The Patriots will look to rebound from their first loss of the season when they host the Eagles today at 4:25PM ET.
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Yet they found a way to beat the New England Patriots 35-28 on Sunday, getting two touchdowns on special teams _ a recovery by Najee Goode on a blocked punt that he returned 24 yards, and Darren Sproles’ 83-yard punt return _ and another on Malcolm Jenkins’ 99-yard interception return. So that’s two months behind.
With the win, the Eagles improved to 5-7 and snapped their three-game losing skid. The Eagles picked him off twice, including a 100-yard pick-six by Malcolm Jenkins on which Brady showed, once again, that tackling isn’t his strong suit. But the Patriots were only able to get one first down. Set up with a short field and, for the first time all game, a burst of energy, Sam Bradford’s eight-play drive culminated with a 5-yard rocket to Zach Ertz for a touchdown that trimmed the deficit to 14-7. An 11-yard pass to Amendola put the Patriots up 14-0 before the Eagles scored 35 unanswered points. The offense, questionable much of the season and doubtful the past month, needs to be probable, too.
They have now lost back-to-back games after Thanksgiving for just the third time since 2002. If both teams win out, they move to the next tiebreakers. When the Eagles want to get Sproles involved, the Patriots simply have not had an answer. The Eagles seem to be at wits end starting him, only to have to change the lineup when he exits, which has happened early and often. Moreover, Rob Gronkowsksi went down and he is expected to miss this game.
“It’s really a do-or-die situation”, Johnson said.
There aren’t many players that can take over a game on this team right now.
It’s insane to be thinking about this after two straight losses, but here we are. And given the overall struggles of the offensive line this season – I don’t care what Pro Football Focus says, they’re far from the best run blocking team in the league – not all the blame should be placed on Murray. The fact that Brady threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns is beyond impressive, even if he needed 56 attempts to get there.
But Brady was sacked and New England stalled at their 38 with 15 seconds remaining.
But the key point is that homefield advantage is no longer in the Patriots full control.
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The Eagles need only follow the scripts of the Jets and the Bills to make Brady, who enjoys throwing the ball over the middle, uncomfortable.
