Eagles defeat Bengals in Cincinnati – NBC Sports Philadelphia

Three wins in a row, two losses in a row, a 5-2 record and the Eagles are looking like a real football team again.

The offense looked formidable. The defense looked fantastic. And it could be a fun season after all.

The Eagles traveled to Cincinnati on Sunday and earned a commanding 37-17 victory over a dangerous Bengals team. It was impressive all around.

Here are our 10 immediate observations as the Eagles snap a three-game winning streak for the first time in nearly 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 that performs at a high level in all phases. We didn't learn much from the Browns and Giants except that the Eagles could beat terrible teams with terrible quarterbacks. It was Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Trey Hendrickson and a scary matchup that the Eagles absolutely dominated. And despite the blown home opener against the Falcons and despite the embarrassment at the hands of the Bucs, the Eagles are 5-2 with a three-game winning streak, and the conversation about Nick Sirianni could soon be about a contract extension instead of when he does get fired. You've got to love how the Eagles have bounced back from early adversity and taken their place among the NFL's best. And say what you will about Sirianni: He is exceptionally good at preparing his team, giving them confidence and getting them to overcome any adversity. Making you believe in yourself. And a season that seemed to be falling apart a few weeks ago is now so promising. The Eagles are real. How about this?

2. Very encouraging things from the Eagles defense. After opening the game with a 17-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, the Bengals truly seemed unstoppable. Joe Burrow was 11 of 12 on the 60-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase. But a hallmark of Vic Fangio's defense is that it clarifies things as time goes on, the coverage tightens, the pressure mounts and they hold Cincinnati to 10 points and just 210 yards. The Bengals were 6-6 on third down on the first drive and 4-7 the rest of the way. Adjustments. The Eagles even got two defenses in the fourth quarter 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 2016 that they have allowed fewer than 30 points in a three-week span. Burrow targeted Chase 11 times and he had 54 yards. This is huge. Great coverage, great pressure, great tackling. In the second half, Burrow didn't even complete a pass longer than 13 yards. This Bengals offense is dangerous, but their last eight drives yielded just 10 points. This is elite defense. This is one of the youngest defenses in the league and it's only getting better.

3. This was the best thing Jalen Hurts has seen in a long time. Probably since the first Dallas game last year. He completed 16 of 20 passes for 236 yards with a 45-yard touchdown to DeVonta Smith, three rushing touchdowns and no interceptions for the fourth straight game. He distributed the ball, he made great decisions, he threw the ball away quickly, he just seemed super committed and it seemed like his mind was working quickly. That’s three straight games without a turnover and four straight games without an interception. If a quarterback can drive the ball down the field and be aggressive while avoiding turnovers, you will 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 no longer forces the ball. He doesn't rush anything. 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 lot of credit for working out the flaws in his game and getting back to doing the things he does well.

4. We need to talk about Cooper DeJean. His 4th-and-1 play on Ja'Marr Chase was simply tremendous. This is a 21-year-old kid playing in his third career game on defense in the open field against a guy who has made the Pro Bowl every year in the league while averaging over 1,200 yards per season. DeJean diagnosed it perfectly, reached Chase before he could turn upward, and tackled him to the ground with a grip on his leg so he couldn't escape. DeJean has made a huge difference since Fangio inserted him in place of Avonte Maddox. He's physically strong, he's tough, he's fast and he's a sure tackler. He has the ball and 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 gives the Eagles a next-level game very early in his career. I don't know if I've ever seen a personnel change have such an immediate impact. DeJean is an absolute stud.

5. I can't praise Isaiah Rodgers enough for the pass breakup in the fourth quarter that led to Chauncey Gardner-Johnson's interception. The Eagles led 27-17 with 12 1/2 minutes left and the Bengals got a 1st-and-10 near midfield when Burrow threw a deep throw to Chase on the right sideline. Normally Darius Slay would be defending Chase in this spot, but he had just left the game with a groin injury and Rodgers was out there in his place. After being sidelined last year due to his suspension, he had only played 41 snaps on defense all year. But he was ready for the moment and you just have to love how he didn't back down against one of the NFL's best wide receivers. Rodgers had great coverage and hit the ball in the air, where Gardner-Johnson was waiting and caught the Eagles' first interception since Week 3. It's a great play whoever makes it, but the fact that it was a guy who just came in the game moments before and has played 41 snaps since 2022 makes it even more special.

6. Some days Saquon Barkley just runs over the other team, and when he does that, it's great. And then there are plays like this where he just chips away, chips away, chips away, the yards don't come easily and he finally breaks through. You have to give credit to Kellen Moore for continuing to feed Barkley even on the days when the yards don't come easily. He's so incredibly talented that it will pay off almost every time. Through three quarters, Barkley had 15 carries for 51 yards, or 3.4 yards per carry. Final spurt in the fourth quarter? Seven carries for 57 yards. Barkley is so big, tough and powerful that he simply wears down defenders. It seems like he gets stronger as the game goes on and just overwhelms people in the fourth quarter. Barkley finished the game 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 becoming quite a weapon in the receiving game, and he's not much of a blocker – although the effort is certainly there – but he's quick and has soft hands and clearly has the trust of Hurts, with whom he spent a year with at Oklahoma in 2019. Calcaterra had catches of 19 and 28 yards on Sunday, and with Dallas Goedert out very early in the Browns' game, he has seven catches for 130 over the last three weeks, which is a great performance. This from a guy who averaged 5.2 yards per game in his career before the Cleveland game. Calcaterra has just 11 receptions this year, but that includes catches of 15, 19, 20, 26 and 34 yards. A guy like Goedert, who is an elite blocker and a great receiver, will always be missed. But Calcaterra really helped make up for his absence with a string of big games. I would like to see a role for him once Goedert returns.

8. How about this Nolan Smith? The guy really looks like a football player lately. Smith had one sack in his first 21 career games and now has one in each Eagles win during this three-game winning streak. The 23-year-old Smith is the youngest Eagles player to get a sack in three straight games since Trent Cole in 2006, and it's so encouraging to see that kind of performance from a guy that a lot of people think too We had doubts that this would not be the case for a long time. And understandably so. He was the 30th pick in last year's draft and the production just wasn't there. But he stayed positive for the first year and a half, and in the last month something clicked for him. He never stopped working hard, never slowed down, continued to learn from Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat — and last year from Haason Reddick — and it all paid off. And it's not just the bags. Smith plays hard all the time and is quick enough to stay in coverage. Smith's emergence as a true edge rusher was a very encouraging result of this winning streak.

9. The Eagles beat the Giants by 25 points and the Bengals by 17. How rare is it to go two weeks in a row on the road and win by 17 or more points? Oh yes, that's rare. The last time the Eagles won consecutive weeks by 17 points or more was in 1966, when Norm Snead and Co. beat the Steelers 31-14 at old Pitt Stadium and then beat the Giants 31-3 at Yankee Stadium. That was 58 years ago. The only other time it happened was in November 1947, when they beat Washington 38-14 at Griffith Stadium and then the Giants 41-24 at the Polo Grounds. Three times in 92 years. It's not easy to win on the road and it's not easy to play five of the first seven games away and win 4-1, but winning by a total of 42 points in consecutive starts shows a team that is really determined and is really resilient.

More to come…

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