The obituaries on the Eagles season should be put on hold.
Advertisement
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin (98) sacks New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Foxborough, Mass. The Eagles beat the Patriots, 35-28. First place takes home $100,000! He wasn’t great, but his team scoring three non-offensive touchdowns made things easier on him.
But that was not a full strength Patriots team that the Eagles beat.
The Eagles now are a bit closer to winning the weirdest division in the NFL.
Washington will play Monday against Dallas.
(At) Buffalo 30, Houston 21: Tyrod Taylor threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Charles Clay with 1:53 left to lead the Bills. But still; with the lowly Philadelphia Eagles coming to town, the Pats, injured as they may be, would right the ship, get to 11-1 and still be in control of the AFC.
The Giants went scoreless in the second half and their offense looked pretty much like a one-hit wonder starring Odell Beckham, Jr. all afternoon. Wide receiver Miles Austin was inactive, with rookie Jonathan Krause playing.
The Eagles did not want because of those moves, but a squad that was listless in November was invigorated on Sunday. He only missed a game with his knee injury and returned Sunday with seven catches for 62 yards and a touchdown – and also connected with Brady for a 36-yard gain.
Sproles finished with 215 all-purpose yards, including 66 rushing, on 24 touches.
DROPS: The Patriots have had problems with dropped passes before, but never at such a bad time.
Special teams were also an issue.
Ryan Allen’s punt was blocked by Chris Maragos. Goode scooped it up and ran it 24 yards for the touchdown to send the teams into the break tied 14-all. It was a rare bad night for the Patriots third phase players, and coaches.
The Patriots would come back, but essentially fall short on a turnover on downs. The Eagles had a lead.
(At) Miami 15, Baltimore 13: The Dolphins intercepted a pair of deflected passes from Matt Schaub to score two touchdowns 20 seconds apart late in the first half. “They threw stuff at us that we didn’t”.
Brady could not respond from the interception with a score – only a punt.
-S Nate Ebner, who plays on special teams, added kicking to his resume on Sunday. The sideline erupted; the stadium silenced. The Eagles are preparing to take the NFC East, which is wide open after the New York Giants lost to the New York Jets. “They threw stuff at us that we didn’t”. New England’s second onside kick failed, but the Patriots stripped the ball from Kenjon Barner on third down to give Brady one more chance. The Eagles defense held to seal the win.
There’s still four games to play though and to try and predict what’s going to happen – especially after today’s major upset – is meaningless.
Speaking of this year’s rookie class of quarterbacks, both Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota found victories on the same day for the first time in their National Football League careers. Brady threw a 14 yard touchdown pass to Scott Chandler, and got a Tom Brady quarterback sneak after a Patriot onside kick.
The Patriots had just taken a 14-0 lead and the Philadelphia offense couldn’t get anything going at the time. They were helped by a 42-yard pass interference levied against Jenkins.
For the season, Gronkowski has caught 57 passes for 931 yards and nine touchdowns.
Then came the blocked punt, followed by the interception, followed by the punt-return touchdown.
Advertisement
The Eagles quickly turned around and scored on offense, extending the lead to 21 on a 10-yard pass to Jordan Matthews early in the fourth quarter.
