Bengals defense needs to take advantage of Eagles' offensive woes

The Bengals have only forced one turnover this season. Cornerback William Jackson III intercepted Baker Mayfield last Thursday night to keep Cincinnati's chances alive in the Battle of Ohio.

This defense desperately needs a spark. They may have found the perfect opponent to do just that.

The Eagles have turned the ball over six times this season. Five of the six have come from quarterback Carson Wentz (four interceptions, one fumble). All four of his interceptions have come on first down.

Wentz has not been himself to start the season. He is the second lowest-graded quarterback (33rd) according to Pro Football Focus. His QB rating is just 64.4 percent, which second-worst in the league.

He leads the NFL with 20 off-target throws this season. Fifteen of those throws have come from a clean pocket.

Jessie Bates could benefit most from Wentz’s inaccuracy this season as Bates been ranked as one of the NFL’s best coverage safeties so far, according to PFF.

#Bengals safety Jessie Bates has been one of the NFL’s best coverage safeties so far this season.

His stats and position rank through two weeks (via @PFF):

🔸81.5 coverage grade (2nd)
🔸39.6 passer rating allowed (T-2nd)
🔸0.13 yards/coverage snap (8th)pic.twitter.com/mTGOYrnRIO
— Evan McPhillips (@emcphil) September 22, 2020

Injuries to the Philadelphia offensive line have added to Wentz’s problems. Three of the five starting offensive linemen are on injured reserve. Wentz has been sacked eight times this season, all of which came in their first game against the Washington Football Team.

Their other turnover was a Miles Sanders fumble on the team’s opening drive last week against the Rams. Sanders, in his season debut, bounced back nicely from his fumble recording 95 yards and a touchdown on the ground and 36 yards in the air.

Washington and Los Angeles both capitalized on Philadelphia's mistakes en route to wins.

For a team that has allowed 370 rushing yards (third-most), it will be important for the Bengals to slow down Sanders. They need to force Wentz to throw the ball.

The Bengals could be without Geno Atkins (shoulder) and Mike Daniels (groin) again. They didn't practice on Wednesday. The team knows how much they could change things in the trenches.

"It would be a big help," defensive end Carl Lawson said. "I think that's pretty obvious for everybody else, too. It's not something that can't be fixed and it will be fixed."

Atkins’ counterpart, D.J. Reader, has stepped up big leading all defensive linemen in run stops (7) and ranks 8th out of 117 qualifying defensive linemen in run stop percentage (12.3) according to PFF.

Safety Shawn Williams was a limited in practice on Wednesday. Williams hasn't played this season after suffering a calf injury during training camp. He's another player that could help slow down the Eagles' rushing attack.

The Bengals travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles at 1 p.m. this Sunday.

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