New England Patriots’ Tom Brady led his team’s rally with three passing touchdowns and one rushing TD, but the Pats were unable to score on their final drive of the game, a shocking 35-28 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 6.Jim Rogash/Getty Images
Eight days ago, the New England Patriots had a chance at an unbeaten season.
Now they're trying to recover from their first back-to-back losses in more than three years.
Najee Goode scored on a blocked punt, Malcolm Jenkins returned an interception 99 yards for another touchdown and the Philadelphia Eagles held on for an improbable 35-28 victory over the Patriots on Sunday.
Darren Sproles returned a punt 83 yards for the Eagles' second special teams touchdown, giving Philadelphia a 21-point lead before the Pats came charging back. Tom Brady threw for a touchdown to make it a two-score game and then, after an onside kick, ran it in from the one-yard line to cut it to seven points with three minutes left.
New England's second onside kick failed, but the Patriots (10-2) forced a third-down fumble to give Brady one more chance.
The comeback fell short when Brady's passes bounced out of his receivers' hands.
Losers of three in a row, the Eagles (5-7) had given up 45 points each in consecutive weeks heading into the game against the NFL defending champions and their Super Bowl MVP QB.
After falling behind 14-0, Philadelphia scored five touchdowns in a row – two on special teams, one on defence and two on offence.
Then the Patriots rallied.
After scoring twice but failing to convert a second onside kick, the Patriots got the ball back anyway when Jamie Collins stripped the ball from Kenjon Barner on third down. But the final drive stalled when the New England receivers dropped several passes.
Sproles had 66 yards rushing, 34 receiving and 115 more on punt returns – including an 83-yard touchdown that made it 28-14 with 4 minutes 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
After missing the previous two games with a concussion and left shoulder injury, Sam Bradford completed 14 of 24 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
But the Eagles won this one with defence and special teams.