Eagles secondary clamps down on Ja’Marr Chase and comes up with a big interception

CINCINNATI — The “C” in C.J. Gardner-Johnson might as well stand for “confidence.”

Halfway through the third quarter Sunday, Ja’Marr Chase had hauled in a 13-yard reception to put the Cincinnati Bengals deep into Eagles territory as they looked to tie the score at 17. Moments later, Gardner-Johnson had a prescient message for the star receiver that he punctuated by pointing his finger in his face:

“This ain’t the back end you want to play with,” Gardner-Johnson recalled saying after the game.

It was a bold statement in an uncertain moment for the Eagles defense. Chase had made six catches for 41 yards to that point, including a 2-yard scramble-drill touchdown reception he scored on the Bengals’ opening drive. He snared the 13-yarder despite Quinyon Mitchell committing a defensive holding penalty that was declined. Chase had two more catches on the drive, as Bengals running back Chase Brown — twin brother of Eagles safety Sydney Brown — scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to tie it at 17.

The Bengals had been moving the chains with relative ease all afternoon even without Tee Higgins, their No. 2 receiver, going 9-for-11 on third down through their first five possessions. But Gardner-Johnson is nothing if not bold. After the Bengals’ game-tying touchdown drive, the Eagles shut Chase down and kept him out of the box score, giving the offense time to muster a 27-point surge in the second half for the win.

“We’re a back end that’s feisty, we love to play ball, and we’re not going to take anything for granted and we understand what type of competitors we go against,” Gardner-Johnson said. “So we’re not shying [away] from nobody.”

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

Bengals coach Zac Taylor opted to go for it. On fourth down, Chase motioned out of the slot and to the opposite side of the formation before the snap with Cooper DeJean matched up against him in man coverage. The rookie cornerback stuck with the league’s leader in receiving touchdowns, perfectly reading the pass to Chase behind the line of scrimmage and bringing him down for a loss of 2 yards.

“We needed a stop,” DeJean said. “Big stop. But it’s me doing my job. That’s what it comes down to. Everybody doing their job on the defense. That was my job. That was my man, so I had to go make the tackle.”

DeJean downplayed his execution, but Gardner-Johnson was emphatic in his praise for the rookie cornerback.

“If you keep your eyes in the right spot like Coach tells us, you can’t get outflanked and little gadgets plays ain’t gonna fool us,” Gardner-Johnson said. “So, special play by Coop. That’s a veteran play. Those plays don’t happen all the time from rookies.”

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On their next possession, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow sought to connect with Chase once more. This time around, he attempted to pick on Isaiah Rodgers, who had entered the game at outside cornerback in relief of an injured Darius Slay (groin). Rodgers had inside leverage on Chase, who got a step on the 26-year-old cornerback down the right sideline.

But Rodgers recovered, leaping up and swatting Burrow’s underthrown pass with his left hand. Gardner-Johnson came down from his post over the top, corralling the 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 on the play. “I’d seen it last minute. I think once I finally turned around and realized I’d seen Ceedy [Gardner-Johnson] in my rearview mirror, I just patted it and I hoped he was right there. And he was right where he needed to be.”

With 4½ minutes to go, up 34-17, the Eagles defense continued to close out the game on the Bengals’ second-to-last possession. On the first play of the drive, Zack Baun forced the first fumble of his career by punching the ball out of the hands of Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki. Nakobe Dean fell on the loose ball, bringing the Eagles offense back on the field at the Cincinnati 33-yard line to tack on a field goal.

“My job was easy on that fumble recovery,” Dean said. “It’s a big thing for us, definitely, Zack getting that forced fumble and then Ceedy getting the pick, just because we’ve been harping on it for weeks. Takeaway circuits. Just harping on taking the ball away, and we were able to get two takeaways in the game. Now the floodgates is open, and we plan to continue to keep it up.”

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While the Eagles defense bent and broke early on, it tightened up in 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 leads the league in touchdowns and just knowing him and his quarterback got history and knowing that Burrow’s going to do what he can to get that guy the ball, and every quarterback would,” Rodgers said. “He’s a great receiver. Props to him.

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