Cincinnati Bengals 32, Philadelphia Eagles 14

Here are the top takeaways and highest-graded players from the Cincinnati Bengals' 32-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Quarterback grade: Andy Dalton, 89.7

Dalton shines in much-needed win for the Bengals

Dalton was very effective throwing to the every part of the field against the Eagles secondary, but was especially successful on his deep throws. He completed five of six passes that were targeted farther than 20 yards downfield, including one for a touchdown. Dalton’s QB rating without any pressure was 134.1 but even when he was under pressure it was still a very impressive 116.7.

Top offensive grades:

T, Andrew Whitworth, 81.9

G, Kevin Zeitler, 79.8

WR, Brandon LaFell, 77.9

HB, Jeremy Hill, 75.2

C, Russell Bodine, 74.1

Bengals’ pass protection was a key to their victory

The Bengals did not get a decent amount of production out of their run game and a large part of that can be attributed to their offensive line’s run blocking. The Bengals’ halfbacks only rushed for a combined 71 yards against the Eagles with 68 of those yards coming after contact as the offensive line failed to provide much of a push. However, the offensive line provided Andy Dalton with the time he needed to operate at a high-level as they only allowed a combined six hurries, two QB hits and zero sacks for the game.

Top defensive grades:

DI, Geno Atkins, 85.8

ED, Carlos Dunlap, 84.8

LB, Vontaze Burfict, 83.1

CB, Darqueze Dennard, 79.6

DI, Pat Sims, 79.5

Bengals’ defensive stars rise to the occasion

The Bengals’ big-name defenders played well in this important game. Geno Atkins graded well as a run-defender and as a pass-rusher as he provided his usual interior disruption generating two hits and four hurries on 44 pass-rushing snaps. Carlos Dunlap was able to add edge-rush production with one sack, two hits, three hurries and an eye-popping three batted passes on his 53 pass-rushing snaps. Vontaze Burfict graded positively as a pass-rusher and a run-defender but it was his coverage work that was the most impressive. Burfict was thrown at nine times and allowed six catches for 50 yards but added two interceptions and Carson Wentz’s QB rating when throwing at Burfict was only 41.2.

Quarterback grade: Carson Wentz, 53.5

Carson Wentz looked like a rookie in a loss

It was a rough day at the office for rookie quarterback Carson Wentz who made some very poor throws that were intercepted by Bengals’ defenders including one that looked like it was thrown into Bengals’ linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s chest. Wentz had a QB rating of only 75.5 when he wasn’t pressured but that plummeted to 25.2 on the 32 drop-backs that he dealt with pressure. Wentz only completed one of his six passes targeted 20 or more yards downfield but was sharper with short passes as he completed 23 of 30 passes targeted nine yards or less downfield.

Top offensive grades:

T, Jason Peters, 81.5

WR, Paul Turner, 74.9

G, Allen Barbre, 68.8

TE, Trey Burton, 64.0

TE, Zach Ertz, 54.3

Eagles’ offense stalls in Cincinnati

Very few of the Eagles’ offensive players graded well against the Bengals. The Eagles’ halfbacks only rushed for a combined 33 yards in the game with 30 of that coming after they were contacted by a defender. Carson Wentz wasn’t sacked but he was hit six times and hurried 10 times. Tackle Jason Peters was the highest-graded Eagles’ offensive player and graded positively as a pass rusher allowing three hurries on 63 pass-blocking snaps. Wide receiver Paul Turner was a bright spot and he caught six of his eight targets for 80 yards including 35 yards after the catch and Carson Wentz’s QB rating when targeting Turner was 106.3.

Top defensive grades:

ED, Brandon Graham, 85.3

LB, Jordan Hicks, 80.8

LB, Nigel Bradham, 79.7

ED, Marcus Smith II, 78.1

DI, Fletcher Cox, 77.6

Eagles’ defense unable to slow down Andy Dalton

The Eagles did not sack Andy Dalton and only generated two hits and seven hurries on him for the game. Brandon Graham had one of those QB hits on his 22 pass-rush snaps to go along with his five run stops. Fletcher Cox added two hurries and one batted pass on his 22 pass-rush snaps and one run stop. Marcus Smith provided one hit and two hurries on only 10 pass-rush snaps. Linebackers Nigel Bradham and Jordan Hicks generated four and two run stops respectively.

PFF Game-Ball Winner: Bengals QB Andy Dalton

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