The Cincinnati Bengals lose at home to the Philadelphia Eagles 3-5, 0-4

CINCINNATI — Last week, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said he couldn't wait to sing the song — the “Who Dey” chant — in the Cincinnati Bengals' new locker room.

He'll have to wait at least another week after the Bengals lost for the fourth time in four home games, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles 37-17.

The Bengals took the first kickoff and gained 70 yards in 17 plays. But the 49 minutes and 46 seconds were largely dominated by the Eagles.

Let's take a look at the grades after the Bengals fell to 3-5.

Rush offense

Shot.

The last time Cincinnati running backs had 43 or fewer rushing yards on 17 or more carries was the second game of Zac Taylor's tenure in Cincinnati, a 41-17 home loss to the 49ers.

Chase Brown's 5-yard run on the fifth play of the game was the longest by a Cincinnati running back (he had another 5-yard run with 1:53 left in the game when both teams had just run out the clock).

Eight of Brown and Zack Moss' 17 runs went for 1 yard or less.

Joe Burrow's 8-yard scramble in the third quarter was the longest rush of the game.

Degree: F

Offensive happen

If you had known before the game that Burrow would complete more than 70 percent of his passes, be sacked just once and give explosive hits to Erick All, Mike Gesicki and Jermaine Burton, you would have thought it was a successful day.

But the absence of Tee Higgins due to a quadriceps injury meant a reliance on the supporting cast. And there was a four-pass span in which Burrow threw a fourth-down pass to Ja'Marr Chase more than three yards behind the line of scrimmage and then threw a crucial deep shot to Chase on the next possession in the fourth quarter, resulting in an interception .

Still, Burrow had some impressive throws, including a third-and-22 conversion, and the offense scored touchdown drives of 17 and 13 plays on its first possessions of each half.

Aside from the pass that resulted in an interception, Chase scored nine of his 10, but they only accounted for 54 yards.

His 6.0 yards per reception was his third-lowest mark in a game in which he had multiple receptions.

Gesicki played well in Higgins' absence, catching seven passes for 73 yards. He also lost a fumble, but the Bengals were down by 17 with 4:31 left.

Degree: C+

Rush defense

The first three quarters looked better than the last 15 minutes, but there were still issues with eye discipline and lack of control at the rim, as was the case with defensive end Myles Murphy when Jalen Hurts' 7-yard touchdown Run the opening crowned the drive of the second half.

Saquon Barkley had just 51 yards on 15 attempts in the first three quarters (3.4 average).

But after the Bengals' failed fourth-and-1, the defense's will waned, and Barkley and the Eagles celebrated despite being in obvious run situations.

Barkley had 58 yards on seven carries in the fourth quarter (8.1).

The final result was 161 rushing yards allowed, marking the fifth time in eight games that the Bengals have given up at least 149, tied for the most in the league with the Cardinals and Seahawks.

Degree: D+

Pass defense

The pass rush was non-existent as the Bengals only recorded one quarterback hit with no sacks.

It was just the fifth game in the Taylor/Lou Anarumo era in which the Bengals had no sacks and one or fewer quarterback hits (they are 1-4 in those games, with the only win coming against Carolina in 2022, as Cincinnati had a big lead). lead).

Despite the lack of pressure, the Bengals only blitzed Hurts on 20 percent of his dropbacks, according to TruMedia. They chased him three times in the first half and three times in the second half.

Hurts was 4 of 5 against the Lightning for 50 yards – including a 28-yard explosive to Grant Calcaterra on the first and 10 at midfield – and escaped the first pass with a 7-yard scramble.

Multiple blitzes had no effect on Hurts. On the Calcaterra he had 4.3 seconds to throw. And the Bengals applied pressure late, allowing Smith to score on second-and-7.

In 24 plays, the Bengals didn't blitz, Hurts was 12 of 15 for 186 yards and a touchdown – the 45-yard bomb for DeVonta Smith to Jordan Battle.

The Eagles beat the Bengals with six explosive pass plays, the second most allowed by Anarumo's defense this year (eight against Baltimore in Week 5).

Degree: D

Special teams

Evan McPherson missed his third straight field goal from more than 50 yards and fired a 54-yard hook to left as the Bengals had a chance to extend the lead to 13-3 in the second quarter.

Not only did the miss keep the Eagles within one score, it also gave them the ball to their own 44-yard line and they turned the opportunity into a 12-play touchdown drive to go into halftime tied.

The Bengals never fumbled in the game, so there's no reason to score here. And the Eagles only stumbled once.

Darrin Simmons' unit entered the game ranked third in the league, allowing just 23.9 yards per kickoff return, while Philadelphia's Kenneth Gainwell averaged 29.5 yards on two returns.

Degree: D+

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