Philadelphia Eagles: from ‘Dream Team’ to a failing side – NFL Special (Part I)
Philadelphia Eagles entered the National Football League (NFL) season this year as the most favourable candidate for topping the National Football Conference (NFC)—East and maybe winning the conference championship title.
After winning the NFC East division and reaching the playoffs for three straight years, the Eagles brought a few star players into the line-up, hoping that they would not only reach the playoffs, but also register a glorious win.
Some of the players of this much-hyped team even began calling it the ‘Dream Team’.
However, the Eagles did not live up to the expectations and could not even reach the playoffs. They started the season miserably, but recovered remarkably from the slump, but that did not help their cause and they ended the regular season with eight victories
and eight defeats.
Let’s have a look at how the Eagles performed while playing against different opponents.
At St. Louis
The Eagles started their season against the lowly Rams.
Considering their performance in the first game, one would have easily predicted that the ‘Dream Team’ would not only live the dream, but would enjoy every moment of it.
The Eagles scored four touchdowns and a field goal, while the Rams could only manage one touchdown and a field goal.
Running back, LeSean McCoy, scored a rushing touchdown and collected a pass from quarterback, Michael Vick, earlier in the game for another touchdown.
At Atlanta
After the winning start, the Eagles headed to Atlanta to play the Falcons.
After the first half, the Eagles were just four points behind the Falcons.
The Falcons started the third quarter with a touchdown, but received a stern response from the visitors.
LeSean McCoy scored two rushing touchdowns and Vick sent a 36-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin, taking a 10-point lead by the end of the quarter.
The Eagles, however, failed to secure the lead and gave away two touchdowns in the final quarter and lost the game.
Vick was sidelined during the game after receiving a hit and was replaced by Mike Kafka.
Against New York Giants
The Eagles hosted their first game of the season against the Giants.
After a sloppy first quarter, in which the Giants scored two touchdowns, the Eagles hit back hard in the second quarter.
McCoy scored a rushing touchdown, while Alex Henery scored two field goals, reducing the deficit to only one point.
Henery scored another field goal in the third quarter to take the lead.
However, the Giants, who are known for their ability to play exceptionally well in the final quarter, scored two touchdowns late in the game to beat the Eagles, 29-16.
Against San Francisco 49ers
After losing two straight games, the Eagles hosted the 49ers, who would go on to top the NFC West division.
The Eagles started the game well, but the 49ers’ defence continued to bother them.
The Eagles scored a touchdown in the first quarter, which was followed by two field goals and a touchdown in the next quarter.
At the start of the third quarter, the Henery scored a 33-yard field goal to increase the difference between the two teams to 20 points.
However, they failed again to secure the lead.
The 49ers scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, and another touchdown in the final quarter took the score to 24-23 with the 49ers in lead.
Except for the field goal, the Eagles could not score any point in the second half and lost third game in a row.
To be continued...
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