Philadelphia Eagles vs New England Patriots Match Player Stats On Dec 06, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Dec 6, 2015

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Philadelphia Eagles roared back into contention in the shaky NFC East, rallying from a 14-0 deficit, scoring 35 consecutive points and then holding on for a wild 35-28 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Quarterback Tom Brady, with the help of an onside kick, led the Patriots to two late touchdowns, the second with three minutes left.

Philadelphia wide receiver Riley Cooper batted the ensuing onside kick out of bound and then caught a 14-yard pass from Sam Bradford on third-and-11, seemingly allowing the Eagles to run out the clock.

However, running back Darren Sproles fumbled the ball back to New England at its 25. Even so, the Patriots could move only 12 yards before a pair of dropped passes helped end the home team's hopes.

The Eagles (5-7) moved into a tie for second place in the NFC East, a half-game behind the Washington Redskins, who play the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night. Philadelphia, which had lost three straight and four of five coming in, begins a three-game homestand next Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.

The Patriots (10-2) dropped their second game in a row and fell into a tie with the Broncos for the best record in the AFC. Denver owns the tiebreaker by virtue of a head-to-head overtime win last Sunday.

New England took a two-touchdown lead before a strange series of plays, starting with a failed drop kick, led to the Patriots allowing 35 unanswered points for the first time since 1993.

Strange? Eagles linebacker Najee Goode scored on a 24-yard return of the first New England punt block in 97 tries. Philadelphia safety Malcolm Jenkins returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown, and Sproles ran a punt back 83 yards for a score. Oh, and quarterback Sam Bradford, back after missing two games with a shoulder injury, threw two touchdown passes.

Brady, who got Danny Amendola back but was missing tight end Rob Gronkowski and slot receiver Julian Edelman, threw three touchdown passes, one to Amendola, ran for one and even caught a 36-pass from Amendola.

The New England quarterback was under pressure for the third consecutive game -- this time by a defense that allowed 45 points to the opposition in each of the previous two games.

Bradford completed 14 of 24 passes for 120 yards. Brady, clearly having communication trouble with the ever-changing cast of receivers, finished 29 of 56 for 312 yards and two interceptions. He was sacked four times.

Sproles, a pest as usual, ran 15 times for 66 yards and caught four passes for 34 more before the fumble.

Patriots running back James White caught career-high 10 passes for career-high 115 yards and a touchdown.

The win was the second for the Eagles in Foxborough, their first since 1987. It was their first win over the Patriots in five games, including a Super Bowl, since Dec. 19, 1999.

With the Patriots having just gone ahead 14-0, special teamer Nate Ebner drop-kicked the ensuing kickoff and Eagles wide receiver Seyi Ajirotutu recovered. Philadelphia went 59 yards to get on the board -- Ertz making a nifty catch of a 5-yard pass in the back of the end zone.

The teams traded punts and New England seemed to get caught in-between on clock management, finial having to punt with 15 seconds left. Maragos charged through an opening in the middle and blocked the punt. Goode picked it up on the 24 and scored, leaving the home crowd stunned.

Brady's second-quarter touchdown pass was the 421st of his career, breaking a tie with Dan Marino for third place on the all-time list. His second TD pass gave him 30 for the year, his sixth 30-TD season, fourth all time. He also registered his 71st 300-yard game, third all time.

NOTES: While the Patriots were without TE Rob Gronkowski and LB Dont'a Hightower (both out with knee injuries), New England got back WR Danny Amendola (knee, one game) and LB Jamie Collins (illness, four games). ... Eagles WR Miles Austin, who had just two catches in the previous five games, was inactive. WR Jonathan Krause, who was on the Patriots' practice squad last season, made one catch for 4 yards in his NFL debut. ... Eagles DE Cedric Thornton was inactive because of an ankle injury. ... WR Damaris Johnson, signed up by the Patriots during the week, made his New England debut, carrying 6 yards on an end-around on his lone carry. ... Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater left with a stinger in the first half but returned after halftime. ... Philadelphia DE Fletcher Cox left, passed the concussion protocol and returned.