Hogs Haven
Links to stories, pods and pictures to help you keep up with NFC East and the NFL in general
Eagles storyline to watch: The Eagles rushed the ball a combined 81 times over the past two games — 10 more than the next-closest team — for 385 total yards (192.5 per game). RB Saquon Barkley is second to only the Ravens’ Derrick Henry in rushing yards per game (109.7) and is coming off a 176-yard performance against his former team, the Giants. Cincinnati has yielded 136 rushing yards per game and has given up the second-most rushing first downs (65). — Tim McManus
Bengals storyline to watch: Cincinnati’s offense is looking to rebound after a rough couple of weeks. In back-to-back wins, the Bengals have scored touchdowns on 16.7% of their drives, which was half of the team’s rate from Weeks 1 through 5. Philadelphia’s defense ranks 10th in fewest points allowed per drive. — Ben Baby
Stat to know: Since 2022, the Eagles’ A.J. Brown and Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase are among the top four receivers in receiving yards after contact. Chase leads with 452; Brown has 394.
Fantasy X factor: Bengals QB Joe Burrow. He started the season with 8.0 fantasy points in Week 1 against the Patriots. Since then, he has averaged 21.2 fantasy points per game. The Eagles’ defense held Daniel Jones to 5.9 points in Week 7 and Deshaun Watson to 8.4 in Week 6, but it will face a tougher challenge against Burrow, Chase and Tee Higgins. See Week 8 rankings. — Moody
Betting nugget: The Eagles are 8-1 ATS in their past nine games when the spread closes between plus-3 and minus-3. Read more.
Cowboys storyline to watch: The stench from the 38-point loss to Detroit still lingers despite having the bye last week. The Cowboys are in the playoff chase, but they don’t have good recent memories of their trips to Levi’s Stadium — two losses, including 42-10 last season. They are 3-1 after the bye under coach Mike McCarthy. After a bad loss and tumultuous bye week, they need this win badly. — Todd Archer
49ers storyline to watch: In three previous meetings with Dallas, the 49ers have flummoxed Cowboys QB Dak Prescott. Prescott has a QBR of 41.6 in those games, which is his worst mark against any of the 16 teams he has played at least two times over the past five seasons. The Niners have successfully forced Prescott into turnovers, intercepting him six times to just three touchdown passes. As always, the Niners will need to win the turnover battle to win this game, as the Niners are 3-0 this season when winning the turnover battle and 0-4 when tying or losing it. — Nick Wagoner
Stat to know: The Cowboys have been outscored by 42 points...
