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Eagles Defeat Bengals 37-17 | POSTGAME NOTES & QUOTES

recap

The Eagles won their first game in Cincinnati Sunday when they pulled off their signature big play on quarterback Jalen Hurts' 45-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith that broke a 17-17 tie late in the third quarter and running back Saquon Barkley did the rest with 108 yards on 22 carries in a 37-17 victory.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow got off to a hot start, but he could only get 48 yards in the running game and finished with a 84.7 passer rating on 26 of 37 for 234 yards and just his third interception of the season.

The key series came in the last minute of the third quarter when the Bengals couldn't convert a second-and-two from their 38. They got one yard on two runs and on fourth-and-one, a short pass to wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase was blown up by Eagles rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean for a two-yard loss.

That set up Jake Elliott's 49-yard field goal with 13:34 left to give the Eagles a 27-17 lead.

With injured wide receiver Tee Higgins inactive, tight end Mike Gesicki stepped into the role and his first four catches for 51 yards converted third downs as the Bengals built a 10-3 lead 20 minutes into the game while running 16 more plays than the Eagles.

Burrow hit his first seven passes and converted his first seven third-down passes, the last one a remarkable escape from two potential sacks on third-and-22 that turned into Gesicki's 24-yard-catch-and-run. He finished the half with 100.9 rating on 16 of 23 passing for 169 yards.

With the game tied at 10 at halftime, it featured four scoring drives of at least ten plays.

NOTES

17-Play Opening March

Cincinnati received the opening kickoff and embarked on a 17-play, 70-yard drive that elapsed 10:04 of game time and ended in a two-yard touchdown pass from Joe Burrow to Ja'Marr Chase. Some notable facts on the drive:

· It marked the Bengals' longest touchdown drive on their first offensive possession (in terms of plays run) since Dec. 16, 2001, when they had a 20-play drive that traveled 91 yards against the Jets.

· It was the Bengals' longest opening drive, regardless of outcome, since Week 17 of the 2022 season vs. Baltimore, when they ran 17 plays and marched 63 yards to set up an Evan McPherson field goal.

· It was the longest opening drive ending in a touchdown by an NFL team this season and tied for the longest opening drive overall. The Chiefs opened their Week 3 game at Atlanta by driving 75 yards on 17 plays before the possession ended in an interception.

· The last time the Bengals had a possession of at least 17 plays that lasted at least 10 minutes was Week 16 of the 2021 season vs. Baltimore, when a second-half field goal drive went 68 yards on 19 plays and ate up 10:29 of game clock.

Gesicki Sets Up FG on National Tight Ends Day

Evan McPherson knocked through his 11th field goal of the season on a 27-yarder that increased the Bengals' lead to 10-3 in the second quarter. The kick was made possible by a pair of third-down catches by Mike Gesicki, beginning with a third-and-22 that saw him take a dump-off pass by Burrow and turn up field for a 24-yard gain. It was Gesicki's second-longest reception of the season.

Three plays later, Burrow laid out a pass on third-and-seven that Gesicki brought in with a highlight-reel one-handed catch to once again move the chains.

Gesicki tied his season high with seven catches, while his 73 receiving yards went in as his second-most on the year.

Burrow in Historic Company Through 60

Sunday marked Joe Burrow's 60th career regular-season game played. With his 112th touchdown pass capping off the game's opening drive, Burrow has the fourth-most TD throws in NFL history through a player's first 60 contests. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (145), Patrick Mahomes (144) and Justin Herbert (114) had more.

"White Bengal" Attendance Ranks No. 2 All-Time

The announced attendance figure for Sunday's game was 67,239, making it the second-highest attended home game in Bengals history. The figure was just 21 shy of the franchise record of 67,260 in Week 4 of the 2022 season against Miami.

Check out the best photos from Eagles-Bengals Week 8 matchup.

QUOTES

"The second half wasn't good enough. We didn't make enough plays, enough calls, lost the turnover battle. They scored on every possession in the second half. Offensively, we really walked away with essentially three turnovers. I thought we did a good job coming out with the touchdown drive to match them, and then turnover on downs, pick and fumble, and that's not good enough for us." - Head Coach Zac Taylor, on his team's performance

"We've put ourselves in a bad spot, but it's not a spot that we can't get ourselves out of. I know that we believe that. We're not even yet at the halfway point of the season. Again, there's going to be a lot of opportunity here. We've just got to stick together and keep working, find some wins and string it together." - Head Coach Zac Taylor, on the outlook of the season following today's game

"First half, we moved the ball well. We stalled out on the other two drives, made one field goal, missed the other one. First drive of the second half, went down and scored a touchdown. Then after that, didn't get it on fourth down, threw a pick and then we fumbled. It was those three drives really that put us behind." - Quarterback Joe Burrow, on what caused the offense to stall in the second half

"We've done it before. I know the players we've got in there. You've just got to treat it week by week. Any game is winnable. You've just got to go and do it." - Quarterback Joe Burrow, on why the Bengals can climb back into the AFC Playoff picture

"Just find ways to get off the field. I mean, third-and-16, we've got to get off the field someway, somehow. It should not be a conversion on a third-and-10-plus. We're better than that, and we've got to be better than that for us to have any shot. We just didn't play well today." - Cornerback Mike Hilton, on where the defense needs to improve

"The long one — that was all Joe, just extending the play and letting guys get open. As a defense, you can only cover for so long, so guys were able to get uncovered and make plays. I think a lot of that's (a credit) to the coaching staff, Brad (Kraghthorpe) and those guys, Zac Taylor and Pitch (Dan Pitcher) upstairs doing the third-down stuff, designing a lot of good concepts, understanding what the defense is going to show us and attacking it. They really deserve all the credit on that and we go out and do the easy part, make plays." - Tight End Mike Gesicki, on his third-down conversions

"It's a cool experience. Seeing him on the other side of the field in an opposing jersey was weird, but definitely a moment I won't forget." - Halfback Chase Brown, on playing against his twin brother, Eagles safety Sydney Brown

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