Worth mentioning that this specific officiating crew, led by referee Pete Morelli, was the one reportedly moved by the National Football League from the Sunday night game to the Eagles-Patriots game in response to numerous errors in the previous week’s Cardinals-49ers contest.
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The team also closes out the season against the Redskins and Giants in back-to-back weeks, meaning they can either wrap up the division, or make up any ground they might have lost, in the final two games.
That doesn’t mean the offense and defense have been blame-free. Malcolm Jenkins finally hung onto an interception, and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown.
The New England Patriots almost dug out of a 21-point second-half hole in their Week 13 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. “(But) if you spend too much time patting yourself on the back, you’re going to lose focus”.
“When you play a team like Philadelphia that runs the up-tempo [offense], that type of thing, I think you have to have a little bit of awareness for that”. The Patriots looked as if they were caught off guard in this game, but don’t expect it to happen again this season.
“The team trusts you to put the ball in your hands and make good decisions with it, and that was a awful decision”.
“Sometimes they don’t see in them what I see in them”, Kelly said of his players.
Prophetic, it turned out. But more importantly, it was Jenkins’ interception return and Darren Sproles’ 83-yard punt return in the third quarter that broke the game open, with a Bradford touchdown pass to Jordan Matthews giving the Eagles a 35-14 lead early in the fourth.
It took eight plays for the Eagles to go 59 yards, with Bradford connecting with Zach Ertz from the 5 to make it 14-7. The Patriots have been outplaying their opponents’ offensive lines this year. Eagles all-time leading rusher LeSean McCoy will step on to Lincoln Financial Field for the first time as a visitor and will be leading a Bills team trying to keep pace for a wild card in the AFC playoffs. Anytime you have a blocked punt and punt return for touchdowns you’re facing an uphill battle. The Patriots’ second straight loss delighted the Broncos.
None of these guys are traditional No. 1 targets, though, certainly not at the level Edelman and Gronkowski consistently display.
The New England Patriots (10-2) fell 35-28 to the (5-7) Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday evening at Gillette Stadium.
Add it up, and it was a forgettable game for special teams.
“I would say the biggest thing that they are doing recently and what they have done the last five weeks or so, is really just settling the game down”, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said of the Texans. New England was looking for a play, it worked once, failed the subsequent time. “I think everybody would love that”, Brady said.
“Ultimate competitor, he’s one of the best to ever do it”, Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph said, per the team’s official website.
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“It’s not anything that we’re like, ‘Wow, that didn’t go well, ‘” Kelly said.
