No gentleman’s agreement as Patriots throw the kitchen sink against Eagles in preseason game…

Tom Brady playing the entire first half—power screens demolishing the Eagles’ defensive alignments—blitzes exposing the Eagles’ pass protection and ultimately leading to Nick Foles’ early exit with a shoulder injury…

This was not your normal PS Game #2, although Doug Pederson and the Eagles approached it under the assumed traditional gentleman’s agreement that we shall keep this thing as vanilla as possible.

Welp, Bill Belichick said to hell with that.

Maybe it turns out to be a good thing, a wakeup call of sorts to the entire Eagles organization. No more “We Are The World” feel-good vibes for this world championship team…the “world” is out to beat us.

Tom Brady moved the New England Patriots with ease in their Super Bowl rematch against the penalty-prone Eagles, with a little help from running back James White and fifth-round draft choice Ja’Whaun Bentley.

In his first action since losing in the NFL title game to Philadelphia, Brady completed 19 of 26 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns on Thursday night to help stake New England to a 27-7 halftime lead.

Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles left in the second quarter with a shoulder injury after a strip sack that Bentley recovered and ran 54 yards for a touchdown.

White caught six passes for 61 yards, including a 20-yard touchdown, and also ran for 31 yards in the first half of the Patriots’ 37-20 victory. The Eagles had five penalties for 50 yards in the first quarter — including two for lowering the head to initiate contact and one for hitting a defenseless receiver — and 97 penalty yards in all.

After sitting out last week’s exhibition season opener, Brady led New England to scores on four of the six series he played. Foles, who outplayed Brady in a 41-33 Super Bowl victory, managed one first down in his first three possessions and then coughed the ball up on a hit from defensive lineman Adrian Clayborn.

Bentley scooped the ball up and ran unpursued to the end zone to make it 17-0.

The Eagles announced that Foles had a strained shoulder and was questionable to return; he did not, finishing 3 for 9 for 44 yards. Third-stringer Nate Sudfeld played most of the next three quarters, completing 22 of 39 passes for 312 yards, three touchdowns and an interception.

Philadelphia’s Shelton Gibson had five catches for 90 yards and a 4-yard TD reception in the second quarter that made it 17-7. Gibson also had a huge night in returning kicks. The other guy I thought would be featured at WR, Mack Hollins, did not play—why, I don’t know.

Patriots backup Brian Hoyer completed 5 of 13 passes for 32 yards and an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cordarrelle Patterson.

OTHER INJURIES: Eagles: In addition to Foles, the Eagles also lost receiver Bryce Treggs (hamstring), tight end Richard Rodgers (knee), tight end Joshua Perkins (head), tackle Taylor Hart (cramps), receiver Kamar Aiken (hamstring) and defensive back Stephen Roberts (ankle).

Patriots: First-round draft choice Isaiah Wynn was taken away from the medical tent on a cart with a left ankle injury. Wynn, who was picked No. 23 overall, did not play the previous week against Washington. New England’s other first-round pick, No. 31 overall selection running back Sony Michel, has not played because of a procedure on his knee.

How much you want to take away from this game is up to you. One coach was playing it for keeps, the other was keeping stuff under wraps.

Matchup
1st Downs	22	26
Passing 1st downs	15	9
Rushing 1st downs	3	9
1st downs from penalties	4	8
3rd down efficiency	5-17	5-15
4th down efficiency	1-4	0-0
Total Plays	75	71
Total Yards	359	334
Total Drives	15	15
Yards per Play	4.8	4.7
Passing	316	194
Comp-Att	27-51	24-40
Yards per pass	5.4	4.7
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Sacks-Yards Lost	8-47	1-10
Rushing	43	140
Rushing Attempts	16	30
Yards per rush	2.7	4.7
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-3	2-4
Penalties	9-97	7-94
Turnovers	2	0
Fumbles lost	1	0
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	1
Possession	30:52	29:08

There were some positives—Ronald Darby shined on the second Patriots’ possession, breaking up two deep Brady passes and forcing a punt. But Brady drove the Patriots from their own 20-yard line to the Eagles’ 19 on their next drive, helped by an unnecessary roughness call on linebacker Nigel Bradham. The defense tightened to force a field goal attempt and New England led at the end of the first 10-0.

The Eagles got on the board with a seven-play, 69-yard scoring drive. It was helped by two pass interference calls on Patriots’ cornerback Keion Crossen, drawn by wide receivers DeAndre Carter and Kamar Aiken, respectively. Sudfeld found Gibson wide open in the end zone for his second touchdown of the preseason, cutting the Patriots’ lead to 17-7.

Gibson made another stand-out play with a 57-yard reception from Sudfeld. On the next Eagles possession, Sudfeld added to his impressive night with a perfect 31-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Rashard Davis. The third quarter ended with the Patriots leading 34-20.

The Eagles will be back in action again next Thursday at 8 p.m. when they travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns in the third preseason game.