Philadelphia Eagles watch their playoff hopes dwindle with Miami loss
In essentially a must-win game for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dolphins scored 23 unanswered points to embarrass the Eagles 37-31 in Miami.
The Philadelphia Eagles controlled their own destiny en route to winning the NFC East, and ultimately the playoffs. However, the Eagles ‘dropped the ball’ in a game where a win was needed.
First Quarter
The Eagles came out hot. Picking off Ryan Fitzpatrick within the first 10 seconds of the game, the Eagles looked to be on their way to an easy victory. On the resulting drive, Carson Wentz hit Miles Sanders on a wheel route to score and put the birds up 7-0 early.
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After the score, the Eagles’ defense stood strong. Being their only good quarter of the game, the Eagles held the Miami Dolphins to a three-and-out and get the ball back almost immediately. Everything looked to be in the Eagles’ favor and wound up taking a 10-0 lead early.
The team looked to be clicking, and there’s no way the Dolphins 30th ranked offense could respond to the slow start, right?
Wrong.
Ryan Fitzpatrick soon hit DeVante Parker on a 43-yard touchdown pass with 2 minutes and 40 seconds left in the quarter. Suddenly, the Dolphins looked to have life.
Second Quarter
The offense slowly became, but Jake Elliot kept his miss-less field goal streak alive, as the Eagles went up 13-7 with 8:04 remaining in the half. The Dolphins quickly responded as the Dolphins pulled off one of the coolest trick plays this season to put them up 14-13.
Slowly but surely, Eagles’ fans began to worry. Soon after though, Wentz hit J.J. Arcega-Whiteside for his first touchdown catch of the season.
The Eagles went into the locker room with a 21-14 halftime lead.
Third Quarter
Again, the Eagles were matched up against the 30th ranked defense and 30th ranked offense in Miami. There was no way they could blow a lead, could they?
Wrong again.
After a fairly slow-moving third quarter, Wentz hit Alshon Jeffrey for a 17-yard touchdown in a quick, four-minute drive to open the half. Doug Pederson looked like he made the right adjustments, and the Eagles were about to cruise their way to a win.
Don’t be fooled though, as the Dolphins responded with two touchdowns of their own while keeping the Eagles scoreless for the rest of the quarter. Jake Elliot also missed his first field goal of the year.
After three, Dolphins up 28-26.
Fourth Quarter
Okay, the Eagles fell flat after the half after all. However, there was still a whole quarter of football to play, and Wentz was looking better than normal.
It didn’t matter, apparently.
The Dolphins then came out and scored 10 more points. The Eagles continued to come up short, with a couple of three-and-outs. It wasn’t until about two minutes remaining did Eagles score. The Dolphins scored 23 unanswered points on the “bend, don’t break” Eagles’ defense.
Despite the game, the Eagles had a chance to win the game on a hail mary in the dying seconds. After a bouncing pass, the ball wound up in a Dolphins’ hands to end the game.
Dolphins win, 37-31.
Eagles Player of the Game:
Alshon Jeffrey
In his first game since November 3rd, Alshon came out strong. After weeks of begging for
someone to just catch the ball, Alshon balled out. He snagged nine passes, for 137 yards and a touchdown.
He made huge catches throughout the whole game. With him, Carson Wentz had one of his better games of the season as well. The quarterback threw for three touchdowns and 310 yards, with his lone reception being on the game-ending hail mary heave, but Ryan Fitzpatrick simply outplayed him.
Next. Ryan Fitzpatrick embarrassed Carson Wentz. dark
The Round-Up
The Miami Dolphins may have played their best game of the season, but it is tough to credit them with the win. The Eagles straight up lost this game, the Dolphins didn’t win it. With a playoff berth in their own control, the Eagles came out flat. Zach Ertz dropped a few crucial passes, including a couple of potential touchdowns. They looked like a bad football team, plain and simple. It was an inexcusable loss, and the Eagles should be ashamed. At this point, tank for Jerry Jeudy.