Why the Eagles hope the floodgates are open for that after Sunday’s win

CINCINNATI – Eagles cornerback Isaiah Rogers was tackled by Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Joe Burrow in the fourth quarter. Rogers, who replaced the injured Darius Slayran with wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. When the ball came down, Rodgers knocked it away from Chase to safety CJ Gardner-Johnsonwho got both feet on the pass to complete the interception.

After weeks of missed interceptions and nearly recovered fumbles, the Eagles’ defense forced two turnovers in Sunday’s game 37-17 win. Gardner-Johnson’s interception and three forced fumbles, one recovered by a linebacker Nakobe Deanemphasized the speech. The Eagles preached patience with their turnover numbers, and their faith was finally rewarded.

The interception was a play the Eagles defense had been waiting for for a long time, and Gardner-Johnson thought it was the right time to celebrate, making sure to rally the entire defense and mime pouring a drink into each player’s cup in celebration of the elusive turnover the unit was seeking.

“Everybody’s drinking and everybody’s eating,” Gardner-Johnson said. “It’s just like when you go to a bar with your boyfriends. You are just proud of everyone because this interception would not have been possible without Zay. I’m just thankful to have my teammates. Everyone gets a little love and everyone gets a chance.”

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Dean, Zack Bownand the rest of the midfielders discussed who would be the player who would knock the ball out of the opponent’s hands. Bawn threw a punch that was collected by Dean. Dean said he knew the defense would start forcing turnovers, and that they would come in bunches, given how hard they worked to create them.

“We finally opened the floodgates,” Dean said. “It was like beavers building a dam, and we came with a river of takeout. We finally cleared the dam a little because we had a choice and had to grope. Congratulations to Zach on the forced fumble. We talked about who was going to get groped for weeks in our room and he was able to get it. All the takeaways and everything we’ve been working on has paid off so we’re just going to keep trying to get better and keep practicing and try to get more.”

Defensive tackle Jordan Davis has seen the defense begin to develop an identity that helps them achieve their goal of creating turnovers.

“We’re working on trying to find that identity,” Davis said. “We say we want to be the most physical team possible, but I think our identity is that we continue to be physical, continue to work, and then work like we don’t have an identity yet, like we’re still trying to find it . We’re just trying to keep that chip on our shoulder. Whether they love us or hate us, we want to be consistent, get better and just play together. When this is seen, the boys celebrate together. Everyone plays around the field. It doesn’t matter who makes the game; we just have to do it.”