Peyton Manning reacts after throwing one of his four touchdown passes to Demaryius Thomas.
From the first drive, it was evident the Denver Broncos were
not only no match for the Eagles but also easily the best team in football. The
Eagles managed to somewhat keep pace.
But when they had narrowed the game from seven to four and
the ensuing kickoff was returned 105 yards for a touchdown, it was clear. The
Broncos were going to out-play the Eagles in every facet of the game. And it
wasn’t even close.
The Eagles showed an admirable first-half effort. But by the
second half, they were heavily winded and could simply no longer keep pace as
the Broncos stayed on the gas and cruised to their fourth straight win setting
a franchise record for points in a single game in the process with a 52-20 win
over the Eagles in Week 4.
The Eagles received the ball first and ran three plays
before punting. The Broncos followed with a nine-play, 73-yard drive that ended
with a six-yard strike from Peyton
Manning to Wes Welker.
Philadelphia responded with a solid drive that ultimately
stalled in the red zone. Brent Celek
dropped a pass that would have put the Eagles right along the goal line that
forced fourth down instead. Alex Henery
kicked the successful 35-yard field goal.
The ensuing kickoff was returned 105 yards by Trindon Holliday for a touchdown.
The Eagles added another Henery field goal, this one from 25
yards, to cut into the lead again. They followed that up with a seven-play
drive that resulted in a four-yard rushing touchdown for Chris Polk. With the extra point, the lead was down to one.
Manning and the Broncos followed that with an 11-play drive
that ended with a four-yard run by Knowshon
Moreno for the touchdown. That capped the first-half scoring with the
Broncos leading 21-13.
With the Broncos getting possession to open the second half,
a five-minute drive to open the half resulted in another Denver touchdown as
Manning completed a one-yard pass to Demaryius
Thomas.
Thomas was on the end of another touchdown just four minutes
later, making a 15-yard reception for the score. With under a minute to play in
the third, Welker caught his second touchdown of the day from four yards out.
Finally, to open the fourth, an Eagles drive that went
nowhere ended with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown all by Steven Johnson.
The Broncos would add a 53-yard field goal by Matt Prater to close their scoring. The
Eagles posted their only other touchdown of the game with Nick Foles completing a six-yard pass to Jeff Maehl with under five minutes remaining.
Manning ended the day with another stellar line. He
completed 28 of 34 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns with no
interceptions. Vick was 14-for-27 for
248 yards without a score or turnover. Foles completed three of his four pass
attempts for 49 yards and a touchdown.
On the ground, LeSean
McCoy was silenced for most of the game. He carried the ball 16 times for
73 yards. Moreno carried for 78 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts.
Celek was the leader for the Eagles receiving corps, making
three catches for 57 yards. No other Eagles receiver caught more than two
passes. Demaryius Thomas made nine catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns with
Welker adding two touchdowns on seven catches for 76 yards. Eric Decker led the way in receiving
yards for Denver with 88 on five catches.
Defensively, the Eagles managed just one sack and three
tackles for loss on Manning and the Broncos. The Broncos defense led the charge
with three sacks and five tackles for loss.
The Broncos and Eagles nearly matched yard totals with the
Broncos edging the Eagles, 472-450. The Eagles took eight penalties for 62
yards compared to the Broncos two penalties for 25 yards and also once again
lost the possession game with the Broncos holding possess for 33:22. There were
no turnovers for either team in the game.
The Eagles (1-3) return to action next Sunday afternoon
against the New York Giants (0-4) from MetLife Stadium.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Eagledelphia. You can read his Monday Review following every Eagles game. You can also follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
