Eagles secondary pressures Ja’Marr Chase and delivers a big INT

CINCINNATI. The “C” in CJ Gardner-Johnson can also stand for “confidence.”

Ja’Marr Chase caught a 13-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter Sunday to move the Cincinnati Bengals deep into Eagles territory as they tried to tie the game at 17. Moments later, Gardner-Johnson had a prescient message for the star receiver that he pointed a finger in his face:

“That’s not the back end you want to play,” Gardner-Johnson recalled saying after the game.

It was a bold statement at an uncertain time for the Eagles defense. Chase had six catches for 41 yards to that point, including a 2-yard touchdown reception that he scored on the Bengals’ opening drive. Despite this, he captured the 13-meter Quignon Mitchell committing a protective punishment of detention, which was rejected. Chase had two more catches on the drive, and Bengals running back Chase Brown twin brother of Eagles safety Sidney Brown — scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 17.

The Bengals moved the chains with relative ease all day, even as Tee Higgins, their second baseman with the first five possessions, went 9-11 on third down. But Gardner-Johnson is anything but brave. After the Bengals scored a touchdown, the Eagles shut down Chase and kept him from scoring, giving the offense time to put up 27 second-half points for the win.

“We’re a tough back end, we love to play the ball and we’re not going to take anything for granted and we understand the competition we’re going up against,” Gardner-Johnson said. “So we don’t shy away from anyone.”

The secondary shined on those next three Bengals possessions, getting sticky in coverage, making key stops and coming up with a pair of sacks to help seal the Eagles’ third straight win. On the Bengals’ next possession after their touchdown, Cincinnati running back Zach Moss collided with Brandon Graham in a six-man front on third-and-1 for no gain.

Bengals coach Zach Taylor decided to go for it. On fourth down, Chase showed that he came out of the gap to the opposite side of the formation before snapping Cooper De Jean equaled him in reaching men. The rookie cornerback tied for the league leader in receiving touchdowns by making a perfect read of Chase’s pass behind the line of scrimmage and bringing him down for a 2-yard loss.

“We needed a stop,” De Jean said. “Big stop. But this is me doing my job. That’s what it all boils down to. Everyone does their job defensively. It was my job. It was my man, so I had to go make the tackle.”

De Jean played down his execution, but Gardner-Johnson was emphatic in his praise for the rookie cornerback.

“If you keep your eyes in the right place, as Coach tells us, you can’t go around the wing and the little gadgets won’t fool us,” Gardner-Johnson said. “So, a special Coop game. This is a veteran game. Such games do not happen all the time from beginners.”

On their next possession, Bengals linebacker Joe Burrow tried to connect with Chase again. This time he tried to pick up Isaiah Rodgers, who entered the game at outside cornerback in place of the injured Darius Slay (groin). Rodgers had inside leverage on Chase, who got the offense on the 26-year-old cornerback from the right side.

But Rodgers recovered, leapt up and left-handed Burrow’s tossed pass. Gardner-Johnson dropped from his high position to grab a deflected ball for the Eagles’ first interception since Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints.

“I kind of lost it in the sun,” Rodgers said of his ball tracking during the game. “I saw it at the last minute. I think when I finally turned around and realized I saw Siddy (Gardner-Johnson) in my rearview mirror, I just patted him and hoped he was right there. And he was exactly where he was supposed to be.”

With 4 and a half minutes to go, the Eagles defense continued to close out the game on the penultimate possession. On the first play of the drive, Zach Baun had the first fumble of his career, knocking the ball out of the hands of Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki. Nakobe Dean fell on the loose ball, bringing the Eagles’ punt back down the field at the Cincinnati 33-yard line for a field goal.

“My job was light on that botched recovery,” Dean said. “It’s a big thing for us, definitely, that Zach is going to force a fumble and then Sidy is going to pick, just because we’ve been agonizing over it for weeks. Takeout schemes. Just insisted on winning the ball and we were able to get two takeaways in the game. The floodgates are now open, and we plan to continue to do so.”

While the Eagles defense buckled and broke early, it increased coverage and held the Bengals to just seven points in the second half. Chase finished the day with nine receptions for 54 yards (6 per reception), his lowest single-game average of the season.

“I think he’s leading the league in touchdowns, and just knowing that he and his quarterback have a history and knowing that Burrow is going to do everything he can to get the ball from that guy, and every quarterback would do that said Rogers. “He’s a great host. Props to him.

“But I think it came down to what we were going to do.”