While the Philadelphia Eagles appeared to be well on their way to a top 10 draft pick not long ago following back-to-back division losses to the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, where they scored a combined 10 points, if the Cowboys lose to the New Orleans Saints tonight, the Eagles will find themselves in a first-place tie atop the NFC East alongside Dallas. Following up on their dismantling of the Oakland Raiders just a week ago, Philly went to Lambeau Field and defeated the banged up Green Bay Packers by the final score of 27-13. The Packers, whom lost Pro Bowl quarterback Aaron Rodgers to an injury just a week ago, saw their backup Seneca Wallace go down in the game today, which left them in the same undesirable position the Eagles found themselves in just a couple of weeks ago - playing their 3rd string quarterback. To his credit, Scott Tolzien played fairly well in a losing effort.
For the Eagles offense, Nick Foles played very well for the second consecutive game, after his awful showing against the Cowboys. He finished the game 12 of 18 passing the ball for 228 yards (12.7 per), and 3 touchdowns compared to 0 interceptions. His rating, while not perfect as it was last week, was pretty close to it, as he finished at a very impressive 149.3. Foles did lose a fumble in the game, but fortunately for the Eagles, the turnover didn't cost them any on the scoreboard. Riley Cooper and DeSean Jackson led the way on the receiving front. Cooper caught three passes for 102 yards (34.0 per), and two scores, while Jackson caught four passes for 80 yards (20.0 per), and a touchdown. Of possibly even greater importance to the efficiency of the Eagles offense was tailback LeSean McCoy getting back to his old self. McCoy, who had struggled in recent weeks, ran the ball 25 times for 155 yards (6.2 per). Overall, the Eagles racked up 415 yards on just 58 plays (7.2 per), and did it in a very balanced fashion - passing for 211 yards and rushing for 204 more.
Defensively, the Eagles continued to show improvements from the awful defense they displayed early in the season. In the past six games, they've allowed just 99 points (16.5 per), after allowing 138 in their first four (34.5 per). They finished +1 in the turnover department, after picking off Scott Tolzien on two separate occasions - running the picks back for a combined 86 yards. Perhaps the most impressive stats in the game for the defense is the fact the Green Bay Packers offense didn't score a single touchdown after being inside the red zone four times. While the Eagles defense may not have been dominant in recent weeks, they've stiffened when necessary and have given up far more field goal attempts than touchdowns. As die-hard Eagles fans know, one area where they've struggled mightily in recent years is with their red zone defense. Improvement in this area has been quite a welcome sight.
As has been typical, it was a mixed back for the Eagles in the special teams department. While they didn't have much to brag about as far as their own returns went, their coverage was solid throughout the contest. Place kicker Alex Henery was two for three on field goal attempts - his longest being 41 yards. Punter Donnie Jones only punted the ball twice, one of which wound up inside the Green Bay 20-yard line.
Now at 5-5 and tied for first place in the NFC East if the Dallas Cowboys fall to the New Orleans Saints tonight, the Philadelphia Eagles have a lot to be happy about. Up next on the slate is a home game against the 3-6 Washington Redskins, whom the Eagles beat at home to start the season by the final score of 33-27. While Washington has been playing better in recent weeks, they're coming off a disappointing Thursday night loss to then one-win Minnesota, 34-27. With a win in that game, the Eagles would head into their bye week at 6-5 overall, 3-2 in the division, and at worst, tied for first place in the NFC East (again, so long as Dallas loses to New Orleans). No matter how much some people want to be skeptical of Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, the guy has led the team to more wins after ten games this season than they had all of last season. The team has also scored 252 points through ten games this season (25.2 per). They scored 280 all of last year (17.5 per).
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=331110009
As has been typical, it was a mixed back for the Eagles in the special teams department. While they didn't have much to brag about as far as their own returns went, their coverage was solid throughout the contest. Place kicker Alex Henery was two for three on field goal attempts - his longest being 41 yards. Punter Donnie Jones only punted the ball twice, one of which wound up inside the Green Bay 20-yard line.
Now at 5-5 and tied for first place in the NFC East if the Dallas Cowboys fall to the New Orleans Saints tonight, the Philadelphia Eagles have a lot to be happy about. Up next on the slate is a home game against the 3-6 Washington Redskins, whom the Eagles beat at home to start the season by the final score of 33-27. While Washington has been playing better in recent weeks, they're coming off a disappointing Thursday night loss to then one-win Minnesota, 34-27. With a win in that game, the Eagles would head into their bye week at 6-5 overall, 3-2 in the division, and at worst, tied for first place in the NFC East (again, so long as Dallas loses to New Orleans). No matter how much some people want to be skeptical of Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, the guy has led the team to more wins after ten games this season than they had all of last season. The team has also scored 252 points through ten games this season (25.2 per). They scored 280 all of last year (17.5 per).
http://espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=331110009
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