As the first quarter came to a close, it seemed as though the Eagles were well on their way to routing the lowly Miami Dolphins.
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But take a step back and consider the following: its impact on their playoff chances; the quality of their opponent; the expectations following last week’s win over Dallas; the way the game started; the way in which it slipped through their fingers; and, to top it all off, the other loss the Eagles suffered Sunday – their starting quarterback Sam Bradford.
“I mean, you have to do it every week”, Sanchez said. “That was the toughest part about it”.
The Birds offered no details on timetables on Bradford, who was unavailable after completing 19 of 25 passes for 236 yards and a two-yard first-quarter touchdown pass to Josh Huff.
The Eagles will get to stay at home again next week to face Jameis Winston and the Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Then, they’ll have a quick turnaround to head to Detroit to face the Lions on Thanksgiving.
The Philadelphia defense has shined as well this season, now ranked third in the league in run defense and ninth in defending the pass. Unfortunately, they lost Rookie of the Year candidate Jordan Hicks to a pectoral injury for the season.
Sanchez replaced Foles in that game and led the Eagles to a 31-21 victory. Nearly anyone could have caught the floating ball, and eventually it landed in Jarvis’ arms in the end zone with 14:55 left to play. Sanchez threw a pass toward Miles Austin that was intercepted.
“We were hyped after that”, Dolphins receiver Rishard Matthews said of Jones’ interception. “We’re supposed to win this game”. The Eagles field goal brought them to within one point of the Dolphins (20-19).
The Philadelphia Eagles (4-4) will host the Miami Dolphins (3-5) in one of four AFC-NFC matchups in Week 10.
A miscue on the ensuing kickoff, when Damien Williams ran out of the end zone after dropping the ball and was tackled at the 1-yard line, led to the Dolphins giving up a safety for a third consecutive game.
Earlier in the second quarter Eagles punter Donnie Jones had his boot snuffed by Zach Virgil on a jailbreak up the middle.
Running back Ryan Mathews was knocked out of the game with a concussion.
Then, the Dolphins got the break they needed. “I think we’ve got that straightened out”. With that, 10 weeks and nine games into the season, the Eagles were into their annual quarterback crisis. Sanchez started the rest of the season, going 4-4 as the Eagles’ starter. Murray and Ryan Mathews also saw carries on the drive, with Mathews punching the ball into the endzone on a one-yard run.
-The Eagles have for 693 yards in the last four games and are playing a Dolphins team that isn’t very good against the run.
Brent Celek hasn’t been used much in the pass game but had a big performance Sunday.
Sanchez and the Eagles had one final chance to re-take the lead, and had the ball at midfield with one minute remaining.
The Eagles, on the other hand, had no issues with stalled drives, immediately moving the ball with a 60-yard pass from Sam Bradford to Brent Celek on first down.
“It’s great for us to pat ourselves on the back right this second”, Suh said. “I was trying to anticipate where he was going and it didn’t pan out very well”.
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The only field goal Sturgis missed since the first one was a 50-yarder against Carolina after making one from 52 earlier in the game.
