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Week 12 Game Recap: Philadelphia Eagles 28, New England Patriots 31
What you need to know
| Philadelphia Eagles |
With Donovan McNabb out of this game with injuries to his ankle and thumb, A. J. Feeley got the start under center for the Eagles and did everything he could to try to lead his team to an upset victory over the Patriots. On the night, Feeley completed 27 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns. Two of his three touchdowns went to WR Greg Lewis and the other scoring toss went to WR Reggie Brown. Despite his attention grabbing numbers through the air, it was a couple of Feeley mistakes that helped seal the victory for New England. The first came on Feeley's second pass of the game when Asante Samuel stepped in front of a pass intended for Brian Westbrook and he returned the interception 40 yards for a touchdown. His second bad misfire also involved Samuel intercepting a pass and came late in the fourth quarter with Philadelphia driving for what could have been a game tying or game winning score. The Eagles made an effort to get Brian Westbrook involved early on in this game. In the first half, the Eagle running back got 13 touches on the ground and was targeted another 5 times in the passing game. In addition to totaling 62 yards over the first two quarters, Westbrook also had a scoring run from one yard out that tied the game at seven. He would finish the night with 52 yards rushing and another 40 yards through the air.
Greg Lewis came into this contest with four catches on the year and he was able to double his season total by the end of the first half. His four receptions over the first two quarters went for 88 yards and included touchdown grabs of 28 and 18 yards. Although he had a big first half, Lewis was not even targeted by A. J. Feeley after the intermission.
| New England Patriots |
New England's offense operated the majority of this game in three and four wide receiver sets, which meant that Tom Brady was dropping back to pass a lot in this contest. In the first half, the Patriots only called one rushing play as Brady completed 19 of 25 throws for 205 yards and his only touchdown toss of the game. His scoring throw came late in the second quarter from 19 yards out and went to Jabar Gaffney. On the night the Patriots signal caller would attempt 54 passes, completing 34 of those for 380 yards. This was the first game of the year in which Brady did not throw for at least three touchdown passes and he finished the night with a season high 20 incompletions.
Kevin Faulk made the start at running back for New England as Laurence Maroney did not see his first action until there was 11:27 remaining in the third quarter. The Patriots only rushed the ball 15 times in the game, but it was Maroney's four yard touchdown with 7:20 remaining in the contest that turned out to be the game winner. In addition to Maroney's score on the ground, Heath Evans also had a first quarter rushing touchdown that came from a yard out. New England running backs finished the game with 32 yards on 13 carries and added another 30 yards receiving.
Wes Welker led all Patriots receivers with an eye popping 17 targets, and he was able to turn those pass attempts into 13 catches for 149 yards. He did not get into the end zone, but his catches seemed to come in important spots for New England. Six of Welker's catches came on third down plays and five of those grabs resulted in first downs.
The Patriots clinched their fifth consecutive AFC East division crown earlier in the day with Buffalo's loss to Jacksonville. With the win, New England becomes only the seventh team since 1970 to start the season 11--0.
What you ought to know
| QB A.J. Feeley, Pass: 27 - 42 - 345 - 3 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 |
If not for his two interceptions to Asante Samuel, Feeley would have had a spectacular night quarterbacking the Philadelphia offense. In the time between those two picks, the quarterback led the Eagles on four touchdown scoring drives that put up 28 points on a defense that came into the contest only giving up 16 points per game. He was outstanding in the first half completing 14 of 20 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns. Feeley followed up his exceptional first half with a second half that included 152 more passing yards and his third touchdown pass of the game. A number of times throughout the contest he hung in the pocket in the face of unblocked blitzers to complete passes, and he seemed to have a knack for finding wide open receivers for big gains. Feeley's third interception of the game came in the fourth quarter with 18 seconds remaining.
| RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 17 - 52 - 1, Rec: 7 - 40 - 0 (11 targets) |
It seemed that the plan was to get Westbrook going early in this game. On the Eagles' first three drives of the game, Westbrook rushed the ball 11 times and was targeted 4 times in the passing game. He capped Philadelphia's second drive with a one yard touchdown run and on that series, Westbrook had a good second effort attempt on a third and one rush that resulted in a first down. Westbrook's longest run of the game came in the second quarter and went for 14 yards, but he only got four rushes over the final two quarters. He was also called upon to return a punt late in the game. On the play, Westbrook fielded the punt, but he did put the ball on the ground. (The fumble was recovered by Philadelphia.)
| RB Correll Buckhalter |
Buckhalter's only action in this game came returning kicks where he averaged 21 yards on four returns.
| WR Kevin Curtis, Rec: 5 - 71 - 0 (9 targets) |
Curtis was targeted by A. J. Feeley on a number of deeper throws, but most of those passes fell incomplete. His longest reception of the game went for 19 yards and he was the intended receiver in the end zone on Feeley's second interception. Four of Curtis' five catches went for first downs.
| WR Reggie Brown, Rec: 5 - 45 - 1 (9 targets) |
Brown's first catch of the game came in the first quarter and went for 11 yards. His second reception went for nine yards as he took the ball down inside the Patriots' one yard line. On the play, he tried to reach the ball over the goal line but he stepped out of bounds before the ball broke the plane of the end zone. Brown followed up a third quarter, five yard reception with his second touchdown catch of the year. On the play, the Philadelphia wide out made a tough catch over the middle on a crossing pattern where he had a defender blanketing him. Brown's final catch of the game came in the fourth quarter and went for 12 yards.
| WR Greg Lewis, Rec: 4 - 88 - 2 (4 targets) |
Lewis first grab of the game came on a third down play and resulted in a 15 yard gain that moved the chains. On his first touchdown catch from 28 yards out, Lewis showed tremendous concentration in leaping up to make the catch despite having a defender right in his face. His third catch of the game came in the second quarter and went for 27 yards. Lewis' final reception went for his second touchdown of the game came from seventeen yards out.
| WR Jason Avant, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0, Rec: 1 - 21 - 0 (2 targets) |
Avant caught his only pass on the Eagles' second drive of the game. He also had a one yard rush on a play that seemed to be designed for him to throw the ball. He caught the backward pass but with nobody open, Avant tucked the ball and did his best to get positive yards on the play.
| WR Hank Baskett, Rec: 1 - 16 - 0 (1 targets) |
Baskett grabbed his only target of the game on a flea flicker play in the third quarter. He also recovered Philadelphia's onsides kick in the second quarter.
| TE L.J. Smith, Rec: 3 - 46 - 0 (5 targets) |
All of Smith's receptions came in the second half, and all three grabs resulted in first downs for the Philadelphia offense.
| TE Matt Schobel, Rec: 1 - 18 - 0 (1 targets) |
Schobel's only target came in the second quarter and went for a gain of 18 yards.
| PK David Akers 0 - 0 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Akers did not have a field goal attempt in this game, but did connect on all four of his extra point tries.
| PHI Rush Defense |
With the Patriots calling pass plays for the majority of the night, the Eagles' rush defense surrendered only 49 yards on 15 rushing attempts. Heath Evans had a one yard scoring run in the first quarter and Laurence Maroney scored from four yards out in the fourth quarter.
| PHI Pass Defense |
Tom Brady finished the night with 34 completions for 380 yards and a touchdown, but the Eagles pass defense was effective in slowing down the Patriots pass attack. Brady was sacked three times in the game and J. R. Reid and Brian Dawkins had passes hit them in the hands that probably should have been intercepted.
| QB Tom Brady, Pass: 34 - 54 - 380 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 16 - 0 |
Brady started off hot on New England's first drive of the game completing six of seven passes for 72 yards in leading the offense to their first touchdown of the game. On the Patriots' next touchdown scoring drive, Brady was six of nine for 54 yards and he finished that series by hitting WR Jabar Gaffney for a 19 yard score. Over the final two quarters, he would only complete 15 of 29 passes, but those 15 completions went for 176 yards. On the go ahead drive, Brady was clutch connecting on six of eight passes for 56 yards. In addition to his throws he also had two rushes in this game, both of which resulted in first downs.
| RB Laurence Maroney, Rush: 10 - 31 - 1 (1 targets) |
Maroney didn't enter the game until the third quarter and was only able to average 3.1 yards on ten carries. His fourth quarter touchdown from four yards out, was his second rushing touchdown in the last two weeks. Targeted once in the passing game, he dropped a screen pass on a first down play late in the third quarter.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 2 - 0 - 0, Rec: 3 - 30 - 0 (6 targets) |
In spite of only getting two rushing attempts in the contest, Faulk was involved in the passing game as six passes were thrown his way. He took his first catch down to Philadelphia's one yard line and he followed that up with receptions of nine and 12 yards.
| RB Heath Evans, Rush: 1 - 1 - 1 |
Evans scored the Patriots first offensive touchdown with a first quarter, one yard plunge.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 13 - 149 - 0 (17 targets) |
Welker's big night was his third 100 yard receiving game of the year and his 13 catches is a career high. His longest reception of the game came in the third quarter when he took a wide receiver screen 42 yards down to the Philadelphia four yard line. He was Tom Brady's go to guy in crunch time as caught three passes for 39 yards on New England's go ahead drive. Welker was targeted once in the end zone on that drive, but the pass fell incomplete.
| WR Jabar Gaffney, Rec: 6 - 87 - 1 (6 targets) |
Gaffney was able to catch all six passes that were thrown his way. He had two catches on New England's first drive, the second grab going for 32 yards on a third and 12 play. His touchdown grab came with 12 seconds left in the second quarter. On the play, Gaffney made a sliding catch near the back of the end zone and it appeared his knee came down out of bounds. Despite Gaffney's proximity to the end line when he made the reception, the replay official did not see any reason to review the play so the touchdown stood. His only reception in the second half was a big one as he gained 16 yards on a third and six play that took place with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 5 - 43 - 0 (13 targets) |
Despite being targeted 13 times in this game, Moss had a relatively quiet night. He did have a deep ball hit him in the hands in the third quarter that he was unable to hang on to. It would have been a tough catch, but it's one that we've grown accustomed to seeing him make. Moss had a four yard touchdown catch negated after he was called for a questionable offensive pass interference penalty. He was targeted again in the end zone later on in the game with New England operating form the Philadelphia 14 yard line, but the pass sailed out of the back of the end zone. All of Moss' catches came in the first half.
| WR Donte Stallworth, Rec: 4 - 54 - 0 (7 targets) |
Stallworth's second catch of the game came on New England's second drive and went for 31 yards. On the play, he caught a short pass and was able to break a tackle for the big gain. Stallworth's other three catches went for a total of 23 yards.
| TE Ben Watson, Rec: 3 - 17 - 0 (5 targets) |
Watson's first target of the game came with 32 seconds left in the second quarter, which he caught for a five yard gain. His second grab came in the third quarter and went for six yards and his final reception came in the fourth quarter and also went for six yards.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 1 - 2 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 7 points |
Gostkowski made his first field goal from 23 yards out in the second quarter, but he hooked a 32 yard attempt in the third quarter that missed wide left. Gostkowski also converted on all four of his extra point attempts.
| NE Rush Defense |
The Patriots gave up only 2.9 yards per rush on 19 Philadelphia running plays. Brian Westbrook did score on a one yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
| NE Pass Defense |
On Philadelphia's first drive of the game, CB Asante Samuel intercepted an A.J. Feely pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. Samuel's second interception of the game came with 3:58 left in the fourth quarter, killing a drive where Philadelphia was operating from New England 29 yard line. S James Sanders also had an interception late in the fourth quarter. In addition to the three interceptions, LB Rosevelt Colvin also recorded a sack in this game.
