Jack Redfern
12-20-2010, 01:30 AM
by Jack Redfern
phillysportspulse.com
Wow!
When thinking of a way to begin this article, that is the only word I can produce. One of the most surreal weeks in the history of Philadelphia sports was topped off in a most unbelievable fashion. In one of the most improbable comebacks in NFL history, the Eagles overcame a 31-10 deficit midway through the fourth quarter to shatter the hearts of the New York Giants, 38-31 at New Meadowlands Stadium.
For over 52 minutes, the Eagles had been thoroughly beaten by the Giants. Inevitably, they would end up falling to second place in the NFC East at 9-5, likely destined for the sixth and final seed in the NFC playoffs. The last chance for a comeback victory had seemingly passed the Eagles by when Andy Reid elected not to challenge the ruling of a DeSean Jackson fumble near midfield, despite replays showing Jackson had been very lightly touched on the back by Giants linebacker Jonathan Goff before hitting the ground. Given a short field to work with, New York hit paydirt when Eli Manning connected with tight end Kevin Boss on an eight-yard touchdown to give the Giants a 31-10 lead with 8:17 left. The Eagles responded quickly, as Michael Vick hooked up with Brent Celek on a 65-yard juggling catch-and-run touchdown, the tight end's path to the end zone cleared after Giants safety Kenny Phillips gambled and lost going for what would've been a game-icing interception. A nice play for sure, but with 7:28 left, it seemed as though its only real purpose would be to make the final score look a little more respectable. But then, the Eagles caught the Giants napping as David Akers perfectly executed an onsides kick into the waiting arms of Riley Cooper with nary a blue jersey in sight. Suddenly, things were interesting again. Vick would get the Eagles deep into Giants territory with a 35-yard scramble and would finish the drive with a four-yard scoring run on a quarterback draw. That made it a one-possession game, but with 5:21 left and a struggling defense back on the field, it was still very much an uphill climb. Sure enough, the Giants would drive into Eagles territory, but they stalled at the 40. Jeremy Maclin would make a fair catch of a Matt Dodge punt at the 12 yard line. The Eagles had the ball, but there was only 3:01 remaining and they were out of timeouts. It was time for some Vick magic.
The drive that led to the Eagles tying this game is obviously not one that will be mentioned in the same breath as John Elway in the 1986 AFC Championship Game or Joe Montana in Super Bowl XXIII. Even so, there's no denying that it quite possibly saved the season for this football team. After starting off with two incompletions, Vick scrambled out of trouble for 33 yards on 3rd and 10. Two plays later, he ran right up the middle for 20 more yards. Two plays after that, Vick connected with Maclin for a 13-yard touchdown pass that miraculously pulled the Eagles even at 31. It was an exhilirating moment, but there was also the reminder that 1:16 still remained on the clock and the Giants had all three timeouts remaining. Danny Ware returned a bouncing Akers kickoff out to the 36, but the defense tightened up at the most critical time, as Manning threw two incompletions before a third-down sack by Trevor Laws. The Giants were forced to punt, but with the Eagles unable to stop the clock, they were able to run the time down to 14 seconds. A punt out of bounds and maybe a Hail Mary or kneeldown was all that was left before the game went to overtime. No way the Giants would allow DeSean Jackson any kind of return, even if he was playing at less than 100 percent due to a sprained foot, right?
Wrong.
Giants punter Matt Dodge took a high snap from Zak DeOssie and punted to Jackson, who initially dropped the ball. He recovered, backpedaled, then found some open spaces after bursting through the first line of New York defenders. Jackson cut across the middle of the field towards the Giants sideline with only the long snapper DeOssie to beat. Jason Avant took care of that, leveling DeOssie on a clean block, allowing Jackson to cruise on to the end zone. After running parallel to the goal line for a few seconds (time had expired even before this), Jackson eventually crossed the plane for the first game-ending regulation punt return touchdown in NFL history, and a 38-31 Eagles victory, capping one of the greatest comebacks the league has ever seen.
With the win, the Eagles are now 10-4, needing any combination of a win or Giants loss to wrap up their sixth NFC East title in ten years, but their first since 2006. While the Atlanta Falcons will likely end up with homefield advantage in the NFC playoffs, the Eagles are certainly in the mix for the second seed and a first round bye. The Chicago Bears are 9-4 with a Monday Night game against the Minnesota Vikings (next week's Eagles opponent) pending. The Bears own the tiebreaker over the Eagles thanks to their Week 12 head-to-head victory, so the Eagles would have to finish with a better record in order to surpass them in seeding. After the Minnesota game, Chicago's remaining schedule includes the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers, both of whom figure to have a lot at stake in those games.
The title of this article comes from my reaction to the game's final play, one that will go down in Eagles lore. A definite "Where Were You?" moment. I was at work (I have a sports-related job, where watching games is part of what I do). As soon as Jackson broke into the open field, I said those three words several times, with the phrase becoming louder each time. It was just a stunning moment, one you had to see to believe and even if you did see it, you probably still didn't believe it.
So let's see. In the past week, the Eagles have beaten the Cowboys and Giants to basically seal the division title. There's still a lot of issues to be worked out on defense (could've done without losing Nate Allen to a ruptured patella tendon in this game) and on the offensive line (Winston Justice can't come back soon enough and Mike McGlynn needs some work on his snaps from the shotgun), but it's tough to top defeating those two opponents. The Phillies swooped in and brought Cliff Lee back to the organization after it was assumed by pretty much everyone he would choose to sign with the New York Yankees or return to the Texas Rangers. The Flyers posted wins over the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Rangers, teams that they don't necessarily get along with very well. In the process, they regained the top spot in the overall NHL standings. The Sixers still have a ways to go, but they've done some good things lately, winning eight of 11, losing a heartbreaker to the Boston Celtics in the last second and hanging tough against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In Philadelphia, we're not used to runs of success like we're witnessing right now. It's something we could get used to, though. Needless to say, the work is not finished for any of the teams. But if we find ourselves looking on in amazement saying "No (Expletive) Way!" numerous times in the not-too-distant future, then that'll be pretty (expletive) fine by me!
Jack Redfern can be contacted at mplant@phillysportspulse.com
phillysportspulse.com
Wow!
When thinking of a way to begin this article, that is the only word I can produce. One of the most surreal weeks in the history of Philadelphia sports was topped off in a most unbelievable fashion. In one of the most improbable comebacks in NFL history, the Eagles overcame a 31-10 deficit midway through the fourth quarter to shatter the hearts of the New York Giants, 38-31 at New Meadowlands Stadium.
For over 52 minutes, the Eagles had been thoroughly beaten by the Giants. Inevitably, they would end up falling to second place in the NFC East at 9-5, likely destined for the sixth and final seed in the NFC playoffs. The last chance for a comeback victory had seemingly passed the Eagles by when Andy Reid elected not to challenge the ruling of a DeSean Jackson fumble near midfield, despite replays showing Jackson had been very lightly touched on the back by Giants linebacker Jonathan Goff before hitting the ground. Given a short field to work with, New York hit paydirt when Eli Manning connected with tight end Kevin Boss on an eight-yard touchdown to give the Giants a 31-10 lead with 8:17 left. The Eagles responded quickly, as Michael Vick hooked up with Brent Celek on a 65-yard juggling catch-and-run touchdown, the tight end's path to the end zone cleared after Giants safety Kenny Phillips gambled and lost going for what would've been a game-icing interception. A nice play for sure, but with 7:28 left, it seemed as though its only real purpose would be to make the final score look a little more respectable. But then, the Eagles caught the Giants napping as David Akers perfectly executed an onsides kick into the waiting arms of Riley Cooper with nary a blue jersey in sight. Suddenly, things were interesting again. Vick would get the Eagles deep into Giants territory with a 35-yard scramble and would finish the drive with a four-yard scoring run on a quarterback draw. That made it a one-possession game, but with 5:21 left and a struggling defense back on the field, it was still very much an uphill climb. Sure enough, the Giants would drive into Eagles territory, but they stalled at the 40. Jeremy Maclin would make a fair catch of a Matt Dodge punt at the 12 yard line. The Eagles had the ball, but there was only 3:01 remaining and they were out of timeouts. It was time for some Vick magic.
The drive that led to the Eagles tying this game is obviously not one that will be mentioned in the same breath as John Elway in the 1986 AFC Championship Game or Joe Montana in Super Bowl XXIII. Even so, there's no denying that it quite possibly saved the season for this football team. After starting off with two incompletions, Vick scrambled out of trouble for 33 yards on 3rd and 10. Two plays later, he ran right up the middle for 20 more yards. Two plays after that, Vick connected with Maclin for a 13-yard touchdown pass that miraculously pulled the Eagles even at 31. It was an exhilirating moment, but there was also the reminder that 1:16 still remained on the clock and the Giants had all three timeouts remaining. Danny Ware returned a bouncing Akers kickoff out to the 36, but the defense tightened up at the most critical time, as Manning threw two incompletions before a third-down sack by Trevor Laws. The Giants were forced to punt, but with the Eagles unable to stop the clock, they were able to run the time down to 14 seconds. A punt out of bounds and maybe a Hail Mary or kneeldown was all that was left before the game went to overtime. No way the Giants would allow DeSean Jackson any kind of return, even if he was playing at less than 100 percent due to a sprained foot, right?
Wrong.
Giants punter Matt Dodge took a high snap from Zak DeOssie and punted to Jackson, who initially dropped the ball. He recovered, backpedaled, then found some open spaces after bursting through the first line of New York defenders. Jackson cut across the middle of the field towards the Giants sideline with only the long snapper DeOssie to beat. Jason Avant took care of that, leveling DeOssie on a clean block, allowing Jackson to cruise on to the end zone. After running parallel to the goal line for a few seconds (time had expired even before this), Jackson eventually crossed the plane for the first game-ending regulation punt return touchdown in NFL history, and a 38-31 Eagles victory, capping one of the greatest comebacks the league has ever seen.
With the win, the Eagles are now 10-4, needing any combination of a win or Giants loss to wrap up their sixth NFC East title in ten years, but their first since 2006. While the Atlanta Falcons will likely end up with homefield advantage in the NFC playoffs, the Eagles are certainly in the mix for the second seed and a first round bye. The Chicago Bears are 9-4 with a Monday Night game against the Minnesota Vikings (next week's Eagles opponent) pending. The Bears own the tiebreaker over the Eagles thanks to their Week 12 head-to-head victory, so the Eagles would have to finish with a better record in order to surpass them in seeding. After the Minnesota game, Chicago's remaining schedule includes the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers, both of whom figure to have a lot at stake in those games.
The title of this article comes from my reaction to the game's final play, one that will go down in Eagles lore. A definite "Where Were You?" moment. I was at work (I have a sports-related job, where watching games is part of what I do). As soon as Jackson broke into the open field, I said those three words several times, with the phrase becoming louder each time. It was just a stunning moment, one you had to see to believe and even if you did see it, you probably still didn't believe it.
So let's see. In the past week, the Eagles have beaten the Cowboys and Giants to basically seal the division title. There's still a lot of issues to be worked out on defense (could've done without losing Nate Allen to a ruptured patella tendon in this game) and on the offensive line (Winston Justice can't come back soon enough and Mike McGlynn needs some work on his snaps from the shotgun), but it's tough to top defeating those two opponents. The Phillies swooped in and brought Cliff Lee back to the organization after it was assumed by pretty much everyone he would choose to sign with the New York Yankees or return to the Texas Rangers. The Flyers posted wins over the Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Montreal Canadiens, and New York Rangers, teams that they don't necessarily get along with very well. In the process, they regained the top spot in the overall NHL standings. The Sixers still have a ways to go, but they've done some good things lately, winning eight of 11, losing a heartbreaker to the Boston Celtics in the last second and hanging tough against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In Philadelphia, we're not used to runs of success like we're witnessing right now. It's something we could get used to, though. Needless to say, the work is not finished for any of the teams. But if we find ourselves looking on in amazement saying "No (Expletive) Way!" numerous times in the not-too-distant future, then that'll be pretty (expletive) fine by me!
Jack Redfern can be contacted at mplant@phillysportspulse.com