Eagles didn’t go into ‘panic mode’ on defense in win against Bengals: ‘I’m proud of them guys’

During the first three quarters of Sunday’s game, Eagles gave up big plays to Bengals quarterback Joe Burrowwide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and the hard end Mike Gesicki. After the Bengals running back Chase Brown rushed for a four-yard touchdown to tie the score, 17-17, with four minutes left in the third quarter, momentum swinging in Cincinnati’s favor.

Eagles defensive coordinatorr Vic Fangio tried various tactics to slow down Cincinnati’s offense, but nothing worked. On three of Philadelphia’s last four defensive attempts, Fangio’s players found answers, making two critical stops and forcing two turnovers in a 37-17 Eagles win over the Bengals at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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The oldest player of the Eagles, a 35-year-old defender Brandon Grahamand one of the team’s youngest players, a 21-year-old rookie Cooper De Jeanmade big stops on back-to-back plays that led to a fourth-quarter screamer and game-winning drive.

With one minute, 26 seconds left in the third quarter, Graham put the Bengals away Zach Moss in the absence of a lead on third-and-1 against Cincinnati’s 39. DeJean then diagnosed a perimeter pass to Chase on fourth-and-1 and picked it off for a two-down. Four players later, an Eagles player. Jake Elliott scored 49 yards for a 10-point lead (27-17).

Graham, who has had big hits in his 15-year career, was glad DeJean made the fourth stop and other young teammates stepped up.

“It’s cool to have this young guy here,” Graham said after the game. “He’s here and he’s gaining confidence every week. I am proud of him. I’m proud of them, guys, because this game is not easy.”

After returning the ball to the “Bengals” there were still about 13 minutes left. Burrow started its next drive with two completions for 16 yards, but he made a costly mistake on the third play. From Cincinnati’s 46, he threw a deep ball to Chase that was intercepted by Safe Eagles CJ Gardner-Johnson. Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rogerswho came for Darius Slayexpertly knocked the ball into the hands of Gardner-Johnson.

Then, the midfielder Zack Bown knocked the ball out of Geziki’s hands, and Nakobe Dean recovered it with four minutes and 39 seconds remaining. The Eagles went on a 20-0 run to close out the game.

“We were pretty good when we won the turnover battle here,” the Eagles coach. Nick Sirianni said

The Eagles struggled to put the Bengals off the field before making the game-winning drive in the final 20 minutes.

The Bengals converted five third downs on the opening drive and scored a touchdown, picked up two third downs on the ensuing drive before missing a field goal on the next possession. Overall, Cincinnati converted 10 of 13 on third down and scored on three of its first five drives.

“Just a bad mentality,” Sirianni said. “Games start differently from time to time. No one panics when they fall and score. They had some good third down conversions. I think a lot of that (was) Joe Burrow is a great football player and Ja’Marr Chase was able to play a lot there and so was Gesicki.

“They have good players. We knew they were going to play. We talked about it last night, “Something good is going to happen today, and something bad is going to happen today.” How do you react?” It will always depend on your answer.”

The Eagles solved their problems and remained resilient in difficult moments.

DeJean also recovers from his mistakes. In the second quarter, he left Gesicki open on a 24-yard catch and run on third down. He was beaten several times in the news, but it did not shake his confidence.

After Graham made his third stop, it inspired De Jean to step up.

“Biggie’s a fun guy,” DeJean said. “He always encourages everyone. He plays (expletive). We know he’s going to make plays like that. So that’s cool to see.”