The Philadelphia Eagles headed into Lucas Oil Stadium for their 2014 primetime debut and pulled off the heart-wrenching last-second win as they defeated Indianapolis Colts by the final score of 30-27.
It looked to be the Eagles way for the first few minutes as the Birds came out with a statement-making defensive drive, leading the highly-praised Andrew Luck to a quick three and out. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles offense moved quickly down the field, capping their drive off with a 31-yard Cody Parkey field goal.
As the half progressed, momentum quickly switched to Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. Luck made great use of his hard snap-count throughout the first half, drawing the Eagles off-sides three times. Their second drive of the game seemed to mirror the Eagles’ offensive tempo as Ahmad Bradshaw caught a one-yard touchdown pass to quickly put the Colts up by four.
The Eagles continued to quickly drive down the field, but could not finish their drives in the endzone. On his second field-goal attempt, Parkey missed his first field goal of the season from 38 yards. The Eagles again reached the redzone again, but the offense once again failed to get into the endzone, leading to a 23-yard field goal completion from Cody Parkey.
Luck and the Colts would continue their offensive attack, leading to a two-yard touchdown pass from Luck to Jack Doyle late in the first half. The Eagles would eventually get the ball back in the last minute, but Foles would air the ball out and throw a interception to Greg Toler to end the half. Foles finished the half 13/21 with 187 yard and an interception.
The Eagles offense got off to a slow start with an immediate three and out to give Indianapolis the ball back. The Colts would connect on a 27-yard field-goal to extent their lead.
The Eagles would not give up despite being down 17-6. On a following Eagles drive, the Eagles would draw a pivotal pass interference penalty that would set up a one-yard LeSean McCoy touchdown to completely swing the momentum in favor of the Birds.
To add to the attack, the defense did their part as Casey Matthews, who replaced the injured Mychal Kendricks, caused a Trent Richardson fumble. The fumble led to a successful Eagles drive which set up a 19-yard Darren Sproles touchdown after a crucial third and 15 McCoy conversion.
The defense continued to attack the Colts both physically and mentally as a perfect Malcolm Jenkins interception led to the six-yard Jeremy Maclin touchdown that tied the game at 27 a piece. As Eagles fans’ hearts began to beat at full speed, the rookie and former Colt practice player Cody Parkey nailed the game-winning field goal from 36 yards to give the Eagles the huge win and push the team to 2-0. The win keeps the Eagles at the sole holder of first place in the NFC East.
This coming Sunday, the Eagles will play their first divisional game as they face the restructuring Washington Redskins who are adjusting to the injury of their starting quarterback Robert Griffin III.
[Photo:Philadelphia Eagles]
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