FINAL: Patriots 27, Eagles 25
FINAL: PATRIOTS 27, EAGLES 25
Quarterback Tom Brady tossed two touchdowns in his return to the field (both to tight end Chris Baker), while rookie Julian Edelman returned a punt 75 yards for another score and the Patriots topped the host Eagles in both team's exhibition opener at Lincoln Financial Field.
Brady finished 10 of 15 for 100 yards with the two touchdowns and one interception.
Sammy Morris led the team with 12 carries for 54 yards. Edelman topped the team with five receptions for 37 yards. Jerod Mayo registered a team-high 5 tackles.
MISSED FIELD GOAL (0:57, 4th)
David Akers missed a 43-yard field goal wide left with under a minute to play to keep the Patriots on top, 27-25.
O'CONNELL IN, WALTER OUT
Kevin O'Connell replaced Andrew Walter at quarterback with 5:35 remaining in the game.
PATRIOTS 27, EAGLES 25 (5:40, 4th)
Eagles field goal: David Akers kicked his fourth field goal of the evening, this time a 34-yarder to cap an 11-play, 53-yard trek over 6:02 to pull the Eagles within two points again.
PATRIOTS 27, EAGLES 22 (11:42, 4th)
Patriots field goal: Stephen Gostkowski booted a 49-yard field goal to increase the Patriots' lead early in the fourth frame. The drive covered 8 plays, 42 yards over 4:02.
END OF 3rd QUARTER: PATRIOTS 24, EAGLES 22
Andrew Walter remains at quarterback as the game spills into the fourth quarter with the Patriots holding a slim lead after two third-quarter touchdowns by Philadelphia's Eldra Buckley.
PATRIOTS 24, EAGLES 22 (0:44, 3rd)
Eagles touchdown: Eldra Buckley reeled in a 1-yard touchdown pass from A.J. Feeley to punctuate a 3-play, 35-yard drive over 1:32.
Patriots rookie corner Darius Butler intercepted a pass on the 2-point conversion attempt to keep the Patriots out front.
PATRIOTS 24, EAGLES 16 (4:11, 3rd)
Eagles touchdown: Eldra Buckley caps a brief 4-play, 45-yard scoring trek with a 4-yard touchdown run as the Eagles get in the end zone for the first time and cut their deficit to 8 late in the third.
PATRIOTS 24, EAGLES 9 (7:14, 3rd)
Eagles field goal: The Eagles settle for their third three-pointer of the evening as David Akers boots a 36-yard field goal to cap an 8-play, 51-yard scoring drive. The trek took 3:12 off the clock.
PATRIOTS 24, EAGLES 6 (10:28, 3rd)
Patriots field goal: Stephen Gostkowski booted a 37-yard field goal to cap a 9-play, 61-yard drive to start the second half. Andrew Walter directed the drive with Sammy Morris the featured back (five carries on the trek).
HALFTIME: PATRIOTS 21, EAGLES 6
Tom Brady threw a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Chris Baker and rookie Julian Edelman returned a punt 75 yards for a score as the Patriots lead the host Eagles, 21-6, at the intermission.
BRADY OUT, WALTER IN (0:46, 2nd)
Andrew Walter took over at quarterback on the final drive of the first half (kneeling out the clock).
Tom Brady finished 10 of 15 passing for 100 yards with 2 TDs (both to Chris Baker) and an INT.
FIELD GOAL BLOCK (0:46, 2nd)
Patriots rookie Pat Chung blocked a 44-yard field goal attempt by David Akers with 46 seconds remaining in the first half.
PATRIOTS 21, EAGLES 6 (2:12, 2nd)
Patriots touchdown: Tom Brady 7-yard touchdown pass to Chris Baker. The New England scoring drive spanned 10 plays, 75 yards, 3:02. This is the second time tonight the Brady-Baker combination has hooked up on a touchdown pass.
PATRIOTS 14, EAGLES 6 (5:14, 2nd)
Eagles field goal: David Akers booted a 43-yard field goal to cap a 10-play, 61-yard drive that spanned 5:45. The Eagles marched to the Patriots 25 before electing for the 3 points.
PATRIOTS 14, EAGLES 3 (10:59, 2nd)
Patriots touchdown: Julian Edelman returned a punt 75 yards for a score as the Patriots expanded their lead with a big special teams play. Edelman started up the near sideline before making a lightning fast move back to the inside to evade a tackler and then streaked away from the pack.
The Eagles had been flagged for illegal formation on their first punt attempt (one that Edelman only returned a short distance) and the Patriots made them pay.
The Patriots noted via their Twitter feed that the last time a Patriot player returned a punt for a touchdown during the regular season was Troy Brown's 68-yard TD return in the final regular-season game of 2001.
END OF 1st QUARTER: PATRIOTS 7, EAGLES 3
The Eagles will start the second quarter facing a 2nd-and-4 situation at the New England 18 when play resumes.
Tom Brady completed 5 of 7 passes for 37 yards with a TD and an INT during the first quarter. Laurence Maroney handled all the carries, trotting six times for 37 yards. Chris Baker and Julian Edelman had two receptions apiece.
On defense, Jerod Mayo leads the way with two solo tackles. Tully-Banta Cain had a sack.
BRADY INTERCEPTED (0:12, 1st)
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was intercepted by Eagles cornerback Sheldon Brown on a long toss to Randy Moss.
Moss appeared to have a step on Brown racing down the left side, but the ball was thrown to the outside (with Moss inside) and Brown slowed to haul in the underthrown and off-target heave at the Eagles 12.
PATRIOTS 7, EAGLES 3 (2:19, 1st)
Eagles field goal: David Akers booted a 38-yard field goal to cap a 12-play, 60-yard drive that lasted 5:39. Tully Banta-Cain helped short-circuit the drive in the red zone by sacking Donovan McNabb on 3rd and 9 from the New England 16.
PATRIOTS 7, EAGLES 0 (7:55, 1st)
Patriots touchdown: Tom Brady 4-yard pass to tight end Chris Baker. The New England scoring drive spanned 77 yards on six plays over 2:52 and featured a long pass interference penalty against former Patriot Asante Samuel (who was defending Randy Moss) on a deep toss.
So far, Brady is 4 of 5 passing for 28 yards and the TD over his first two series (the Patriots' first trek was a 3-and-out).
EAGLES WIN TOSS, ELECT TO RECEIVE
The Eagles have won the toss and will give their offense the first look after electing to receive the opening kickoff.
PATRIOTS STARTERS
The Globe's Mike Reiss has the rundown:
PATRIOTS CAPTAINS
The Patriots captains for tonight's game are Tom Brady (offense), Jerod Mayo (defense), and Sam Aiken (special teams).
PREGAME
Stick with this post for all of tonight's updates of on-the-field action. The Globe's Mike Reiss will add in-game analysis in Reiss's Pieces and we'll link to it here.
Comment
Permalink
Email
Asante! "Get paid"? Get burnt!
Eages pounded us on the ground at will on that FG drive....not good. And we can't seem to get untracked on the ground....worse.
It's preseason and it's early....and Brady looks pretty good so far.
AAARRRGGGHHH - spoke too soon - PICK.
hi mike !!!! this is your mother in low . i am reading your report and i do not understand what is going on .
lost of love shula.
Can we just add Edelmann to the guaranteed list on the 53 man roster?
A couple of catches, special teams tackle and punt return td within the first 18 mins.
Edelman makes the penalty HUUUURRT - LOL!!!!
Think he makes the team - lol?
The only thing that makes living in Maryland and being a Pats fan bearable is Mr. Mike Reiss and his game blog.
Redskins suck!
Go, Pats!
Vick signs 2 yr deal with pats according to espn.com
Vick signs 2 yr deal with Eagles according to Espn.com
Scoring question - when there is a penalty for defensive pass interference, do the quarterback and receiver get credited for the pass/reception and yardage?
Mike, I may have semi-mocked your fascination with new Reiss BFF Edelman... but yikes ! Egg on my face so far. He DOES have a certain Welker-esque quality. Let's see if he keeps it up.
I'm very impressed with the young guys--not just in this game, but since they're been drafted. I see possibly 9 starters from this year's draft class, and future Pro Bowlers in Chung, Butler, Brace, and Vollmer. Mark it down--the Pats 2009 draft class will go down as the most successful draft in Patriots history, and will set this team up to continue the domination for years to come. You heard it here first.
Is Vick going to play in 2nd half??
o yea baby!!!!!! when,s the last time the Pat,s scored 2 td,s with a tight end.very nice impact the rook,s have made,all iv,e heard about chung is he,s an animal,nice return by edelman.I know it,s only a p[reseason game but i,m excited already folks. ANYONE NO WHERE THE SUPERBOWL IS THIS YEAR? Hope it,s New Orleans.
Just be thankful yall don't play the Texans this year! LOL actually I have been very impressed with the Pats the last several years. It seems you don't have rebuiling years only reloading years.
"The Patriots noted via their Twitter feed that the last time a Patriot player returned a punt for a touchdown during the regular season was Troy Brown's 68-yard TD return in the final regular-season game of 2001."
Hmmm, I distinctly remember Troy doing a PR TD in a reg season game against the Cleveland Browns in a rainstorm at Gillette in either 2003 or 2004.
Was that merely a typo, and you meant to write "in a pre-season game"???
The Eagles signed Michael Vick. Yea Eagles!!!
Vick signs with the Eagles. Maybe they will cut Jay Feely and the Pats can sign him. This way he will stop burning us and we can cut the unimpressive Walters. Sorry, but I don't see the experience he is supposed to bring to the table. I know he just arrived. Good to see Tank out there. Brady looks great, Julian Edleman, wow! Mini Welker.
Mike has to be smiling about the game Edelman had tonight. Go Pats!
Big game for the rookies.
Would have liked to see O'Connell given more time.
Same re-occuring theme as last 4 seasons, ending in defeat - that is, great looking offense, and a defense whom can't stop anybody. Though the media and pundits will rave and rave about the offense and Brady, nobody is aware enough or cares enough to critque a defense, so passive, so philosophically inferior, it took a missed field goal from a Pro Bowl kicker in the waning moments to dodge another question or two from the unknowing, fan-like media, unaware of the nuances of the game, despite watching a championship defense here for 5 plus years, when sustained drives the full length of the field ,ending points, usually 3, happened a couple times a game at best!!! Now, when the Pats D holds an opposing offense to no points, its a celebration - please!!!! WAKE UP FOLKS!!!! THIS TEAM WILL NEVER WIN A SUPER BOWL WITH DEAN FREAKING PEAS IN COMMAND - GUARANTEED - IT IS TRULY IMPOSSIBLE - IF WE DIDN'T LEARN IT WITH THE UNDEFEATED TEAM - IT SURELY WON'T HAPPEN NOW. ROMEO, ROMEO, WHERE ART THOU ROMEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO???????????????
THE
3were rare
Who cares.
Edelman had an amazing game. Question is, how do we work him more into the starting rotation with Galloway and Lewis? I like him in the opposite slot of Welker and Moss and Lewis/Galloway on the outside. I think we need to start this kid day 1. He is absolutely a versatile and exiciting player to watch.
Earl you do know they lost because their O could not score???? They only gave up 17 points..
"philosophically inferior" Go tell Bill how to scheme because you know so much.. You are a complete moron. Go away and don't ever post again
Dear EARL CAMPBELL (!!!!!!!!!),
I think maybe you missed a couple things.
It seems obvious to most of us mere fans that last night's front seven effort was DESIGNED to serve two purposes. The first was to experiment with various 4-3 alignments to see how that would go. This was, to some extent, directed by the unfortunate fact that there weren't enough of the proper type of LBs available this off-season to necessarily field an effective and DEEP 3-4, but there WERE a lot of very good DLs available to at least attempt to field a 4-3, with the ultimate idea (IMHO) being to field (for the upcoming regular season) a far more hybridized, elusive (to opposing offenses) and effective front seven than in the recent past. The second purpose, of course, was to evaluate the individual developmental progress of various new (to the Pats) players. To those ends, if you noticed, entire fleets of LBs and DLs were subbed in (in a bewildering number of permutations) on nearly every snap in the first half from the get-go. There was, in essence, NO real, complete "starting front seven" on the field at any time. This was INTENTIONAL. And the very LAST thing Bill and Dean were concerned with was how all this might ultimately affect the final score of this one, PRE-SEASON contest.
Also, that "missed field goal in the waning moments" was the result of the 2nd/3rd string Philly offense being pushed back out of easy field goal range by a sack, an offensive-holding call (the only thing that stopped the overwhelming defensive pressure from our own 2s and 3s) and the kick partially blocked by a mere rookie safety.
BTW - you're apparently "unaware" that you dropped your "nuances" on the floor. They're over there behind your left foot. No, your LEFT foot....
i saw the contract that eli manning signed 97 million for 6 years , no wonder tom brady has to model because the pay in boston SUCKS and so does the respect for him and his wife.
Hey, I figure the more money Brady can make modeling or selling SmartWater (which I actually like), the less money he needs from the Patriots next time his contract comes up.
Yikes, Brady actually said "there is no place I would rather be..." when asked about how he felt being back. Little Miss supermodel will most likely have something to say when she hears that comment. A friend of mine married a girl from Brazil. she beat the crap out of him and put him in the Hospital!! Needless to say they aren't married anymore. Careful Tom, they are beautiful but hotheaded.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Patriots Twitter
ask reiss
Questions will be considered for Mike's mailbagbrowse this blog
by categoryINside Boston.com