Eagles coach Doug Pederson on win over 49ers: ‘First place sounds really good’
The Eagles coach emphasized that with only a quarter of the season played, there's still a long way to go after Sunday's 25-20 win against the 49ers on the road.
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Doug Pederson took a moment after Sunday’s 25-20 win over the host San Francisco 49ers to reflect on his team’s new standing in the NFC East.
“Well, having played four games, first place sounds really good,” the Eagles’ coach said in his postgame news conference. “Right now we have a long season ahead of us and only the first quarter of the season is done and we got a long road ahead.”
He said he Eagles will continue the one-game-at-a-time mentality and said the win showed the character of his team.
» READ MORE: Carson Wentz, hobbled Eagles outlast 49ers as defense steps up with three turnovers in 25-20 victory
“These guys don’t quit, it’s a resilient group,” he said. “I’m so happy to be able to coach and lead them and it doesn’t matter what the adversity is, what they’re faced with these guys seem to rally around each other.”
He understands how difficult it was to go on the road and beat the defending NFC champions.
“This is a tough road game to come out here on the road, traveling East Coast, West Coast play on a Sunday night is tough,” he said. “It’s tough on the guys but they, they seem to find a way, and my hat’s off to them and I am excited for our guys.”
Quarterback Carson Wentz enjoyed his best game this season. He completed 18 of 28 for 193 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 37 yards on seven carries and scored on an 11-yard touchdown run.
The biggest play was the fourth-quarter, 42-yard touchdown pass to Travis Fulgham that gave the Eagles the lead for good, 18-14.
» READ MORE: Five takeaways from the Eagles’ come-from-behind win against the 49ers
Wentz said that deep ball to Fulgham was something they only worked on one time in practice.
“We repped that play once and it’s just cool, we broke the huddle and I told him to be ready,” Wentz said. “I’ve seen him with this team for a while now going up against our defense on scout team and what he does to our defense so I have been watching him to see what he’s capable of doing and I was just proud of him for coming out here tonight and making the plays when asked of him.”
When asked if they hit on that play in practice, Wentz said, “We did, so we are 2 for 2 on that one.”