Pats All Folks: Patriots, 31 Eagles, 28
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by Trizz
Yes you've read it right. The 23 1/2 point underdogs lost by 3. The New England Patriots never led by more than a touchdown, A.J. Feeley had 3 TDs to Tom Brady's 1, the Philadelphia Eagles kicked and recovered an onside kick and they led for most of the 2nd half. No this is not a joke, the Eagles gave the Pats a hell of a game and some think may have laid out a how-to blueprint for taking down the behemoth Patriots. Maybe NBC was on to something choosing this as the Flex game and it truly was the game of the week.
The game started with Asante Samuel running an interception back for a TD, a little more than a minute into the game and the people in Foxboro were ready to see another romp. Feeley had the poise of a Pro Bowler as he marched down the field to tie the game. The Patriots played a Madden 08 style offense, 4 recievers and Kevin Faulk out of the shotgun and had 2 running plays in the 1st half, one was an unintentional 12 yd scramble by Brady and a goal line TD run by Heath Evans. Andy Reid pulled out all the stops and after trying Westbrook for a while he let AJ Feeley try to win the game.
Feeley was very good, 27/42 for 345 yards and if I know Philly fans, may very well have ended McNabb's tenure with the Eagles. After throwing a pick outside, Feeley continued to throw inside and suddenly Andy Reid discovered a key flaw in the Patriots defense, the corners don't cover the inside routes. Feeley continue to make Greg Lewis and Kevin Curtis look like star recievers and for whatever reason the Pats' D just wouldn't or couldn't stop them.
The Eagles' defense was quite impressive, but their flaw was that they wasn't causing turnovers. The Eagles secondary was on their A-game, namely Lito Sheppard, who shut Randy Moss down and could've had but dropped numerous picks. The pass rush attacked Brady frequently but never forced a fumble.
The question mark of the day was Laurence Maroney, he disappeared during the Buffalo game and didn't play at all during the first half, was he hurt, trying to save Bill Belichick's fantasy team by not playing, no one knows but he did score a late game touchdown which later proved to become the game winner.
Wes Welker had a career high 13 catches and a career high 149 yards, but for the second consecutive game did not find the end zone. He also had some key blocks in the last clock killing drive by the Pats.
The game was a meeting of the minds between Andy Reid and BB. Belichick didnt run Maroney, Reid stopped running Westbrook, the Patriots went for it on 4th down, the Eagles go for it on fourth down but what essentially won the game for the Patriots was that in the clutch BB has Brady, Reid has Feeley. McNabb chose not to travel to Foxboro but they could've really used him late in the 4th quarter.
Late in the 4th quarter down by 3, the Eagles are marching and are right in the Eagles endzone and while they followed just about every plan in order to stop the Patriots they got too eager. Instead of running as much clock as possible and kicking a game tying field goal, Feeley tries to force another TD and throws it right to Asante Samuel in the endzone. Even if they had gotten the TD, it would've gave Philly a 4 point lead with 3 minutes on the clock and Brady's history in the clutch speaks for itself.
The Patriots punted with :19 on the clock where the Eagles needed another clutch play to get into field goal range and Feeley throws his 3rd pick of the game and the Patriots survive a scare at home. "Three points, man. Three points. The Patriots and three points," said Reid whose team also lost the 2005 Super Bowl to New England by three. "They're killing me with it."
