Eagles Postgame Report: Birds Roll In Second Half Against Cincinnati

The Eagles played earlier on Sunday, in part, because the once-thought contender Bengals are currently a garbage team with four losses already.

That didn’t matter to the Eagles, however, as their defense allowed a drive that took over 10 minutes to wind 70 yards for a touchdown. Over the course of 17 plays the defense manage ONE single play where the Bengals did not gain yardage.

Jalen Hurts came out with his best start to a game of the season, but that ultimately didn’t matter to reach pay dirt. Following an awful play where the team essentially gave up yardage just to watch DeVonta Smith get blown up behind the line, Tyler Steen got called for a hold on a productive scramble by Hurts that setup 2nd and 22. The Birds got some back on a 7-yard dump to Barkley, but then Hurts essentially just threw the ball away and didn’t give Brown a shot in the end zone, so they had to settle for a field goal.

The Eagles defense then forced their own second and 22, but their defensive line was a bunch of failures. After allowing Burrow to escape from two or three should-be sacks, the team allowed him to break to the right sideline and make a simple pass to convert and continue their drive. Unfortunately, Cooper DeJean also missed out on what could have been an interception and, for some unknown reason, Avonte Maddox was brought back into the game and allowed another third-down conversion for what ended up being a field goal.

The Eagles offense came out for a second drive and looked like the usual first-half garbage for a punt before the Eagles defense finally managed a “stop” that was a forced long field goal (54-yards, so not incredible length) which was ultimately missed.

The Eagles, with their best field position of the game, made short passes to move the chains before many failures at the goal-to-go where they finally broke through on third down with a tush push that barely broke the plane for a touchdown to tie the game up at the half.

With the first drive of the half, the Eagles had an eight-play, 4:25 drive where every play moved the offense further down the field and resulted in a Jalen Hurts keeper in for a touchdown and their first lead of the game.

Unfortunately, a hot start for the defense stalled with a challenge to overturn a catch and then the entire defensive line whiffing on the sack on the following play. This allowed an eight yard QB scramble on 3rd and 8 and it ultimately resulted in another long (6:19) touchdown drive to tie the game up on a drive that should have ended in Cincinnati territory had the Eagles had a single competent lineman on the defensive line. 

The Eagles offense struck right back with a drive that took just three plays to go 70 yards for the touchdown off of huge receptions by Brown (23 yards) and Smith (45 yards, acrobatic rainbow). The defense then, without Slay, had their first three and out of the game where the Bengals decided to go for it and were stopped again.

With the ball already at the 37-yard line, the Eagles managed two rushed for 0 yards and then a six-yard pass after using a timeout to fix Jalen Hurts’ right cleat. Despite the garbage offense on the possession, the defense had already gifted the Eagles field position so Jake Elliott was able to put the 49-yard field goal through the uprights and push the lead to two scores for the first time in the game.

With the Bengals looking to get back into the game, they took a deep shot downfield that might have connected earlier in the game, but Isaiah Rodgers had come in to cover for Slay and he got his hands up to deflect the ball right into the chest of CJGJ. Gardner-Johnson will get the stat on his play sheet, but that was all thanks to Rodgers. It wasn’t good field position (their own 15), but it ensured no points for Cincinnati.

On the back of Barkley and a few slants to Smith, the Eagles burned clock and moved the chains to the one-yard line. With another tush push, they essentially sealed the game on a touchdown that put them up 17.

On the Bengals next play, they had a four-yard pass that Zack Baun punched out and the Eagles recovered.  With the second-team offense on the field for the second straight week (now with Hurts remaining at QB), they put up a field goal and ticked the clock down to 1:55 remaining, leaving the Bengals to run out the clock as the Eagles secured their first ever win over Cincinnati and advanced to 5-2.

Offensive MVP: DeVonta Smith

Smith was hardly used in the first half but ultimately had 85 yards to lead receivers. He had a beautiful catch for a 45-yard touchdown, but also kept the chains moving with some slants that kept the chains and the clock moving once the Eagles began focusing on running clock.

Defensive MVP: Zack Baun

Baun was again the leading tackler with 12 in this contest. He had a forced fumble that officially doomed the Bengals and was solid in his stops throughout the game.

Game Notes

• Former Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki killed the Eagles in the first half with four catches for 51 yards, each of which moved the chains and kept the Bengals offense alive.
• Be on the lookout for Darius Slay to post about his history of being good on social media following this game because the dude was straight trash. It appeared he broke up one pass in the first half and allowed about 7 into his coverage, part of what allowed a 10-minute opening drive by the Bengals to continue.
• More big plays into the area that CJGJ was supposed to be covering but didn’t several times in the first half.
• This was the first game in basically two years that Jalen Hurts actually looked pretty good to start the game. The team needs to see more of that if they are to be a truly competitive team.
• Really, why do the Eagles spend so much time on these plays at or behind the line to DeVonta Smith? They are failures and they should be using Dotson for exactly THAT. If Dotson is used consistently in that way, it will allow Smith to make make more plays with AJ Brown down field like that huge TD reception. How has the play calling not figured this out yet?
• The big fourth-down stop on the Bengals was a play made by Cooper DeJean to make sure he made a tackle in space on Chase, who is one of the league’s toughest receivers. That’s great news for the future of this defense.
• Saquon might not have been the offensive MVP in this one after what seemed like three quarters struggling to break off the long one, but he was absolutely effective and that shouldn’t be forgotten. He routinely pushed forward and got extra yards even after contact.
• In the third quarter, Quinyon Mitchell allowed a catch on a play he was called for a “hold prior to the pass” which only occurred because the receiver (Chase) ran directly into him and grabbed his neck to push off for OPI. That’s the kind of garbage that refs can’t allow to happen.

Injury Notes

• Lane Johnson went down with an apparent leg injury in the second quarter that did not seem good at all, bringing the Eagles down to just Jurgens and Dickerson left of their starting offensive line. Jack Driscoll came in for a snap but Lane returned the next play.
• Jack Stoll appeared to suffer a knee injury on his first target of the game in the third quarter. With Goedert already out, the Eagles don’t have anyone beyond Calcaterra healthy at the position. Albert O. could be returned from his injury but Stoll did return.
• Darius Slay went to the locker room in the third quarter and was replaced by Isaiah Rodgers. It was the first three and out the defense had all game and was actually a turnover on downs.

Philadelphia Eagles @ Cincinnati Bengals – October 27, 2024