Eagles, Bengals Slog to First Tie Since 2002

As the early games drew to a close Sunday afternoon, FOX made the right move. The Eagles-Bengals game was going to overtime in Cincinnati, and most of the country was given a chance to watch Philadelphia's first possession.

After Donovan McNabb led a glorious three-and-out, avoiding his fifth turnover of the game, FOX's Curt Menefee announced that "NFL rules" prohibited FOX from showing the rest of the game. Just before CBS was about to start coverage of their doubleheader games, we had the plug pulled.

And we missed history.

The Eagles and Bengals fought, scratched, clawed, and bumbled their way to a 13-13 tie in Cincinnati. It marks the first tie in the NFL since November 10, 2002, when the Steelers and Falcons played to a 34-34 tie. That game was infinitely more exciting than this one.

In reality, it's probably the correct and totally justifiable result. McNabb was terrible, missing on 30 of his 58 passes, throwing three picks, and losing a fumble. The Bengals are just terrible in general. Despite an extra quarter of football, they ended up short of 300 offensive yards, and they missed on a glorious chance to win the game late in overtime.

A Philadelphia penalty for roughing the passer gave the Bengals great field position, and they were able to drive the ball to the Eagle 29. From there, Shayne Graham honked a 47-yard field goal try that would have won the game.

The NFL's blackout rules may be stupid, but they can also be quite merciful. This is four hours out of the lives of diehard Philly and Cincy fans that they'll never get back.

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