After suffering their first loss of the season against a mighty San Francisco 49ers team, the Philadelphia Eagles barely escaped with the victory as they defeated the St. Louis Rams at home by the final score of 34-28.
Just like last week, the Eagles special teams made their presence known in a big way. After the Eagles defense forced a three-and-out on the Rams first offensive drive, the Eagles punt defense unit came up with a block which put the ball in the hands of Chris Maragos for the early Eagles strike.
Throughout much of the first half, the Eagles defense kept up their half of the game, holding quarterback Austin Davis and the Rams to just seven points which resulted from a catch from wide receiver Brian Quick. Another huge play came from Vinny Curry who penetrated the Rams offensive line and got a strip-sack which was recovered by Fletcher Cox.
The Eagles offense struggled once again to start the game. LeSean McCoy had a difficult time trying to revive his running game. McCoy lost major yardage and the ball in an early first half fumble. McCoy eventually got himself back on track with a 19-yard run as well as four receptions.
Quarterback Nick Foles also saw his share of struggles to start the game. While trying to force a deep ball into the hands of wide-receiver Jeremy Maclin, he was picked off by E.J. Gaines.
Late in the half, the offense came to life and drove down the field to set up a nine-yard touchdown pass from Foles to Riley Cooper for the first time this season.
Early in the second half, the Eagles defense continued their assault on the Rams. An early Trent Cole sack and strip led to Cedric Thornton recovering in the endzone for yet another defensive touchdown. Thornton would get another fumble recovery after a Brandon Graham forced fumble, leading to a 24-yard touchdown pass from Foles to Maclin.
The game quickly became a nail-biter as the Rams who once trailed by 27 points pulled to within six. Their first step to a potential comeback came from a 14-yard touchdown from running back Benny Cunningham. Then after Foles coughed up the ball after a head-first slide, Davis found Kenny Britt for a 30-yard touchdown strike. Davis would continue his hot streak finding Brian Quick five-yard touchdown pass for the Rams’ third consecutive score.
After the Eagles were forced to punt late in the fourth, Davis overhthrew his receivers on a last-chance fourth down play to turn the ball, and the game over to the Eagles.
Next week, the Eagles will be on the primetime Sunday night stage where they will take on division rival New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field.
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