0-2. Ugly. Ok time to move on. The Eagles stay home to host the 0-2 Bengals, although they may not be playing like a winless team. Before we dive into the game, let’s take a look at the Bengals’ 2019 ranks and their offseason moves:
2019 Ranks:
- Yards per game: 323.1 (26th)
- Passing yards per game: 228.3 (19th)
- Rushing yards per game: 94.8 (25th)
- Points per game: 17.4 (30th)
- Yards allowed per game: 393.7 (29th)
- Passing yards allowed per game: 244.8 (21st)
- Rushing yards allowed per game: 148.9 (32nd)
- Points allowed per game: 26.3 (25th)
Key additions
QB Joe Burrow (draft), CB Trae Waynes (free agency), CB Mackensie Alexander (free agency), S Vonn Bell (free agency), DT D.J. Reader (free agency), LB Akeem Davis-Gaither (draft [I had to write his name because he was a guest of Flippin’ The Birds in March]), WR Tee Higgins (draft)
Key departures
QB Andy Dalton (released), TE Tyler Eifert (free agency), LB Nick Vigil (free agency), OT Cordy Glenn (free agency), CB Darqueze Dennard (free agency), CB Dre Kirkpatrick (released)
Liam Jenkins doppelgänger
Seriously, look up Joe Burrow and find the best (how can you pick just one?) picture of Liam. They are twins separated at birth.
Burrow, the number one overall pick in the 2020 draft, leads the league in pass attempts with 97. Not really what you want to be doing to a rookie, but what the hell do I know? (re: Wentz, Luck). He is only three yards behind Wentz in the passing yards department and has a 3:1 TD:INT ratio to Wentz’s 2:4.
This is not saying Burrow is better than Wentz, he’s not. So pump the brakes on the accusations, buckaroo.
Burrow lit college football on fire last year with 60 TD passes and 5,671 passing yards. There are high hopes for the rookie as he looks to bring the Bengals back to the playoffs.
In last week’s 30-35 loss versus the Browns, Burrow went 37 for 61 with 316 yards, 3 TDs and zero INTs. He’ll look to build off that momentum versus a reeling Eagles secondary.
From the enemy
On the latest Flippin The Birds, we were joined by Cincy Jungle deputy editor John Sheeran to break down the matchup between the 0-2 teams. According John, the matchup to watch is the Eagles’ defensive line vs the Bengals offensive line:
It’s the Eagles pass rush that would worry me if I were a member of the Bengals organization. I think it was just released today that Brandon [Graham] and Malik Jackson are top ten at their respective positions in pass rush win rate. Sweat is looking like the player that a lot of us thought he was going to be coming out of that 2018 NFL draft.
Of course the guy we didn’t mention is Fletcher Cox who I think is a better defensive tackle, when healthy, than Geno Atkins at this point in their respective careers. So that defensive line still scares the crap out of me and the fact that the Bengals offensive line still looks like the worst in the league, I think it’s the biggest overall mismatch of this game…
According to Football Outsiders, the Bengals’ offensive line ranks 27th in pass protection. Washington is worse, however, and the Eagles were able to keep the passing yards down, but we won’t talk about the end result.
If there was any game for the Eagles defensive line to get going, it’s this one.
For a brief history and predictions, check out the next page.
Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire
