Joe Burrow completed nine straight passes after a deep throw to Tee Higgins went off the receiver’s finger tips, and two of those were for touchdowns to put Cincinnati ahead 14-7 with 2:28 left in the first quarter. Once Burrow and the starters on offense exited, though, Philadelphia took control for a 34-27 win Thursday at Lincoln Financial Field.
Burrow’s two drives couldn’t have gone much better. He faced third down just once, received solid protection outside a few pressures he easily got out of and dialed up all of his best hits. He hit Chase deep along the sideline to set up an eventual touchdown pass to Tanner Hudson on the opening drive, then teamed up with his favorite target again to cap a five-play second drive.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
On that one, Burrow threw a short pass to Chase just before taking his first hit, and Chase caught it, avoided a tackle and turned it into a 36-yard touchdown. The lone blips of the first-team offense’s outing were the incomplete pass intended for Higgins and a chop block penalty charged to starting right guard Lucas Patrick in the redzone.
Burrow finished 9-of-10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns.
The defense left much to be desired on the Eagles’ first drive, allowing three plays of 12 yards or more as Philadelphia drove 75 yards on nine plays – with just one third down – to score on a 1-yard “tush push” run by backup quarterback Tanner McKee on fourth-and-1.
Cincinnati was missing cornerbacks Cam Taylor-Britt and Dax Hill, defensive linemen B.J. Hill and Trey Hendrickson and Geno Stone was replaced by Dajahn Anthony after just four snaps. Kris Jenkins Jr. got the start at defensive tackle, while Myles Murphy and Joseph Ossai manned the edges, and DJ Turner, Josh Newton and Jalen Davis played the cornerback roles.
The Eagles had to settle for a field goal on their second drive after two passes of 15 yards or more to start the series, but Philadelphia mostly had its way with the second-team defense a well. That ended the day for the starters.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Jake Browning entered in the second quarter and played two quarters, but completed just 6 of 14 passes for 62 yards and nearly had three more interceptions than the one he recorded. Desmond Ridder replaced him in the fourth quarter and threw a touchdown pass to Hudson to cut a 14-point deficit in half with 3:33 left.
Cincinnati produced 146 yards of offense with Burrow in one quarter and 179 yards in three quarters without him.
NEXT GAME
Who: Cincinnati at Washington
When: 8 p.m., Monday, Aug. 18
TV: ESPN
Radio: 104.7-FM
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