With Jalen Hurts throwing a touchdown pass and Darius Slay had a 70-yard interception return the Philadelphia Eagles built a big early lead, hanging on to beat the New England Patriots 25-20 on Sunday.
Hurts was 22-of-33 for 170 yards and the TD had a costly fumble in the fourth quarter giving the Patriots a chance. Jake Elliott kicked four field goals for Philadelphia, which didn’t end zone after the first quarter.
New England’s Mac Jones recovered from a rough start to finish 35 to 54 for 316 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Kendrick Bourne had two TD receptions. Hunter Henery added the other scoring catch for an offense that outgained the NFC champion Eagles 382-251.
With the Eagles opening their new series with an 8-yard run by Hurts, ended up fumbling after a hit by Jabrill Peppers.
Jordan Davis and Josh Sweat helped the Eagles end the Patriots possession. The patriots got the ball to the 19 on a 17-yard pass from Jones to Mike Gesicki with 1:02 left. But on second down Jones wasn’t able to avoid Jalen Carter and got dropped for a sack and on fourth-and-11, Kayshon Brown appeared to reel in a catch inside the 10. In a replay review he’s shown only having one foot inbounds.
Injuries on the offensive line were made for an uneven debut.
Cole Strange’s knee and Mike Onwenu’s ankle both inactive, Antonio Mafi and Sidy Sow at left and right guard had absences that felt early opposite which put pressure on Jones. Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean left during the second half with a foot injury and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox left following a fourth-quarter injury.
The Eagles fumbled which led them to another touchdown with three consecutive three-and-outs adding them up to 16-0 Philadelphia lead.
They carried 19-14 edge into the fourth quarter, stretching it to 22-14. New England took over and converted a fourth-and-8 from the Eagles 36 when Jones hit Henry for 12 yards. The Patriots went again facing fourth-and-3 at the 12 but Ezekiel Elliot couldn’t secure the short pass from Jones.
Jake Elliot kicked his final goal with 5:33 left, a 51-yarder leaving the game at 25-20.
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 16 0 3 6 25
Patriots 0 14 0 0 20
