3 Keys to a Philadelphia Eagles win versus Cincinnati in Week 3

3. The defensive line for the Philadelphia Eagles needs to get pressure.

Simply put, the Bengals offensive line is a weak one. Jonah Williams has looked solid at left tackle and Trey Hopkins is a solid center, but this is still a unit, as a whole, that can be taken advantage of. Michael Jordan (not the basketball legend) is just a second-year player and is prone to a lot of penalties and giving up a lot of sacks. Last year, in just 648 offensive snaps, he had six penalties and six sacks allowed.

Fred Johnson, who Cincinnati fans have seen just about enough of, is an undrafted free agent who hasn’t looked strong to start this year. He’s already committed a penalty and allowed a sack in just 92 offensive snaps. He looks lost at times. The fact that he’s still starting over Billy Price despite how bad he has played is not a good sign for Bengals fans.

Lastly, Bobby Hart starts at right tackle. Bengals fans are also tired of watching him week after week. He was a seventh-round pick in 2015 for a reason. The mental mistakes are constant when he’s on the field. With all of this being said, the Eagles need to feast on this thin offensive line. They are on their third defensive line coach in the past three years, and this is a matchup that the ‘Birds’ can dominate in.

Fletcher Cox needs to have a monster game as a pass rusher. Philly has seen him produce in the run game but now it’s time for some sacks. Javon Hargrave should be fully healthy now too and it’s time to see why this team paid him. Malik Jackson needs to continue to do his thing along with Josh Sweat.

Brandon Graham might be the most important cog in the Eagles defensive machine this week as he will probably match up with Hart most of the time. This needs to be a game like last year versus the New York Jets where the Philadelphia Eagles defensive line feasted and Brandon Graham stole the show with three sacks. He’s the leader of this group, and they need to get the quarterback down more. This is the perfect opportunity for them to make that happen.