Enquirer reporter Mark Curnutte analyzes the matchups and makes his prediction:

        Quarterback: Eagles

       Scott Mitchell will start his fifth game and is 2-2. He engineered the team's best drive of the season to tie Sunday's game against Jacksonville at 14.

        Donovan McNabb has accounted for 75 percent of his team's offense and has thrown or run for 26 touchdowns. He's one of the league's most valuable players.

        Running backs: Bengals

       Corey Dillon needs 104 yards rushing to reach 1,500. The Eagles will stack the line against him, but what's new? Every other team has, too.

        The team's two leading rushers are the quarterback, McNabb, and Duce Staley, who hasn't played since the fifth game. Enough said.

        Wide receivers/tight ends: Eagles

       One game doesn't make a career, but Danny Farmer's 100-yard performance Sunday has pumped life into the passing game. Now just add Darnay Scott to the Farmer-Peter Warrick duo for next season.

        Tight end Chad Lewis has 60 receptions and three TDs. Back-up tight end Jeff Thomason has five touchdown catches.

        Offensive line: Bengals

       Hats off to tackle Willie Anderson and guard Mike Goff, who will start their 16th games today. They've anchored the league's second best rushing attack.

        McNabb's ability to make something out of nothing by scrambling makes the offense better, including the line, which has still given up 43 sacks in spite of McNabb's mobility.

        Special teams: Bengals

        Special teams have improved. Young specialists Neil Rackers and Daniel Pope want coach Al Roberts to be rehired. Average drive start at 29.6 is fourth best in AFC.

        Kicker David Akers is third in NFC with 26 field goals and needs six points to tie team record at 116.

        Defensive line: Eagles

       Bengals line has 10 sacks total. The line is tough against the run, limiting offenses to 3.8 yards a carry.

        This explosive group is led by end Hugh Douglas, 15 sacks, and rookie tackle Corey Simon, 9.5 sacks.

        Linebackers: Even

       Takeo Spikes is one of the best players not in the Pro Bowl: 121 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions, one fumble recovery. He's been the one defender opposing offenses fear.

        Here's proof how much a winning team helps Pro Bowl selections. Middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter is a deserving NFC Pro Bowler with similar stats to Spikes.

        Defensive backs: Eagles

        Rookie cornerback Mark Roman gets his second start after having a team-high 10 tackles last week. DBs have only five interceptions.

        Eagles cornerbacks Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor have eight interceptions between them and are part of the NFL's eighth best pass defense, 188.1 yards a game.

        Coaching: EVEN

        Dick LeBeau was rewared this week for beginning the work of repairing the losingest NFL team of the 1990s. A win today, granted, a long shot, would make the Bengals 5-5 in their past 10 games under LeBeau.

        Andy Reid will be overlooked for coach of the year because the miracle Jim Haslett performed in New Orleans. But Reid has turned a 5-11 team his first year into a playoff team that will be 11-5 with a win today.

        The winner: Eagles

        The Bengals match up well with Philadelphia, but McNabb's ability to make plays on the fly will be the difference. The Bengals have to keep playing like LeBeau's job is on the line, which it no longer is.

        The score: Eagles 24, Bengals 17

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