The Philadelphia Eagles will face the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Eagles skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 8 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jalen Hurts, QB
The double Tush Push got Jalen Hurts home last week. He now has a rushing score or multiple touchdown tosses in five of six games. This team has an embarrassment of riches, which allows Hurts to sustain elite weekly value, even if he’s not a perfect product as a passer.
Cincinnati ranks 22nd in pressure rate and 30th in sack percentage. The Bengals aren’t likely to make Hurts uncomfortable, and with Saquon Barkley running as hard as he currently is, that puts him in a position to thrive as a passer.
I’ve bet this game to be the highest-scoring game of the day, which should allow for all interested parties to reach their fantasy-point quota.
Saquon Barkley, RB
My pick to lead the position in scoring the rest of the way had his way against his former employer last week (187 scrimmage yards and a touchdown), a day that could have been much bigger if not for a pair of Tush Pushes.
When things are going right for Barkley, it’s an amazing watch. He has a run of 55+ yards in three of his past five games, a home run-hitting ability that has guided him to not one, not two, not three, but four top-10 finishes at the position this season.
His featured role should allow him to dominate this week against a defense that, in seven weeks, has allowed eight running backs to score in double figures. Barkley has at least three red-zone touches in five of six games this season, putting him in a position to again be one of the most valuable assets in our game against the seventh-worst red-zone defense in the league.
Derrick Henry or Barkley for the rest of the season: Who ya got?
A.J. Brown, WR
The Giants play the Eagles twice a year, yet they thought press coverage was the play against A.J. Brown on fourth down. As expected, Brown was dancing in the end zone 41 yards later, courtesy of a dime delivered by Hurts.
Brown has played three games this season, and he’s been a top-10 option in all of them (TD and a 40-yard catch in all of them). He put together six straight 125-yard performances during the first half of last season, proving that he is as capable as anyone of stringing together these massive performances.
Dallas Goedert was inactive last week, and DeVonta Smith was ineffective. The sheer number of weapons this offense has when at full strength, for me, keeps Brown off the board of receivers that have a shot to lead the position in scoring moving forward, but his weekly ceiling is as high as any receiver in the game.
DeVonta Smith, WR
Smith sunk your roster last week (-2 yards), but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen the production lag from Philadelphia’s WR2. In the first half of last season, he had three straight sub-50-yard performances, and that season worked out just fine.
Patience is important, though context is, too. Smith isn’t just struggling to produce, he’s struggling to earn opportunities altogether.
Smith’s target shares, 2024:
- Week 2: 28.6%
- Week 3: 27.8%
- Week 4: 15.4%
- Week 5: 9.5%
Smith missed a game in the middle of that data set and has been unable to regain his traction as a weekly fantasy asset. Could this be a get-right spot?
I think so. I hope so. If he can’t get the job done against a defense that has allowed six receivers to clear 18 PPR points this season, he’s going to fall outside of my WR2 tier.
Dallas Goedert, TE
Goedert suffered a hamstring injury two weeks ago in the win over the Browns and it cost him last week. He has dealt with his fair share of injuries during his career (one full season on his NFL résumé with multiple missed games in each of the past four seasons) — which makes his status one to track.
Grant Calcaterra caught all four of his targets for 67 yards in Week 6 after Goedert left early, but he underwhelmed last week in a low-volume game for the Eagles’ passing game as a whole (one catch for five yards).
If Goedert is active, I’m playing him over the TE streaming options. He has a 15-plus-yard catch in every healthy game this season and faces a vulnerable secondary that is allowing the third-highest red-zone completion percentage. Moving forward, Goedert is a low-end TE1 once we get proof that this hamstring injury is in the rearview.
Philadelphia Eagles at Cincinnati Bengals Game Insights
Philadelphia Eagles
Team: Since 2022, the Eagles have been the best team in Weeks 1-9 (20-3, 87% win rate) but rank 12th in win percentage after Week 9 (9-8, 52.9% win rate).
QB: Jalen Hurts is coming off of a double Tush Push game, his 13th regular season game with multiple rushing scores since 2021, the most in the league.
Offense: The Eagles are still the only team yet to score in the first quarter this season. Philly’s six-game streak without scoring in the first quarter is tied for the longest streak to begin a season since 2000 (done most recently by the 2021 Jets).
Defense: The Eagles allow 9.3% of passes to the slot to result in a touchdown, the third-highest rate in the league (only the Texans and Colts have been worse).
Fantasy: You had more receiving yards than DeVonta Smith last week and with the Eagles allowing pressure at the highest rate in the league (46.1%, no other team is at even 43%), the down weeks could continue.
Betting: The Eagles are just 2-8 ATS in their last 10 road games against the AFC North (0-2 ATS in Cincinnati over that stretch).
Cincinnati Bengals
Team: The Bengals are 3-3 over their past six games, with their three wins coming against teams with five victories this season (Panthers, Giants, and Browns). The three losses came against teams on the other end of the spectrum (Chiefs, Commanders, and Ravens).
QB: Joe Burrow wasn’t himself when active last season – he completed just 29.4% of his deep passes with a 59.3 passer rating on such passes after consecutive seasons with at least a 50% completion rate and 107 passer rating. Through seven weeks this season, he’s completed 57.6% of his deep passes with a 129.1 passer rating.
Offense: The Bengals are blitzed at the second-lowest rate in the league (17.3%).
Defense: The Bengals own the third-lowest sack rate in the NFL (4.6% of dropbacks) through seven weeks.
Fantasy: Chase Brown received 60% of the Bengals’ rush attempts in Week 7, the third straight week he’s led them in carries. Brown’s percentage of team carries has increased six weeks in a row (every game since Week 2).
Betting: The Bengals are 0-3 ATS at home this season – they covered eight of 12 such games in the two seasons prior.