Eagles-Bengals preview with final score prediction

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles are looking to win their third straight game and move to 5-2. The Bengals are trying to even their record at 4-4 after a rough start to the season. Here’s a closer look at the match, set for 1:00 p.m. (CBS) on Sunday.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Jalen Hurts. The quarterback only carried the ball 14 times last week, and despite going scoreless for the second straight week, he’s heard nothing but being a game manager and the Eagles can’t count on him to win game if he has to throw it too many times. Well, here’s what to consider: The Eagles are 10-5 since the start of last year when Hurts has had to throw the ball at least 30 times in a game.

Fred Johnson. A week after facing the Giants’ Brian Burns, the backup left tackle will start again, this time against potential game-breaker Trey Hendrickson.

DeVonta Smith. Head coach Nick Sirianni praised the way he “threw his body around” in the running game, but one catch for minus-two yards like last week? No way. That won’t happen in this game.

Josh Sweet. The quarterback went eight straight games to finish last season without a sack, but now has three straight sacks and seems to be finding his way. Sirianni called him one of the most physical guys on the team.

Quignon Mitchell. The Eagles’ rookie cornerback hasn’t given up a touchdown this season and has allowed just 17 receptions on 31 targets (54.8 percent), according to Pro Football Focus. Ja’Marr Chase will test him and possibly Higgins as well, although Higgins is listed as questionable with a quad injury.

Sydney Brown. You may have heard… the Browns twins will meet on opposite sides of the line of scrimmage, and Eagles safety Sydney is ready to put Chase in the sights and tackle him. This is provided that Sydney is playing. Last week, he got just nine snaps in his first game back from rehabbing a torn ACL suffered last January. Either way, it’s believed to be the first time the Twins have lined up on opposite sides of the ball to play against each other since Week 6 of 2008, when Tiki and Rondae Barber went head-to-head.

QUESTION

– Will this be the game where the Eagles find a way to score points in the first quarter? They’ve made it eight in a row without doing so dating back to last year.

-Can Hurts go three games in a row without turning the ball over? He only had three games last year where he did that.

– Will the “Eagles” be able to continue feasting with a big game? They have 10 games of at least 40 yards or more in a season in which they had just nine.

FORESIGHT

The Bengals’ defense ranks 22nd in the league, but their offense is eighth and averaging 25.4 points per game. The Eagles’ defense has looked much more consistent over the past two weeks and hasn’t given up a touchdown in nine straight quarters.

That streak would end, and another in the process, and it would be the Eagles who would go on to remain winless in Cincinnati in their franchise history.

BENGALS 27, Eagles 23

Season record: 2-4

More NFL: Cincinnati dual meet: The Brown twins are doing something for the first time since 2006