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PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Eagles did their part to secure a home game in the playoffs. The Eagles completed their remarkable turnaround by tuning up for the postseason with a lackluster 16-7 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. Coming off a 5-11 season and a last place finish in the NFC East, the Eagles (11-5) made a six-game turnaround this season and are in the playoffs for the first time since going 10-6 in 1996. "I think it's great. I think it's a compliment to the players and coaches," said Eagles coach Andy Reid of his club's turnaround. "It's a good group of people who have done a great job here. The players have trusted themselves and hung together. Through the tough times you didn't hear any griping going on. I thought they did a nice job." Philadelphia finished in second place in the NFC East and will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-6) in the wild card round next weekend. "All throughout training camp, that was one of our goals," Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "A team that could compete to go to the playoffs. To be in the playoffs is really not a big thing for us. It is something that we prepared for. You wont see a lot of guys in the locker room jumping around just because we got the playoff berth or that we won 11 games. That is something that we feel that should have been expected." "No one really gave us a shot to do this," Eagles safety Brian Dawkins said. "They were thinking that we'd probably go 8-8 or a game above or below .500 and here we are shooting for the playoffs and no one is satisfied." Scott Mitchell threw a 17-yard TD pass to rookie Peter Warrick in the fourth quarter for the Bengals (4-12), who finished in fifth place in the AFC Central. Coming off their bye, the Eagles came out strong and on their first possession, moved 61 yards in 18 plays. But the drive that used more than eight minutes on the clock stalled and David Akers kicked a 32-yard field goal. On the Bengals' ensuing possession, rookie Danny Farmer fumbled and defensive back Bobby Taylor recovered on the Cincinnati 39. It took just one play before McNabb found Charles Johnson with a 39-yard touchdown pass, giving Philadelphia a 10-0 advantage with 3:57 left in the opening quarter. A candidate to win the NFL's Most Valuable Player award, McNabb had and unspectacular finale and completed 23-of-40 passes for 198 yards with an interception. The Eagles were able to extend the lead to 13-0 with 66 seconds left before halftime when Akers capped an 11-play, 43-yard drive with a 45-yard field goal. Chirs Warren, playing his first game since signing to bolster the Eagles' running game, had a 10-yard run on the drive. Warren saw the majority of the work for the Eagles in the bakfield today and carried 15 times for 42 yards but also lost two fumbles. Warren will probably see more time in next week's playoff game after starting running back Darnell Autry suffered a high ankle sprain and did not return. Cincinnati could not get anything going on offense until Mitchell found Warrick with a 17-yard touchdown pass with 3:12 remaining in the fourth quarter. Mitchell also struggled for the most part, going 18-of-34 for 183 yards with an interception. Bengals running back Corey Dillon, who entered the game with 1,394 yards rushing, was held to 39 yards on 16 attempts today. Dillon, who is an impending unrestricted free, could have been playing his last game in a Cincinnati uniform. The Bengals could put the franchise tag on Dillon, meaning any team that signs him, would have to give them draft picks. After Warrick's touchdown, the Bengals tried an onside kick that Brian Dawkins recovered on the Cincinnati 38. McNabb found Pro Bowl tight end with a 15-yard pass and fullback Stanley Pritchett fron nine yards, setting up Akers' 33-yard field goal with 1:48 left. "We started slowly on both sides of the ball," Bengals coach Dick LeBeau said. "Once we got into the game, it was another one of those one or two play games, and those are the games that we're going to have to figure out how to win if we're going to get where we want to go."
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