing the home opener vs. the Falcons and despite getting embarrassed by the Bucs the Eagles find themselves at 5-2 with a three-game winning streak, and the conversation about Nick Sirianni might soon be about a contract extension instead of when he’s getting fired. You have to love how the Eagles have bounced back from some early adversity and taken their place among the NFL’s best. And say what you want about Sirianni, he’s exceptional at getting his team prepared, getting them confident and getting them to shrug off whatever adversity hits. Getting them to believe in themselves. And a season that a few weeks ago seemed like it was in disarray now has so much promise. The Eagles are legit. How about that.
2. Very encouraging stuff from the Eagles’ defense. After the Bengals opened the game with a 17-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, they really did look unstoppable. Joe Burrow was 11-for-12 on the drive for 60 yards with a touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase. But one hallmark of Vic Fangio’s defense is that they figure things out along the way, and coverage tightened up, pressure improved and they held Cincinnati to 10 points and just 210 yards. The Bengals were 6-for-6 on third down in the first drive and then 4-for-7 the rest of the way. Adjustments. The Eagles even got two 4th-quarter defenses for the first time in two years – since a win over the Steelers when Chauncey Gardner-Johnson picked off Kenny Pickett and Javon Hargrave forced a Pickett fumble. Over the last three weeks, this defense has held the Browns, Giants and Bengals to 29 points – the first time since early in 2016 they’ve allowed fewer than 30 points over a three-week span. Burrow targeted Chase 11 times and he had 54 yards. That’s huge. Great coverage, great pressure, great tackling. Second half, Burrow didn’t even complete a pass longer than 13 yards. This Bengals offense is dangerous, but their last eight drives netted just 10 points. That’s elite defense. This is one of the youngest defenses in the league and they’re only going to get better.
3. This was the best Jalen Hurts has looked in a long, long time. Probably since the first Dallas game last year. He completed 16 of 20 passes for 236 yards with a 45-yard TD to DeVonta Smith, three rushing TDs and for the fourth straight game no interceptions. He spread the ball around, he made great decisions, he got rid of the ball fast, he just looked super engaged and it seemed like his mind was working quickly. That’s three straight games without a turnover and four straight without an interception. When a quarterback can drive the ball down the field and be aggressive while avoiding turnovers, you’re going to win almost every time. Three games since the bye, Hurts is at 71 percent with four touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 3-0 record. He’s not forcing the ball anymore. He’s not rushing things. He looks as comfortable as he has since 2022 and Kellen Moore and Doug Nussmeier have a lot to do with that, but Hurts deserves a ton of credit for cleaning up the flaws in his game and getting back to doing the things he does well.
4. We need to talk about Cooper DeJean. That 4th-and-1 play he made on Ja’Marr Chase was just enormous. This is a 21-year-old kid playing playing in his third-career game on defense in the open field against a guy who’s made the Pro Bowl every year he’s been in the league while averaging over 1,200 yards per season. DeJean diagnosed it perfectly, got to Chase before he could turn upfield and brought him down with a grip on his leg so he couldn’t escape. DeJean has made such an enormous difference since Fangio put him in the slot in place of Avonte Maddox. He’s physical, he’s tough, he’s fast and he’s a sure tackler. He’s around the ball and actually should have had his first interception in the second quarter. This is a rookie who had played eight career snaps on defense before the Browns game, and he’s giving the Eagles next-level play very early in his career. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a personnel change make such an immediate impact. DeJean is a flat-out stud.
5. I can’t give enough props to Isaiah Rodgers for that 4th-quarter pass breakup that led to Chauncey Gardner-Johnson’s interception. The Eagles led 27-17 with 12 ½ minutes left and the Bengals had a 1st-and-10 near midfield when Burrow threw deep to Chase down the right sideline. Normally, Darius Slay would be defending Chase in that spot, but he had just left the game with a groin injury and Rodgers was out there in his place. After being forced to sit out last year with his gambling suspension, he’d played only 41 snaps on defense all year. But he was ready for the moment and you’ve got to love the way he didn’t back down against one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Rodgers had great coverage and batted the ball in the air, where Gardner-Johnson was waiting and picked up the Eagles’ first interception since Week 3. It’s a terrific play whoever makes it, but the fact that it was a guy who had just entered the game moments earlier and had played 41 snaps since 2022 makes it even more special.
6. Some days Saquon Barkley is just going to run all over the other team, and that’s awesome when he does. And then are games like this, where he just chips away, chips away, chips away, the yards don’t come so easily, and eventually he breaks through. You’ve got to give it to Kellen Moore for continuing to feed Barkley on those days when the yards aren’t coming so easily. He’s so freaking talented that just about every time it’s going to pay off. Through three quarters, Barkley had 15 carries for 51 yards for 3.4 yards per carry. Final drive in the fourth quarter? Seven carries for 57 yards. Barkley is so big and tough and powerful that he just wears down defenders. It seems like as the game goes on he gets stronger and stronger and by the fourth quarter he’s just steamrolling people. Barkley finished with 108 rushing yards despite the slow start and now has 766 rushing yards in just seven games, which is insane. He’s a beast.
7. Grant Calcaterra is really developing into quite a weapon in the receiving game, and he’s not much of a blocker – although the effort is certainly there – but he is fast and has soft hands and clearly has the trust of Hurts, who he spent a year with at Oklahoma in 2019. Calcaterra had 19- and 28-yard catches Sunday and with Dallas Goedert out since very early in the Browns game, he has seven catches for 130 the last three weeks, which is big-time production. This from a guy averaging 5.2 yards per game in his career going into the Cleveland game. Calcaterra only has 11 receptions this year, but that includes catches of 15, 19, 20, 26 and 34 yards. You’re always going to miss a guy like Goedert, who’s an elite blocker and a big-time receiver. But Calcaterra has really helped make up for his absence with a bunch of big plays. I’d like to see a role for him once Goedert does get back.
More coming …
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