PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles aim to win their third game in a row and get to 5-2. The Bengals are looking to even their 4-4 record after a rough start to the season. Let’s take a closer look at the matchup, set for Sunday at 1pm (CBS).

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Jalen hurts. The quarterback threw the ball just 14 times last week and despite not committing a turnover for the second straight week, he hasn’t heard anything other than how he’s a game manager and the Eagles can’t rely on him to win games if he has to. throw it many times. Here’s something to consider: The Eagles are 10-5 since the beginning of last year, when Hurts had to throw the ball at least 30 times in a game.

Fred Johnson. A week after facing the Giants’ Brian Burns, the backup left tackle will start again, this time against potential game-breaker Trey Hendrickson.

DeVonta Smith. The receiver received plenty of praise from head coach Nick Sirianni for “throwing his body around” in the run game, but a catch for minus-two yards like last week? No way. That won’t happen in this game.

Josh Sweat. The defensive end went eight straight games without a sack last season, but now has a sack in three games and appears to be finding his rhythm. Sirianni called him one of the most physical guys on the team.

Quinyon Mitchell. The Eagles’ rookie cornerback hasn’t given up on scoring this season, allowing just 17 touchdowns on 31 targets (54.8%), according to Pro Football Focus. Ja’Marr Chase will test him and maybe Higgins as well, but Higgins is listed as doubtful due to his quad injury.

Sydney Brown. You may have heard… The Brown twins will meet on opposite sides of the offensive line, and Eagles safety Sydney will be ready to target Chase and tackle him. That’s provided Sydney plays. He played just nine snaps last week in his first game since recovering from the anterior cruciate ligament tear he suffered last January. Either way, it is believed that the twins will line up on opposite sides of the ball and play each other for the first time since Week 6 of 2008 when Tiki and Ronde Barber faced each other.

QUESTIONS

-Will this be the game where the Eagles find a way to score points in the first quarter? They went eight in a row without doing so until last year.

Can Hurts start three consecutive games without turning the ball over? There were only three games last year where he did that.

-Can the Eagles continue to enjoy the big game? They have 10 plays of at least 40 yards or more in a season and have only run nine of them.

GUESS

The Bengals defense ranks 22nd in the league, but their offense ranks eighth and is averaging 25.4 points per game. The Eagles’ defense has looked much more consistent over the last two weeks, not giving up a touchdown in nine consecutive quarters.

This streak will end and another streak will continue in the process, meaning the Eagles will remain winless in their franchise history in Cincinnati.

BENGALS 27, EAGLES 23

Season record: 2-4

More NFL: Seeing Double in Cincinnati: Brown Twins Do Something for the First Time Since 2006