Eagles punt away chance to win in overtime as mistakes, injuries mount in tie with Bengals

PHILADELPHIA – When the Eagles' punt team came on the field with 19 seconds left in overtime, a Cincinnati Bengals lineman was pointing at the Eagles and laughing.

It certainly seemed like a humiliating feeling for the Eagles after they had to settle for a 23-23 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday after a cavalcade of mistakes forced the Eagles to punt the ball away with 19 seconds left from midfield.

The Eagles had lined up for Jake Elliott to attempt a 59-yard field goal; a long one to be sure, but certainly not out of his range. Elliott had made a game-winning 61-yarder against the Giants in 2017.

But lineman Matt Pryor was called for a false start, moving the Eagles back five yards, to the Bengals' 46 yard line, setting up a 4th-and-12.

Rather than have any chance at all to win, the Eagles punted the ball away and settled for the tie. They are 0-2-1, their worst start since 1999 when the Eagles started 0-3 in Andy Reid's first season as head coach.

"I told them in the locker room after the game that we weren’t a very smart football team today," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. 

Pederson tried to explain the decision, both not to try a 64-yard field goal (keep in mind that if the Eagles had missed, Cincinnati would have taken over at the Eagles' 46 with about 12 seconds), or for the first down.

"We didn’t want to give them the ball towards midfield, or even a chance to for (the first down)," he said. "Fourth-and-long, incomplete pass, they get the ball with a short field, and they can kick the field goal and then win the game."

Then he added this: "That’s probably a decision I’ll look back on (Monday) and say, ‘Hey, I could have done something else.’ It is what it is. We’ll learn from it. I’ll learn from it. And get better."

It still left the players with an empty feeling as they trudged off the field. To a man, the players said it was Pederson's decision, and they agreed with it.

But it was another tough blow for a team already reeling from the loss of three more key players to injury in tight end Dallas Goedert (ankle) and wide receiver DeSean Jackson (hamstring) in the first half, and cornerback Avonte Maddox (ankle) in the second.

"It’s definitely very upsetting," safety Jalen Mills said about the tie. "When you talk about anger, it could go in a couple different ways. I think the biggest phrase is very upsetting. You see some good and you see some bad. At the end of the day, that’s not our standard." 

That's because the Eagles had to rally late in the fourth quarter just to tie the game against a winless Bengals team (also 0-2-1).

The Eagles trailed by a touchdown with 3:05 left in regulation when Carson Wentz took the Eagles down the field, scrambling for a first down on 3rd-and-9 to get to the Bengals' 19, then diving into the end zone on a 7-yard run with 21 seconds left to tie the game.

Once again, however, there was good Wentz, such as on that drive, and there was bad Wentz as he threw two more interceptions, giving him six for the season in three games. He threw just seven in each of the last three seasons.

In all, Wentz went 29-for-47 for 225 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. He missed running back Miles Sanders on a deep ball down the sideline early in the fourth quarter in which Sanders got behind his defender. It likely would have gone for a touchdown.

Wentz slammed his helmet on the sidelines after that pass.

He also completed a 30-yard pass to tight end Zach Ertz in overtime.

"You're going to miss a couple, make some plays," Wentz said. "Things happen. Obviously, I've got to be better. I've got to handle some things. Some are communication and some are just poor throws. I gotta be better, and I will."

Still, the Eagles also had some questionable strategy decisions.

Wentz attempted seven straight passes in the first half, despite the fact that the Bengals had the second worst run defense in the NFL, allowing an average of 185 per game.

Wentz was outplayed by Bengals rookie Joe Burrow, who went 31-for-44 for 312 yards and 2 TDs.

And yet, the Eagles still had a chance. 

The Eagles' offense finally came to life in the final seconds of the first half, as Greg Ward's 29-yard touchdown reception with 16 seconds left gave the Eagles a 13-10 lead. They added an Elliott field goal, his third of the game, this one from 54 yards out, to start the second half.

But the Bengals found their rhythm on offense. Burrow hit rookie Tee Higgins for a 4-yard TD to retake the lead. Wentz was intercepted for the second time, near midfield and the Bengals converted that into a field goal.

Later, the Bengals converted a 3rd-and-15 when Burrow hit Giovani Bernard on a short pass that he turned into a 42-yard gain. That put the Bengals into field-goal range, and they took a 23-16 lead with 3:05 left.

Wentz, however, led the Eagles back, helped by two defensive pass interference calls on passes to rookie John Hightower. Wentz scrambled for 9 yards on 3rd-and-6 to get to the Bengals' 19 yard line with about a minute left. 

He hit Ward on 3rd-and-3 to the Bengals' 9. And then he scrambled out of pressure from the 7, headed toward the end zone and dived in with 21 seconds left to force overtime.

Then came overtime. Neither team could score, and the Eagles were the ones who felt empty.

"Tying is no fun," Wentz said. "I don’t think I’ve ever been in a tie, so it was kind of an awkward way to end the game."

Arcega-Whiteside disappears

The Eagles were without wide receivers Jalen Reagor and Alshon Jeffery, and DeSean Jackson left with a hamstring injury late in the first half.

Still, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, the Eagles' second-round pick in 2019, didn't get a pass thrown his way. He was hardly on the field in the second half. 

Deontay Burnett, called up from the practice squad, caught a pass. So did veteran tight end Richard Rodgers, who was signed last week.

Arcega-Whiteside doesn't have a reception this season.

Hurts lines up at QB

The Eagles gave rookie Jalen Hurts a snap at quarterback early in the third quarter. He lined up in the shotgun, took the snap and ran to the left, picking up eight yards before getting knocked out of bounds.

Wentz was lined up out wide and was not involved in the play.

It was Hurts' first career touch in the NFL. He had another chance early in the fourth quarter. But Hurts fumbled the exchange with Sanders. Hurts recovered the fumble.

Hurts was listed as the Eagles' backup QB for the second straight game. Last week against the Rams, Hurts got into the game for three plays. He never touched the ball.

Cox plays through injury

Defensive tackle Fletcher played through an abdominal injury Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

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The Eagles had their entire defensive line intact for the second straight week with Cox playing. Javon Hargrave and Derek Barnett returned last week from preseason injuries.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.