The Philadelphia Eagles opening day win over the New England Patriots was a clinic on the significance of protection.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
Above picture: New England Patriots tight finish Hunter Henry (85) is pursued by Philadelphia Eagles security Reed Blankenship, left, as he scores a landing on a go from quarterback Mac Jones within the first half of an NFL soccer recreation in opposition to the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Picture/Michael Dwyer)
FOXBORO, Mass.–On a day when the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense was inconsistent and didn’t make the most of probabilities to place the New England Patriots away within the second half, the protection saved the day because the Eagles held on to a 25-20 season-opening win.
Within the final three minutes, the offense did not execute on fourth and two and a Jalen Hurts fumble in Eagles territory gave Mac Jones and the Patriots two glorious alternatives to take the lead and win the sport.
However the Eagles protection closed the present and saved the Patriots out of the top zone. First, the Eagles wanted simply 4 performs to drive a turnover on downs together with an enormous sack of Jones by Jordan Davis and Josh Sweat that resulted a seven-yard loss. The Birds then compelled two incomplete passes.
“We had loads of redzone stops,” Sweat stated. “There was loads of sudden modifications, however we nonetheless bought it achieved.”
On the Patriots remaining drive of the sport, they moved to the Eagles 19. However on second down, Jones was sacked by Jalen Carter for a lack of three yards. On fourth down, Jones’s go to Kayshon Boutte was dominated out of bounds because of his being pushed out of bounds by Josh Jobe.
“There was a few instances the place I stated we bought to get to this quarterback and in two of the most important moments of the sport, we did,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni stated. “It was an incredible job by us to get to the quarterback once we wanted to.”
It was the Eagles protection that set the tone for the sport by forcing a pair of turnovers that led to a pair of scores and staked the Eagles out to a 16-0 lead. On the Patriots first possession, Darius Slay intercepted a ball that caromed off the fingers of vast receiver Kendrick Bourne and took it in for a 70-yard landing.
The Eagles compelled one other turnover on the Patriots subsequent possession when defensive sort out Jordan Davis jarred the ball free from working again Ezekiel Elliot and it was recovered on the New England 26 by Birds linebacker Zach Cunningham. 4 performs later, Jalen Hurts hit Devonta Smith with a five-yard go to present the Eagles a 16-0 lead.
Sirianni stated these early turnovers have been large as a result of they in the end led to the win.
“They created two turnovers that led to 14 factors. That’s large time, proper,” stated Sirianni. “That the distinction within the recreation. Jordan (Davis) making that nice play on the display screen after which additionally the protection that occurred and the strain that occurred on the interception for a landing that Slay completed. Slay’s bought an incredible knack to get the ball and end performs like that.”
However within the second quarter, the Eagles offense went three-and-out on 5 straight possessions and mustered simply 19 yards on offense. In the meantime, Jones and the Patriots offense discovered their rhythm late within the second quarter and scored touchdowns on their final two possessions of the half to chop the Birds result in 16-14 on the intermission.
Within the second half, Hurts led the Eagles offense on three scoring drives that led to 3 Jake Elliott discipline objectives that gave elevated the Birds result in 25-14 with 5:39 left within the recreation within the recreation.
New England reduce the result in 5 on an 11-yard landing go from Jones to Bourne. However the Patriots did not get the two-point conversion and that’s as shut as they might get.
Whereas the Eagles have been in a position to escape Foxboro unscathed, they don’t have lengthy to repair what wants fixing with the offense. That’s as a result of the crew welcomes the Minnesota Vikings, who misplaced to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-17, to Lincoln Monetary Area Thursday evening for the crew’s residence opener.
You possibly can catch the sport on Fox-29 starting at 8 p.m.
