LeSean McCoy rushed for over 200 yards in a snowy mess at Lincoln Financial Field.
Credit: Getty Images
The Eagles and Lions were expecting some flurries Sunday’s critical game for playoff positioning. Instead, they got a blizzard and as crazy a game as Philadelphia fans have seen in awhile.
The Eagles rallied for 28 points in the fourth quarter after an ugly first half in the 34-20 victory.
The first half, in which the snow fell the hardest and the Eagles offense could not manage to move the ball, made the game look as if it would be a very low-scoring affair. The Lions got on the board first with a Joique Bell touchdown run and Bell followed that up with a catch for the two-point conversion.
But that was the only scoring of the first half, with the Lions going in up 8-0.
The craziness exploded in the second half, with LeSean McCoy finally finding his footing — literally and figuratively — as the Eagles scored five touchdowns. They scored the final four touchdowns of the game unanswered.
What we learned …
1. Impose your will
Head coach Chip Kelly is known for having a spread option attack, but his team adjusted in the second half and just rammed it down the Lions’ throats. The Eagles had 227 yards rushing in the fourth quarter alone. McCoy rushed for a respectable 51 yards in the first half, but the Eagles never imposed their will on the ground like Bell and the Lions were. That changed in the second half, with McCoy finishing with 217 yards (that’s 166 in the second half). Chris Polk also added a 38-yard touchdown run at the end of the game for good measure.
2. Foles’ streak broken
Nick Foles finally threw an interception and all it took was a blizzard for him to do so. After throwing 19 touchdowns before his first pick, Foles overthrew his receiver in the middle of the field and Chris Houston picked it off and returned it 30 yards. Foles showed nice form in the second half though as the snow let up some. He finished the game 11-of-22 for 179 yards and a touchdown. He could’ve had another score on a pass to Brent Celek at the end of the game, but the tight end intentionally slid down with no one in front of him to run out the clock.
3. Butter fingers
The first half was a fumble fest for the Lions, especially for Bell and Matthew Stafford. At times it looked like Stafford had never worked with his veteran center Dominic Raiola before. He fumbled three snaps in the first quarter alone, though Stafford managed to fall on them. Bell also had two fumbles in the first half, which were drive killers and both recovered by Philadelphia. Stafford’s biggest issue came in the fourth quarter though. With the Lions down 28-20, Raiola inexplicably snapped the ball too early and Stafford had to scramble to recover. Instead of falling on the ball, he tried to pick it up and salvage the drive. Mychal Kendricks dove on the ball, however, and the Eagles scored five plays later on the run from Polk to ice it (pun intended).
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.
