W2L4: How Bengals Grind Saquon Barkley, Eagles To A Halt, Get Back To .500

Eagles (4-2) at Bengals (3-4) Sunday, Oct. 27 at Paycor Stadium (FieldTurf CORE), 1 p.m. ET, TV: Ch. 12 CBS WKRC-TV (Cincinnati) Ian Eagle (PBP), Charles Davis (Analyst), Evan Washburn (sideline). Radio: Dan Hoard, Dave Lapham. WEBN-FM (102.7 FM), 700-WLW, ESPN1530.

CINCINNATI — Time for the Bengals to step up and prove they can beat a winning team.

The Bengals have lost by one point at the gun to unbeaten Kansas City on the road. They lost to Baltimore in overtime, 41-38, when they had a chance to win earlier in the extra period with a simple field goal.

They lost a shootout, 38-33, to a breakout Washington team. They’re 3-1 against the Patriots, Panthers, Giants and Browns.

Now, they welcome Saquon Barkley and the 4-2 Eagles to town.

This is the ‘White Bengal’ game that was initially set for a 4:25 p.m. ET and a cool “white out” look at dusk. Instead, the networks chose to swap out the Bears and Commanaders for that slot and the Bengals and Birds get moved to the traditional 1 p.m. window.

Almost incredibly, the Bengals have started 0-3 at home and 0-5 if you include the two preseason games. Sunday would be a good time to stop the bleeding.

Barkley leads a resurgent Philadelphia offense into Cincinnati as Barkley earned NFC offensive player of the week honors with 176 yards rushing on 17 carries with a touchdown in a 28-3 rout of the New York Giants last Sunday in New Jersey.

Barkley ranks third in the NFL with 658 rushing yards trailing only Derrick Henry (873) and Jordan Mason (667). The 658 yards are the most ever by a Philadelphia running back through six games. Barkley has three games of at least 100 yards rushing yards this season and ranks second in rushing yards per game (109.7), ranking only behind Henry (124.7).

“Body feels great, ready to go,” Barkley said. “In this league, you don’t hold onto games. I’m extremely critical of myself and I analyze myself as hard as anyone, and when it’s over and you review the game, you have to move on. We’ve got Cincinnati next and that’s going to be a physical game against a very good defense.”

Cincinnati’s defense has stepped it up in the last two weeks, allowing just 21 points total in road wins over the Giants and Browns. They have also held running backs Derrick Henry, Tyrone Tracy and Nick Chubb in check since getting their full complement of defensive linemen back healthy over the last two weeks.

“He’s very, very elusive and still strong when he runs, too, which is why he’s a great back,” Cincinnati defensive edge Joseph Ossai said. “He’s not just a shifty back who relies mainly on elusiveness. He can also stick his foot in the ground, run through you and be elusive. And soon as his feet hit the ground, he’s still running and he’s going vertical and doing what he needs to do. So, we need to get 11 hats on the ball and that will take care of that.”

Philadelphia has not allowed a TD in back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 11-12 of 2017, a mark that is tied for the longest streak in the NFL since New England during Weeks 1-3 of 2019. Philadelphia is also just the fourth NFL defense since 2000 to record at least five sacks while allowing 250-or-fewer yards and no TDs in consecutive games, joining the 2019 Patriots, 2014 Rams and 2000 Saints.

Cincinnati also has a player who garnered player of the week honors as Charlie Jones earned the AFC special teams player of the week with his 100-yard kickoff return against the Browns to open the game. Jones joined Lemar Parrish as the only players in franchise history with both a punt return and kickoff return for a touchdown.

“I thought that was a critical play in the game,” Taylor said. “We didn’t score in the first half on offense, so to have the 7-6 lead because of a big special teams play allowed us just to hang in and finally find our groove in the third quarter. It was really the play of the game, ultimately.”

“That’s what you have to do,” Burrow said. “Great teams find ways to win. I think we have a chance to be a great team. We’re not that yet, but there’s a lot of season left to play.”

The Bengals dodged two bullets last Sunday in Cleveland after safety Geno Stone (shin) and starting left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (right calf) suffered injuries and had to come out. But both practiced Thursday and Friday and are expected to start Sunday.

Tee Higgins could be a different story. The receiver showed up on Friday’s injury report with a quad issue and was limited Friday. He is officially questionable. If he can’t go, look for Andrei Iosivas to move up to No. 2 and Charlie Jones and rookie Jermaine Burton to possibly get more snaps.

The Bengals have never lost to Philadelphia in Cincinnati, going 4-0-1 in five previous games.

Here’s what to look for:

• When the Bengals have the ball:

The Bengals are going up against an aggressive Philadelphia defense coached by defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the same Vic Fangio who was the head coach in Denver in 2021 when the Bengals escaped with a 15-10 win. Linebacker Josh Sweat and defensive tackle Jalen Carter lead the Eagles with three sacks a piece. As a defense, the Eagles rank fifth in the NFL in yards allowed at 325 yards per game. Can Chase Brown and Zack Moss get the run game going early and keep the ball out of the hands of Barkley? The Bengals don’t want a repeat of the last two weeks where their offense sputtered entirely. They have one 47-yard broken scramble by Joe Burrow for a touchdown to show for their offense in the last two games.

• When the Eagles have the ball:

Everything starts with not letting Barkley getting a head of steam in this game. Barkley is different from Derrick Henry. Instead of making one cut and then heading upfield, Barkley is more elusive and can make multiple cuts in the backfield to evade would be tacklers. That’s why Joseph Ossai said this week that the focus is to get 11 hats to converge on Barkley and not chase him to open field, which is what the Giants did last week on multiple occasions as the former Giant ran for 155 yards on 17 carries. The Eagles are averaging 166.7 yards a game on the ground. In obvious passing situations, we could see some pressure from defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo to get to Jalen Hurts. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are capable of making killer explosive plays. The key matchup figures to be Cam Taylor-Britt against A.J. Brown, if CTB travels with Brown all day. CTB had great success against DK Metcalf last year against Seattle. Taylor-Britt said this week that while that success was nice he can’t assume that Brown will be the same matchup. Can the Bengals generate an interception or two?

• Bottom Line:

This figures to be a higher-scoring affair than the last two weeks. It also feels like a game where Chase Brown can break off not one but two explosive scoring runs if he can only get to the second level of the Eagles defense. Getting back to break-even with the prospects of the Las Vegas Raiders on tap coming to town next week should be inspiration enough. The Bengals need to find a way to finally win at home and they do.

Bengals 30, Eagles 27