Philadelphia Eagles Looks to Play Spoiler in Thursday Night Tilt with Bengals
By SBRForum.com
This week’s NFL Thursday night matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles will have an impact on the AFC playoff picture. The Bengals are in the hunt for a Wild Card berth and are favored over the Eagles by three points, according to the NFL odds.
Philadelphia returns home for a short work-week following a 23-21 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that was decided on the game’s final play. Rookie quarterback Nick Foles, who very much impressed in his fourth career start, hooked up with Jeremy Maclin on a one-yard pass for the game-winner to snap the Eagles eight-game losing streak.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati could have pulled clear of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the final AFC playoff spot with a win against the Dallas Cowboys, but instead the Bengals also felt the sting of defeat on the game’s final play. A Dallas field goal with no time on the clock erased a nine-point fourth-quarter Cincinnati lead and gave the Cowboys a 20-19 win over the Bengals. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Cincinnati
Philadelphia managed to beat the Bucs last week despite being held to just 29 yards rushing, thanks mostly to Foles and an improved effort from its beleaguered defense. The rookie quarterback continued to gain the confidence of his teammates by going 32 of 51 for 381 yards and two touchdowns. Perhaps even more importantly, Foles has now gone more than 10 quarters without throwing an interception.
Cincinnati features a balanced attack led by the passing combination of quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green and the running of BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Green will look to bounce-back from a rough game against the Cowboys that saw him uncharacteristically drop two key passes. Green-Ellis, meanwhile has come-on in the second-half of the season with three 100+-yard rushing games and could have a big role against the suspect Eagles defense.
The Bengals are certainly the team with more to play for in this matchup, but that means the Eagles could be dangerous if they play with the same “nothing-to-lose” attitude they did Sunday. Look for the Eagles to keep this one within the three-point spread.
