And, just like that, it's Week 8. Gosh... Where did the time go? An opening-night win in Brazil versus the Green Bay Packers... A heart-stopping, late -game rally to send the then-2-0 New Orleans Saints into a tailspin... Crushing losseses to the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers... A recent two-game winning streak... This Philadelphia Eagles season has given us everything, and we're only six games into the season.
What might these next 11 games deliver?
We won't have to wait much longer to find our answer. The Birds meet the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8. The opponent leads the all-time series by a 9-3-2 margin. A fascinating QB duel is upon us. What might we expect from Jalen Hurts?
We're glad you took a moment and asked us. Here's how we see this one playing out for him.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense score a touchdown on their opening possession.
It's been a much-discussed topic. The Eagles hope to break to jinxes on Sunday. The first we mentioned, the losing streak in Cincy. The second involves their inability to score first-quarter points.
Philly hasn't scored during the first 15 minutes of any game since Julio Jones hauled in a TD pass in Week 17 of last season. We said this last week and the week before. We were wrong both times, but this is the week! For real this time...
Philly scores on their first drive of the game. Write that down.
Jalen Hurts falls just short of 300 passing yards but produces his 2nd-highest passing yardage total this season.
"Damn right"... That was Nick Sirianni's response when asked if the Philadelphia Eagles were now a running team. Based on how this team has performed on the ground versus when Jalen Hurts drops back to pass, that's music to most of Eagles Nation's ears.
Jalen threw 14 passes in Week 7 resulting in 114 yards passing. Now, there's a lot that goes into that result. Philly was up big. Jalen didn't throw a pass in the fourth quarter, but even had he done so, with a big lead, it's hard to imagine he'd throw much.
That changes this week. The Bengals can score too. Jalen will have to throw more if Philly is to win this game, but with a good running game, we expect him to fall short of tallying 300 yards through the air.
Still, if he's in that 280-290 range, which we expect, that would still be his second-highest passing total of the season. His highest came in Week 3, vis a 311-yard showing vs. New Orleans.
Jalen Hurts throws two passing TDs and runs for two more.
The numbers are the numbers. The Bengals' secondary ranks among the best in the league in allowed yards per attempt. Opposing quarterbacks are only averaging 6.4. Cincy gives up points though and will do so vs. Philly's offense.
Jalen accounts for four TDs in this one, two from his arm and two with his legs.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles enjoy a ten-point victory, their first win in Cincinnati.
Much has been made about the jinx, on this platform and others. Philly has never won in Ohio's Queen City, losing four and battling to a tie in 2008.
Cincy's streak ends here. Yeah, we said it, and we stand by the prediction. We originally thought this might be a 27-20 result in the Bengals' favor, but