PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nick Foles threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Riley Cooper and the Philadelphia Eagles rallied from a 10-point deficit to take a 13-10 lead over the Cincinnati Bengals at halftime.
The Eagles snapped a drought of 22 quarters without a turnover by recovering two fumbles in the second. Both led to field goals by Alex Henery.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis scored on a 1-yard TD run in the first quarter for Cincinnati.
Coming off a 20-19 loss to Dallas on a last-second field goal, the Bengals (7-6) looked to rebound against another NFC East opponent.
But the inspired Eagles (4-9) weren't going to be pushovers.
The Bengals entered tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last playoff spot in the AFC. Their game at Pittsburgh next week is far more important in the standings, however. Win or lose against the Eagles, the Bengals still get in by winning their last two games.
The Eagles are playing out the string in a lost season. They beat Tampa Bay on a last-second TD last week to snap an eight-game losing streak.
Foles, who threw for 381 yards to lead that comeback against the Bucs, hit Cooper for a score to cut it to 10-7. Foles connected with Jeremy Maclin on a 46-yard pass during the drive.
The Eagles then forced their first turnover since Nov. 5 against New Orleans. Brandon Graham sacked Andy Dalton, the ball popped loose and Trent Cole recovered at the Bengals 29.
An unnecessary roughness penalty on Adam "Pacman" Jones a few plays later gave the Eagles a first down at the 3, but Foles threw three straight incomplete passes. Henery kicked a 22-yard field goal to tie it at 10.
After the two-minute warning, Cullen Jenkins sacked Dalton and knocked the ball away. Darryl Tapp recovered and ran 4 yards to the Bengals 12. But the drive stalled at the 1 and Henery kicked a 20-yarder for the lead.
Foles made his fifth straight start for Michael Vick, who just returned to practice this week after sustaining a concussion on Nov. 11.
Just two plays in, the Eagles committed their league-leading 30th turnover. Maclin, who caught the winning TD against the Buccaneers, fumbled after a 6-yard catch. Carlos Dunlap recovered and the Bengals started at the Eagles 44. Green-Ellis ran 29 yards on first down and scored a few plays later for a 7-0 lead.
It got uglier for Philadelphia on the next possession. Mat McBriar punted into his own blocker, Daniel Herron picked it up and ran 3 yards to the Eagles 11. But Graham sacked Dalton and Cincinnati settled for Josh Brown's 24-yard field goal that made it 10-0.
The Eagles were again without running back LeSean McCoy and tight end Brent Celek also sat out. Both players also are recovering from concussions. McCoy missed his fourth straight game, but returned to practice this week with Vick.
___
Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobMaaddi
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Eagles lead Bengals 13-10 at halftime
This article
Eagles lead Bengals 13-10 at halftime
can be opened in url
http://richardbransone.blogspot.com/2012/12/eagles-lead-bengals-13-10-at-halftime.html
Eagles lead Bengals 13-10 at halftime
