“So yeah, I mean, look, it’s easy to sit here when you know the outcome of the play and say, ‘Well yeah, we could have done something else.’ Sure, yeah, no question”.
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THE RACE: The Eagles moved into a tie for second in the division with the New York Giants, just a half-game behind Washington, which plays Dallas on Monday night. Philadelphia, which had lost three straight and four of five coming in, begins a three-game homestand next Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
“We threw stuff at them and they handled it”, Ebner said.
New England started off the game slower than they would of liked. Eight plays after the dropkick Bradford connected on a 5-yard pass over the middle to Zach Ertz to cut the deficit.
New England scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes to get within one score but could not convert on a final possession.
Leading 14-0 in the second period, a curious special teams decision sent the Eagles off on a 35-0 run, the first time since Bill Parcells’ first season with the Patriots that the hometowners have given up 35 unanswered points. With 15 seconds left in the second quarter, a breakdown in protection led to a blocked Ryan Allen punt that was returned 24 yards for a touchdown.
Najee Goode scored on a blocked punt, Malcolm Jenkins returned an interception 99 yards for another touchdown and Darren Sproles took a punt return all the way as the Eagles (5-7) snapped a three-game losing streak.
On Sproles’ touchdown, he fielded the punt and turned the corner in front of the Eagles’ sideline. “That being said, the fact we continued to battle back, make some stops, recover an onside kick, score a couple of touchdowns when they knew what we were going to do in terms of throwing the ball – we were able to competitively somewhat give ourselves a chance”. But for now, things are amiss in New England and the Patriots need to try and get things right.
Brady threw for three touchdowns on the day, but only completed just over half of his attempts (29-of-56) while passing for 312 yards. The offensive line once again had bad moments, allowing four sacks of Brady and committing some costly penalties.
Brady’s second-quarter touchdown pass was the 421st of his career, breaking a tie with Dan Marino for third place on the all-time list. Following an exchange of punts, Brady did lead the Patriots on a 71-yard, seven-play drive which culminated in a 14-yard scoring pass to Chandler. It was Sproles’ fourth punt return for a touchdown as an Eagle, tying DeSean Jackson for the club record.
“Sometimes they don’t see in them what I see in them”, Kelly said of his players. “They showed it today”. They gave the fourth quarter a tremendous fight, but it was not enough.
Quarterback Tom Brady has been hit a total of 36 times in the last three weeks according to National Football League press box statistics, including 13 times in each of the losses to the Broncos and Eagles.
Brady was under pressure for the third consecutive game-this time by a defence that allowed 45 points to the opposition in each of the last two games.
James White led all receivers with 10 receptions for 115 yards.
NOTES: While the Patriots were without Gronkowski and LB Dont’a Hightower (both out with knee injuries), New England also got back Amendola (knee) and LB Jamie Collins (illness, four games).
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The Patriots won all those 50-degree games, by the way: beating Indianapolis 31-24 on Dec. 4, 2011 (51 degrees), Jacksonville 35-7 on Dec. 27, 2009 (55 degrees) and Houston 40-7 on Dec. 17, 2006 (52 degrees).
