Brizer told us this game was up for grabs by the team which wanted it the most…the will to win… and I have no doubt now that the Eagles (5-7) as a group wanted it more.
As I mentioned to Beano during the live broadcast of the game, during which I always have an alternate radio feed coming in from the WIP network, there was a strange audio bleed coming in from the sidelines of the Birds… you could hear their individual and collective enthusiasm as they fought back from a 14-0 deficit… You could even hear them cheering for their kicker Caleb Sturgis, whom I learned from the audio bleed they call “Sturgie”… it was eerie but enlightening… These guys were far from mailing it in… they were genuinely motivated to fight their hearts out and that is a belated tribute to Mr. Kelly, who somehow did not lose this team after a 3-game losing streak filled with big stinkers…
I don’t know if we go any further from here… after all, we’re still just 5-7 and at best tied with the Giants at 5-7 and we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if the Redskins can improve to 6-6…
We still have a lot of glaring deficiencies in offensive execution and defensive coverage, and the DeMarco Murray thing out of the shotgun formation ain’t working…
But we apparently have a heart.
I told you about the Fool on the Hill, and I told you this game was an optimum chance to take down the Patriots at their weakest personnel point of the 2015 season. But I knew even so it would not be easy.
Najee Goode scored on a blocked punt, Malcolm Jenkins returned an interception 99 yards for another touchdown and the Philadelphia Eagles held on for an improbable 35-28 victory over the Patriots on Sunday.
Darren Sproles returned a punt 83 yards for the Eagles’ second special teams touchdown, giving Philadelphia a 21-point lead before the Patriots came charging back.
Tom Brady threw for a touchdown to make it a two-score game and then, after an onside kick, ran it in from the 1-yard line to cut it to seven points with 3 minutes left.
New England’s second onside kick failed, but the Patriots (10-2) forced a third-down fumble to give Brady one more chance.
The comeback fell short when Brady’s passes bounced out of his receivers’ hands.
Losers of three in a row, the Eagles (5-7) had given up 45 points apiece in consecutive weeks heading into the game against the defending NFL champions and their Super Bowl MVP quarterback.
Now it’s the Patriots on a losing streak — their first back-to-back, regular-season losses since 2012.
After falling behind 14-0, Philadelphia scored five touchdowns in a row — two on special teams, one on defense and two on offense.
Then the Patriots rallied.
After scoring twice but failing to convert a second onside kick, the Patriots got the ball back anyway when Jamie Collins stripped the ball from Kenjon Barner on third down. But the final drive stalled when the New England receivers dropped several passes.
Darren Sproles had 66 yards rushing, 34 receiving and 115 more on punt returns — including an 83-yard touchdown that made it 28-14 with 4:18 left in the third quarter.
After missing the previous two games with a concussion and left shoulder injury,Sam Bradford completed 14 of 24 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
But the Eagles won this one with defense and special teams.
Just eight days removed from talk of an undefeated season, the Patriots’ injuries began to take their toll. Brady was without tight end Rob Gronkowski, top receiver Julian Edelman and No. 1 running back Dion Lewis, and playing behind a reshuffled offensive line that couldn’t protect him.
Brady took an uncharacteristic beating from the Eagles pass pressure group.
The Patriots took a 7-0 lead on a 4-yard pass from Brady to James White on the first play of the second quarter and made it 14-0 when Brady hit Danny Amendola from 11 yards with about 5 minutes left in the half.
But the Patriots, who possess in Stephen Gostkowski one of the best kickers in the league, decided on the ensuing kickoff to have special teams specialist Nate Ebner drop-kick the ball without a tee into no-man’s land. The ball floated behind the first line of defenders, where Seyi Ajirotutu fielded it at his 41. Perhaps this was a case of where Lord Sith Belichick’s arrogance got the best of him?
It took eight plays for the Eagles to go 59 yards, with Bradford connecting withZach Ertz from the 5 to make it 14-7. After stopping Philadelphia’s two-minute offense and forcing a punt, the Patriots took over at their 13 and picked up a quick first down.
But Brady was sacked and New England stalled at their 38 with 15 seconds remaining.
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.
Brady had thrown just four interceptions all season — and had never in his career been picked off by the Eagles. But he was charged with one when Jenkins grabbed a deflection and gave the Eagles a 21-14 lead midway through the third quarter.
When the Patriots were forced to punt on their next possession, Sproles broke free for an 83-yard touchdown.
The Patriots moved the ball thanks to a direct-snap, end-around pass to Brady that gained 36 yards — his first reception since 2001. I hated that play, it was a hot dog play and stank of Marcia-Marcia-Marcia Brady! But on the next play, Brady lobbed the ball into the end zone and it was picked off by Byron Maxwell.
Bradford led the Eagles on a 12-play drive to make it 35-14 on a 10-yard pass to Jordan Matthews.
Only then did New England rally.
Brady made it a 14-point game on a 14-yard pass to Scott Chandler, then the Patriots recovered an onside kick. Brady’s 1-yard sneak with 3 minutes left made it 35-28.
The ensuing onside kick attempt went out of bounds, and Philadelphia ran the clock down to just over 1 minute. On third down, with a chance to run off all but 20 seconds left on the clock, Barner fumbled. But the Angry Birds held on.
Final
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | 0 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
| NE | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
Scoring Summary
| SECOND QUARTER | PHI | NE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
TD
14:57
James White 4 Yd pass from Tom Brady (Stephen Gostkowski Kick)
10 plays, 80 yards, 3:46
|
0 | 7 | |
|
TD
7:47
Danny Amendola 11 Yd pass from Tom Brady (Stephen Gostkowski Kick)
8 plays, 80 yards, 4:53
|
0 | 14 | |
 |
TD
4:04
Zach Ertz 5 Yd pass from Sam Bradford (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
8 plays, 59 yards, 3:43
|
7 | 14 | |
|
BP
0:08
Najee Goode 24 Yd Return of Blocked Punt (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
5 plays, 25 yards, 1:24
|
14 | 14 | |
| THIRD QUARTER | PHI | NE | ||
|
TD
7:26
Malcolm Jenkins 99 Yd Interception Return (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
8 plays, 41 yards, 3:14
|
21 | 14 | |
|
PUNT
4:18
Darren Sproles 83 Yd Punt Return (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
6 plays, 17 yards, 3:08
|
28 | 14 | |
| FOURTH QUARTER | PHI | NE | ||
|
TD
11:09
Jordan Matthews 10 Yd pass from Sam Bradford (Caleb Sturgis Kick)
12 plays, 80 yards, 6:07
|
35 | 14 | |
|
TD
5:27
Scott Chandler 14 Yd pass from Tom Brady (Stephen Gostkowski Kick)
7 plays, 71 yards, 2:18
|
35 | 21 | |
|
TD
3:00
Tom Brady 1 Yd Run (Stephen Gostkowski Kick)
9 plays, 56 yards, 2:27
|
35 | 28 | |
Matchup EAGLES PATS
1st Downs 15 27
Passing 1st downs 8 18
Rushing 1st downs 6 8
1st downs from penalties 1 1
3rd down efficiency 6-14 7-17
4th down efficiency 0-0 1-2
Total Plays 58 86
Total Yards 248 427
Total Drives 11 15
Yards per Play 4.3 5.0
Passing 120 324
Comp-Att 14-24 30-57
Yards per pass 4.8 5.3
Interceptions thrown 0 2
Sacks-Yards Lost 1-0 4-24
Rushing 128 103
Rushing Attempts 33 25
Yards per rush 3.9 4.1
Red Zone (Made-Att) 2-2 4-5
Penalties 8-97 3-30
Turnovers 1 2
Fumbles lost 1 0
Interceptions thrown 0 2
Defensive / Special Teams TDs 3 0
Possession 25:44 34:16
| C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SACKS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Bradford | 14/24 | 120 | 2 | 0 | 1-0 |
| TEAM | 14/24 | 120 | 2 | 0 | 1-0 |
| CAR | YDS | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darren Sproles | 15 | 66 | 0 | 13 |
| Kenjon Barner | 9 | 39 | 0 | 19 |
| DeMarco Murray | 8 | 24 | 0 | 19 |
| Sam Bradford | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 |
| TEAM | 33 | 128 | 0 | 19 |
| REC | YDS | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Matthews | 3 | 36 | 1 | 20 | 6 |
| Darren Sproles | 4 | 34 | 0 | 16 | 6 |
| Brent Celek | 1 | 16 | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| Riley Cooper | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Zach Ertz | 2 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Kenjon Barner | 2 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Jonathan Krause | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Nelson Agholor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TEAM | 14 | 120 | 2 | 20 | 24 |
| C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SACKS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Brady | 29/56 | 312 | 3 | 2 | 4-24 |
| Danny Amendola | 1/1 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 |
| TEAM | 30/57 | 324 | 3 | 2 | 4-24 |
| CAR | YDS | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeGarrette Blount | 13 | 54 | 0 | 10 |
| Brandon Bolden | 3 | 22 | 0 | 14 |
| Tom Brady | 6 | 17 | 1 | 12 |
| Damaris Johnson | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| James White | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| TEAM | 25 | 103 | 1 | 14 |
| REC | YDS | TD | LONG | TGTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James White | 10 | 115 | 1 | 25 | 13 |
| Danny Amendola | 7 | 62 | 1 | 14 | 13 |
| Scott Chandler | 4 | 61 | 1 | 30 | 7 |
| Keshawn Martin | 3 | 45 | 0 | 19 | 8 |
| Tom Brady | 1 | 36 | 0 | 36 | 1 |
| Brandon LaFell | 4 | 27 | 0 | 12 | 9 |
| Brandon Bolden | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| TEAM | 30 | 348 | 3 | 36 | 56 |
| INT | YDS | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malcolm Jenkins | 1 | 99 | 1 |
| Byron Maxwell | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 2 | 99 | 1 |
| NO | YDS | LONG | TD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darren Sproles | 5 | 115 | 83 | 1 |
| TEAM | 5 | 115 | 83 | 1 |
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Thurmond III | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Malcolm Jenkins | 7 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Connor Barwin | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Mychal Kendricks | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Ed Reynolds | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| E.J. Biggers | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Graham | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Kiko Alonso | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Taylor Hart | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eric Rowe | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Najee Goode | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Byron Maxwell | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Bair | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Fletcher Cox | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Vinny Curry | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcus Smith II | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaylen Watkins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Trey Burton | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| DeMeco Ryans | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chris Maragos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bennie Logan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Beau Allen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Darren Sproles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 73 | 45 | 4 | 9 |
| TOT | SOLO | SACKS | TFL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Collins | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Devin McCourty | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Patrick Chung | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonathan Freeny | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Chandler Jones | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerod Mayo | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Duron Harmon | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Logan Ryan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Jabaal Sheard | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Matthew Slater | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Malcom Brown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Alan Branch | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sealver Siliga | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Darius Fleming | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rob Ninkovich | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nate Ebner | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Malcolm Butler | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon King | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tavon Wilson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Bolden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Akiem Hicks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM | 60 | 34 | 1 | 3 |
Amazing game, great win… I have to admit I saw it going out of control in the first quarter. But Beans talked me in from the ledge.
Boston Beans are a good thing…
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