Philadelphia Eagles: from ‘Dream Team’ to a failing side – NFL Special (Part III)
Continued from part II...
Against New England Patriots
After beating the Giants, the Eagles hosted the Patriots – at team that many thought would defeat the Eagles.
The Patriots lived up to the expectations and crushed the Eagles who got an early lead, but, as usual, surrendered later.
Young got another start as Vick struggled to recover from his injury.
McCoy scored a two-yard rushing touchdown, which was followed by a field goal from Alex Henery in the first quarter to put Eagles in front.
The Patriots scored a touchdown in the same quarter, reducing the deficit to only three points.
The Patriots scored two touchdowns and a field goal in the second quarter while the Eagles only got a field goal.
The halftime score settled at 23-13 with the Patriots in lead.
The Patriots increased their lead by scoring two more touchdowns in the second half, leaving the Eagles to regret over their seventh defeat of the season.
At Seattle
By this time of the season, the hopes of many were against the Eagles.
A team that was expected to at least display a marvellous game-play, if not winning the games, had disappointed nearly everyone.
There next trip was to Seattle where the Seahawks handed them their eighth defeat.
The Seahawks scored a touchdown in every quarter as they Eagles continued to feel Vick’s absence.
The Eagles scored two touchdowns and Young ended up completing 17 of 29 attempted passes for 208 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and four interceptions.
At Miami
The Eagles visited Miami to play against the Dolphins, who had lost seven straight games before getting their first victory in the season.
The Dolphins got an early touchdown in the first quarter, but the Eagles hit back hard, scoring three touchdowns and a field goal in the second quarter.
The Eagles won the game, 26-10, thanks to the return of Michael Vick, who although did not perform very well, but was there to lift the side up.
Against New York Jets
The Eagles hosted the Jets and surprised almost everyone.
For the first time in the season, they displayed signs of the ‘Dream Team’.
Vick completed 15 of 22 games for 274 yards and sent an interception and a touchdown to get a quarterback rating of 107.0
LeSean McCoy had 102 rushing yards on 18 carries for three touchdowns.
The Eagles scored six touchdowns and a field goal to dominate the Jets, 45-19.
At Dallas
The Cowboys were seeking revenge of a defeat earlier in the season, but the Eagles were unstoppable.
Vick was once again fabulous. He completed 18 of 32 attempted passes for 293 yards and sent two touchdown passes. He received a quarterback rating of 107.9.
By the halftime the Eagles were leading 14-0. They scored a field goal in the third quarter to get a 17-point lead.
Another field goal in the final quarter took the score to 20-0.
The Cowboys scored a touchdown in the final minute, but it was too little and too late.
The Eagles, against all odds, got their third straight victory.
Against Washington Redskins
The Eagles played last game of the season against the Redskins.
It came to no one’s surprise that the Eagles overpowered the Redskins.
The Eagles scored three touchdowns in the final quarter and ended the game at 34-10.
Vick completed 24 of 39 attempted passes for 335 yards while throwing three touchdowns and an interception and got a quarterback rating of 104.1.
The Eagles won their final four games, and ended the season with eight victories and eight defeats, just a game behind the NFC division leaders, New York Giants.
Had they won one more game, they would have reached the playoffs.
The Eagles have retained their head coach, Andy Reid, for the next season. Time will tell if this decision was right!
Tags: