In the last Thursday Night Football game of the 2012 season, the Cincinnati Bengals head to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles on Sportsnet.

Programming alert: Watch the Bengals take on the Eagles on all Sportsnet regional channels at 8 p.m. ET /5 p.m. PT. | TV schedule

Thanks to a four-game winning streak before falling to the Dallas Cowboys on the last play of the game last week, the Bengals are in the thick of the division race in the AFC North.

Although games against the Steelers and Ravens in the last two weeks of the season will ultimately decide the Bengals’ fate, a winning result against the Eagles Thursday is needed to keep up with the other two teams in their division.

With playoffs out of the picture and injuries ravaging the team, a pair of rookies has taken over on offence for the Eagles as Nick Foles and Bryce Brown will be looking to give the Eagles their first winning streak since beating Baltimore in Week 2.

Bengals riding the ‘Red Rocket’

If the Eagles keep it close in the fourth quarter, Cincinnati will be ready. Bengals second-year quarterback Andy Dalton, who has led Cincinnati to four wins in their last five, has a fourth-quarter rating of 99.3, second-best in the AFC to only Peyton Manning. Dalton has thrown eight of his 25 passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Leaning on ‘the Law Firm’

The running game has been the key in Cincinnati’s recent resurgence. In the past four games, of which the Bengals have won three, running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis is averaging 109.3 rushing yards a game. Cincinnati is going to need to lean heavily on ‘the Law Firm’ if they want to win.

Eagles banking on rookies

The Eagles need the solid play of their two rookies to continue. First-year quarterback Nick Foles threw for a team rookie record 381 pass yards and accounted for three touchdowns last week in a remarkable comeback win over Tampa Bay, including a game-winning touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin as time expired. Rookie running back Bryce Brown has rushed for 150-plus yards and two rushing scores two of the Eagles past three games.

Bengals bringing QBs the pain

Foles will need to watch his back as Cincinnati leads the NFL with 42 sacks. Defensive tackle Geno Atkins leads the way with 10.5, tied for 2nd-most sacks by Bengal in one season since 1982 and leads all defensive tackles in the NFL with 21 sacks since 2010.

Bengals seeing Green

Bengals second-year receiver A.J. Green has improved on his spectacular rookie season with 10 touchdowns in 2012, leading the AFC with 17 scores since entering the league. Against a struggling Eagles’ secondary, Cincinnati will need a big performance from Green.

With crucial games coming up against the Steelers and the Ravens in Week 16 and 17, respectively, the Bengals season is on the line Thursday night when they face the Eagles. With a loss the Bengals playoff hopes will be on life support; with a win Cincinnati will temporarily grab hold of the second wild card spot in the AFC. The bottom line is that Marvin Lewis has to find a way to inspire his Bengals to pick up a vital road win on a short week.

Knowing that they’re likely facing wholesale changes in the off-season, the Eagles come into Thursday’s game with nothing to lose. With Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy still injured, the rookie tandem of Nick Foles and Bryce Brown will once again lead the Eagles’ offence. Foles is coming off of a 381 yard, two touchdown performance in last week’s comeback win over the Bucs. In the two games prior to a weak effort against Tampa Bay, Brown had run for 347 yards and four touchdowns. As talented as he is, Brown has a bad habit of fumbling the ball.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is not buying into the idea that the Eagles will be an easier opponent than the Cowboys based on their 4-9 record: “We have to go play error-free football to win over in Philly on Thursday night.”

Turnovers have been the Achilles heel of the Eagles all year long, heading into Week 15 leading the NFC with a whopping 29 turnovers. The Bengals have turned the ball over 21 times this season, but they do a far better job of creating turnovers on defence.

The Bengals have forced a total of 21 turnovers as opposed to the Eagles, who have created a league-worst 10. A big factor in the Eagles inability to create turnovers is their pass rush, which led the NFL last season in sacks with 50 but is tied for 29th with only 22 sacks in 2012.

On the other hand, the Bengals defence, led by defensive tackle Geno Atkins, leads the NFL with 42 sacks. The Eagles’ leaky offensive line, which has allowed 41 sacks, will have their hands full trying to keep Foles upright in the face of the Bengals league-leading pass rush.

The Bengals offence is built around quarterback Andy Dalton and receiver A.J. Green. Even though he had an off-game against the Cowboys last week, Green is still tied for the league lead with 10 receiving touchdowns. Dalton is third in AFC with 25 touchdown passes, behind only Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. The biggest change in the Bengals offence has been the emergence of a solid running game with BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

The Eagles have been ravaged by injuries this year. Tight end Brent Celek is one of five starters who will miss Thursday’s game because of various injuries.

#Bengals Inj Rept: OUT: Kirkpatrick; DOUBTFUL: Nugent, Peerman; QUESTIONABLE: M. Johnson; PROBABLE: Boling, Burfict, Dunlap, Maualuga, Skuta

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 12, 2012

#Eagles injury report: Celek, Coleman, McCoy, Patterson and Vick are OUT for Thursday’s game. Mathis and Maclin listed as probable.

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 12, 2012