Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Edelman’s TD pass lifts Patriots over Eagles
PATRIOTS 17, EAGLES 10
PHILADELPHIA — Julian Edelman’s touchdown toss had Bill Belichick flashing a slight smile and cracking some jokes.
Edelman threw a go-ahead 15-yard TD pass to Phillip Dorsett and the New England Patriots rallied for a 17-10 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
Tom Brady threw for 216 yards, leading New England (9-1) back from a 10-0 deficit, but it was Edelman, the Patriots’ gritty wide receiver, who found a target in the end zone. It was the first time in Brady’s career that another player on his team had more TD passes when he played the entire game.
“Good read on the play,” Belichick said. “Keeps his quarterback rating up there pretty high. I’m sure he’ll ice his shoulder this week, massage it. Great play by Julian.”
Brady wasn’t happy with the offense’s performance despite a win that guaranteed the Patriots a winning season for the 19th straight season.
“We could do everything better,” he said.
Once again, the Patriots defense led the way.
They sacked Carson Wentz five times, forced one turnover and another that was overturned to give the Eagles a touchdown.
“I felt like we gave up three points,” Belichick said. “We got an interception. They overturned it.”
Wentz couldn’t get much going without his two best receivers and top running back sidelined by injuries. Nelson Agholor couldn’t make a twisting catch on Wentz’s fourthdown heave into the end zone from the Patriots 26 with just under a minute left.
The Eagles (5-5) got the ball back and advanced to their 42 but Wentz’s desperation pass fell incomplete.
“That’s a really good defense,” Wentz said. “They did a good job taking away things we wanted to do. But we have to be better.”
This was nothing like the thrilling matchup between the two teams in Super Bowl 52. Nick Foles led the Eagles to a 41-33 victory over the Patriots to capture the franchise’s first NFL title since 1960. The teams set or tied 29 Super Bowl records, including most yards in any game (1,151) in league history.
Neither team could get in sync on offense in the rematch.
After settling for three field goals in the first half, the Patriots turned to a trick play. Brady drove them to the Eagles 15 on the opening possession of the third quarter. Facing a third-and-11, Brady tossed a backward pass to Edelman. The former Kent State quarterback fired a perfect pass to Dorsett, who was alone in the end zone. It was Edelman’s second career TD pass. The other came in a playoff win over Baltimore in January 2015.
“It’s cool they trust me to throw the ball,” Edelman said. “It’s fun to throw the pill sometimes.”