The Eagles (0-2) are hosting the Bengals (0-2) at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon.
Here’s everything you need to know:
- 12 p.m.: Eagles Pregame Live on NBCSP
- 1 p.m.: Eagles vs. Bengals on CBS
- 4 p.m.: Eagles Postgame Live on NBCSP+
- 6 p.m.: Birds Outsiders on NBCSP+
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The CBS broadcasters for Eagles-Bengals are Spero Dedes (play by play) and Adam Archuleta (analyst).
Merrill Reese, Mike Quick and Howard Eskin will have the call on 94WIP.
The Eagles opened up as 6 1/2 point favorites at home against the Bengals, according to PointsBet.
The referee for this game is Adrian Hill. Hill is in his second year as an NFL ref and had two Eagles games last year. He was the ref for the Jets game in October and the Dolphins game in December. In those two games, the Eagles were penalized 19 times for 167 yards and their opponents were penalized 16 times for 111 yards.
NFL
Can Carson rebound?
All eyes will be on Carson Wentz this week after two dreadful performances to start the 2020 season. He’s ranked and rated as one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL through two games.
The Eagles have plenty of other issues but if No. 11 doesn’t start playing better, none of them will really matter.
Facing the No. 1 pick
The Eagles will get a chance to face No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow on Sunday afternoon. The LSU product has been very impressive early in his NFL career. Last Thursday, Burrow threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns against the Browns.
The good news for the Eagles is that since Jim Schwartz became their defensive coordinator, they are 6-1 against rookie quarterbacks.
The impressive thing about Burrow is his poise and pocket awareness. In those areas, he doesn’t look like a rookie QB. But he’s also dropping back a ton and his offensive line isn’t very good, so the Eagles will have chances to get after him at the Linc.
Need to avoid an 0-3 start
The Eagles haven’t been 0-3 to start a season since 1999, when Doug Pederson was the quarterback. Meanwhile, the Bengals are trying to avoid their third 0-3 start in four years.
The Eagles have been 0-3 just 11 times in franchise history and their best finish after starting 0-3 is 6-7-1. They have never made the playoffs after starting 0-3.
And in the modern era, 222 teams have started off with an 0-3 record and just six of them have made the playoffs — 2.7 percent. But teams with a 1-2 record have made the playoffs 21.5 percent of the time.
Obviously, there’s an expanded playoff field this year, so those percentages mean less. But the difference is still shocking. And I think we’d all agree if the Eagles lose to the Bengals to fall to 0-3, the season’s not looking real promising.