Joe Burrow heads into Sunday's game (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) against the Eagles like he has every game this month: as the only NFL quarterback ranked inside the top 10 in every major passing category.
Asked after Wednesday's practice which stat catches his eye first, he said completion percentage. Probably not a surprising answer from the NFL's all-time completion percentage leader at 68.2%. And at 70.4%, he's the fourth of five quarterbacks this week breaking 70%.
"If you can just find completions, get the ball in your guys' hands, then you're going to give them more opportunities to go make plays after the ball, go score touchdowns, get the ball in your playmakers' hands," Burrow said. "It's not always going to be the coverage that you expect versus the concept that you call it for. It's can you still get a positive gain?
"Some of the best plays turn out to be two, three, four yard gains, but maybe you got pressure and you had to slide in the pocket. You get hit, but you find the back just trying to keep the ball in your guys' hands, let them give them more opportunities to make plays."
BURROW VS FANGIO
The last time Burrow faced Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was in a huge game during the 2021 Super Bowl run. Then the head coach of the Broncos, Fangio deployed his vintage make-em-go-down-the-field-and-force-mistakes, and Burrow displayed great patience in navigating a 15-10 Mile High win despite throwing for his fourth fewest yards with 157 yards. It did include a 56-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd, but that didn't come until the last play of the third quarter.
Burrow says Fangio is playing it a little differently, but the numbers suggest the same emphasis. While the Bengals have racked up five passes of at least 40 yards, the Eagles and their secondary boasting their two top draft picks on the corner in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, have allowed only two passes of at least 40 yards. They've also allowed only 15 passes of at least 20 yards, tied for fourth fewest in the league.
"He adapts year to year. A little more 2-high than he used to call," said Burrow of that lurking deep zone. "I'd say he mixes it up a little more than he used to. He keeps you on your toes, sends pressure here and there. You've got to be ready for a lot of different things. They mix it up front-wise, personnel-wise, corners, single-high, cloud. They do a good job disguising everything by making everything look the same."
EAGLES DARE
This thing could come down to who gives up the biggest play.
Last week against the Giants, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts hit wide receiver A.J. Brown for a 41-yard touchdown pass for their sixth play of at least 40 yards. Brown also has a 67-yarder and 40-yarder. They've also got plus-40s from wide receiver Devonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert.
In a reversal of last season, the Bengals are shutting down the big play and lead the league in allowing the fewest passes of at least 20 yards with 12. Last year they gave up the second most with 65. After allowing 11 passes of least 40 yards, this year the Bengals have allowed only three so far. They haven't allowed a 40-plus to a wide receiver in a month, since Washington's Terry McLaurin hauled in a 55-yarder.
"I just think the awareness, communication, not hurting ourselves to a degree. Certainly the veteran safeties have helped in that regard," said defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo before Wednesday's practice of Vonn Bell and Geno Stone. "I think it's a collective effort and making everybody aware of where we were last year. We have to make sure we continue. That's going to be huge."
Stone was carted off the field with a shin injury last Sunday in Cleveland and didn’t practice Wednesday. His presence has been felt.
"Just the little things. It's just the basic little things," Anarumo said. "Making sure everybody is in the right spot, passing over at the right time. Some of those things are just veteran driven."
There's a shot Stone can play Sunday. Jordan Battle is on deck after he's been rotating with Bell for two weeks and came off the bench for Stone last week. He got 14 plays in New York and 19 in Cleveland.
"He's becoming more consistent and that's the good news," Anarumo said. "He's just got to stay there. That's the key."
Left tackle Orlando Brown (knee), the other guy who left Sunday's game, went limited Wednesday.
HALL OF FAME CALL
Defensive end Sam Hubbard knows all about the Eagles' two huge tackles and what they're going to do Sunday.
He played with left tackle Fred Johnson for three seasons here from 2019-2021.
"A lot of size and a lot of talent," Hubbard said of the 6-8, 340-pound Johnson, who draws Trey Hendrickson and his four sacks in the last two games.
According to Next Gen Stats, Hendrickson has generated the fourth-most pressures (34) and is tied for the fourth most sacks (seven) in the NFL this season. He has accounted for 30.6% of the Bengals' pressures and 53.8% of their sacks, both the highest marks in the NFL.
Last week, Johnson allowed six pressures and one sack on 23 pass blocks against the Giants and has an NFL-high 20.6% pressure rate.
And, Hubbard went up against two-time All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson in 2020. And that's the matchup Sunday.
Potential Hall-of-Famer in his 12th season?
"No potential. Hall-of-Famer," Hubbard said after Wednesday's practice. "Amazing athleticism. Very good upper body strength. His awareness. His intelligence. He's s still playing at a high level. They'll try and come in here and run the ball. They ran the ball 45 times against a good Giants front ."
It's the Bengals' first look ever at Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who has been one of the NFL's most lethal runners and pass catchers since he was the second pick in the 2018 draft.
He's coming off a monster 176-yard game against a Giants defense the Bengals also popped off big runs. Barkley went for runs of 55, 41 and 38 last Sunday.
"Great back who plays with strength and vision," Hubbard said.
Hubbard is also coming off a big game with his first NFL interception to go with a sack, and he says he's feeling better and better as he bounces back from his hamstring injury in training camp.
One reason may be the last two games he's played his fewest snaps of the season, 49% and 54%, respectively, as backup ends Myles Murphy preps for his fourth game back since injury and Josesph Ossai comes off his best game in his 37 games as a Bengal, according to Anarumo.
And that's what he told Ossai in front of the defense earlier this week.
"He was impactful in the run game. You saw him shed a block. I think it was off (tackle Jedrick) Willis. And make a tackle. He did that multiple times," Anarumo said. "He was around the quarterback. I thought he got held on one of them that he could have had a sack. I was pleased with Joe and the way he played."
Murphy did something he never did before and had a pass defensed in the end zone when he dropped on a goal-line stand and knocked away Deshaun Watson's pass.
"I was hoping he'd try it. Gave me a chance to show my athleticism," said Murphy, showing why he was a first-rounder last year.
Although he's averaged 33 snaps a game since he came back from a knee injury that wiped out his first month, Murphy says he's still trying to get into a groove and is working extra before practice.
"Working on my strength," Murphy said. "Doing extra building up the hamstrings, the calves, the quads. I had one leg straight for so long and now I'm trying to find a balance with the legs. Just getting acclimated to bending the corner, getting off the ball, stacking and shedding. It's getting better."
