NFL Recap (Cincinnati-Philadelphia)
Posted: Sun November 30, 1997 at 7:28 p.m. EST
PHILADELPHIA 44, CINCINNATI 42
Chris Boniol's 31-yard field goal on the last play of the game
helped the Philadelphia Eagles keep their playoff hopes alive
with a 44-42 comeback win over the Cincinnati Bengals in a wild
shootout.
Cincinnati had forged ahead 42-41 with 1:03 left when fullback
Brian Milne scored his third career touchdown, busting into the
end zone from one yard out. That score completed the Bengals'
63-yard go-ahead drive, which lasted 1:41. A key segment in the
drive was a pass interference call on Charles Dimry, on a throw
intended for James Hundon, giving Cincinnati 1st-and-goal at the
one, setting up Milne's TD.
Boniol's game-winning kick, which capped off Philadelphia's
five-play, 61-yard drive that began with 54 seconds left in the
game, extended his streak of consecutive field goals from 35
yards and in to 60. Boniol connected on all three of his field
goal attempts.
"Everybody likes it when you make it," joked Boniol afterwards.
"It's a thing that you've got to anticipate. Cincinnati has the
ball, we're still winning, but they're driving with a couple of
minutes to go. You know they may come down to score.
"You hope they don't, but you know it's possible, so you have to
anticipate that and get yourself ready mentally and physically."
The Eagles' victory, coupled with Washington's 23-20 loss to St.
Louis, pulled them into a second-place tie in the NFC East with
the Redskins at 6-6-1.
The teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense, with
Philadelphia accounting for 507 yards (196 rushing and 311
passing) and Cincinnati 497 (124 rushing and 373 passing).
"Standing on the sideline today brought back a lot of memories,"
said Philadelphia coach Ray Rhodes, referring to his days as a
defensive coordinator with the 49ers. "I was in a shootout once
before with Dan Fouts and Joe Montana, but this time I was on
the winning side of one. This is a big win for our football
team. You don't like to be caught in shootouts because they're
scary."
Cincinnati's Boomer Esiason, who took the starting job away from
Jeff Blake last week, completed 27-of-47 passes to eight
different receivers for 373 yards, four touchdowns and one
interception. Despite Esiason's heroics, the Bengals slipped to
4-10.
"You have to play for four quarters in this league. I don't care
if you're offense, defense or special teams, whatever the
situation is," said Esiason. "The other team is as competitive
and talented as we are. The thing is, when we scored that last
touchdown, we came over to the sideline and everybody's going
'way to go, way to go.' I'm like, 'this game's not over by any
stretch.'
"And the Eagles proved that point. It's kind of like turnabout
is fair play. I guess I got 'em last year (Easiason beat the
Eagles once last year while playing with Arizona) and I guess
they got us this year."
Philadelphia's Bobby Hoying also had a prolific game, connecting
on 26-of-42 attempts to nine different receivers for 311 yards,
four TDs and one interception.
On the Eagles' drive for the winning field goal, Hoying
completed 3-of-4 passes for 61 yards, with the key completions
going to Freddie Solomon for 16 yards on third down to the
Cincinnati 31, and Irving Fryar for 18 yards to the Cincinnati
13.
"Bobby (Hoying) is making the most of his opportunity," said
Rhodes. "He definitely has sparked the football team. When you
get nine recievers involved in the game, that's spreading the
ball around and keeping everybody involved and in the game."
Fryar had seven catches for 122 yards and Michael Timpson added
six for 73 yards and one score. Ricky Watters rushed for 98
yards and one touchdown on 20 carries for the Eagles.
Hundon caught five passes for 118 yards and a pair of TDs to
lead Cincinnati's receiving corps. Darnay Scott made six
catches for 99 yards and one score. Rookie Corey Dillon rushed
for 114 yards on 19 carries.
The Eagles appeared to be in command when they went ahead 41-28
with 5:29 remaining. Watters finished off the seven-play,
45-yard drive by bursting into the secondary and scoring from 16
yards out.
Cincinnati responded with a six-play, 67-yard drive in just 2:09
to pull within 41-35 with 3:20 left. Esiason and Hundon hooked
up for their second scoring pass of the game, this one for 13
yards.
Hoying passed for three touchdowns in the first half when the
Eagles built a 24-14 lead. He connected with Michael Timpson on
a 23-yard touchdown in the first quarter and connected with
tight ends Chad Lewis and Jimmie Johnson on scoring plays of two
and 16 yards in the second quarter.
Esiason hit Scott with a 10-yard touchdown and threw a 36-yard
scoring pass to Hundon in the first quarter for the Bengals.
After Boniol kicked a 25-yard field goal early in the third
quarter to increase Philadelphia's lead to 27-14, the Bengals
put together an eight-play, 90-yard scoring drive. Dillon
highlighted the drive with a 37-yard run and Ki-Jana Carter
capped it with a one-yard touchdown run.
The Eagles responded with a 10-play, 71-yard drive. Hoying hit
fullback Kevin Turner with a 23-yard touchdown with 1:44 left
left in the third quarter.
Esiason connected with tight end Tony McGee on a nine-yard
scoring play 5:47 into the fourth quarter to pull the Bengals
within 34-28.
"We knew what type of schedule that we had, and we knew who our
opponents in our division had to play and we thought that it
could go down to the wire," said Rhodes about the Eagles'
playoff chances. "We're hoping that its does go down to the
wire and we have an opportunity to get in."
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