So looks like another SUPER exciting Thursday night matchup is almost upon us with the Bengals taking on the Eagles. Not a lot going on here injury wise that hasn’t already been settled weeks ago. Lesean McCoy has officially been ruled out and appears on track to be shelved for the rest of the season. He just can’t seem to get into the return to contact phase of the post-concussion protocol and it just doesn’t seem worth it to rush him back at this point. Bryce Brown will continue to be the beneficiary of McCoy’s absence, but, although he’s done a great job, is coming off his worst effort of the season and needs to bounce back to make up for tha subpar showing. He’ll be stacked up against a Bengals defense that’s playing well right now and has held the last few backs to under 100 yards rushing. I think Brown has a solid game, though, and falls in line somewhere between his best and worst.
Another change that is going on its fourth week is Nick Foles starting in place of the concussed Michael Vick. Coach Reid has already stated that Foles will be starting for the rest of the season and Foles is coming off a monster effort in Week 14. If you need him, you could do a lot worse.
No major injuries for the Bengals on the offensive side of the ball. One guy who seems to be rounding into form coming off a knee injury is Andrew Hawkins. He looks strong in this his third week back and should shred a porous Eagles’ secondary this week. I expect the Bengals to bounce back from a poor effort against the Cowboys with 30+ in Week 15, with Hawkins and AJ Green both having great games and Benjarvus Green-Ellis finding the end zone in addition to 90+ on the ground.
Final Prediction: Bengals 33, Eagles 21
Ziad Dahdul 