Six months later, Patriots soar over Eagles

The Patriots build a 27-point third-quarter lead and coast to a 37-20 preseason romp over the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Tom Brady throws for two touchdowns and the defense records eight sacks in the game.

FOXBORO – Where was this the night of Feb. 4 in Minneapolis?

Scoring four times and recording five sacks and a fumble return for a touchdown in the first half (they finished the game with eight sacks against three different quarterbacks), the Patriots built a 27-point third-quarter lead en route to a 37-20 romp over the Philadelphia Eagles in what some loosely termed a rematch of Super Bowl LII at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.

After sitting out the preseason opener, Tom Brady started, played the entire first half and completed 19-of-26 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.

Running back James White was an active participant as well, accounting for 92 yards from scrimmage by catching all six passes thrown his way for 61 yards and a touchdown and gaining 31 yards on four carries.

“We did some good things, but I’m sure there’s a lot of things we didn’t do very well,” said Brady. “I think this is all just part of the building process and it feels good to win, but there’s certainly a lot of things we’ve got to do better.”

Potentially the biggest downer was the fact that top draft pick Isaiah Wynn entered the game at right tackle on the Patriots’ second possession but didn’t stick around long, leaving before the end of the first quarter with an ankle injury. It’s been a rough summer for the Pats’ two first-round picks from Georgia, running back Sony Michel sitting out the bulk of it with a knee injury.

Following a quick Philly punt (1:03 into the game), Brady took the field for the first time this year – and all was immediately right in the Patriots’ world.

In a matter of 3-1/2 minutes the Pats were in the end zone, covering 62 yards in eight plays, the touchdown coming on a 4-yard toss that saw the quarterback buy some time by moving up in the pocket before throwing to Chris Hogan, the wide receiver adjusting to free himself from cornerback Avonte Maddox.

It remained 7-0 until 14 seconds remained in the opening quarter when place-kicker Stephen Gostkowski capped off a nine-play, 61-yard drive that took 3:22 by converting his first of three field goals in the game, a 37-yarder that made it 10-0.

It was (for the most part) a productive 15 minutes for Hogan, who’s had a subpar training camp: four catches in six targets for 17 yards (he finished the game with five receptions in seven targets for 25 yards – one of the incompletions a bad drop over the middle.

The defense joined the first-half scoring parade in the second quarter, end Adrian Clayborn strip-sacking Eagles quarterback Nick Foles (putting him out of the game with a shoulder strain) and preseason MVP Ja’Whaun Bentley fielding the fumble on a hop and finding 54 yards of open real estate in front of him for the TD. Bentley followed up his six-tackle performance in the Patriots' 26-17 preseason-opening win over Washington with another five stops in this one.

Backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld (younger brother of 2013 Patriots preseason legend Zach Sudfeld) guided the Eagles on a 69-yard drive and got them on the board with a 4-yard flip to wide receiver Shelton Gibson, who spun cornerback Jason McCourty into the turf to get open. Actually, cornerback Keion Crossen guided the Eagles on the drive as he was responsible for 50 of the yards with two pass interference penalties in a span of three snaps. The quarter couldn’t have gone much worse for the seventh-round pick, who later surrendered a 24-yard completion to wide receiver DeAndre Carter and got called for holding in the end zone.

The Patriots answered with their third scoring drive of the half, covering 49 yards in eight plays, leading to Gostkowski’s second field goal of the night, a 49-yarder that made it 20-7.

Put on the field for the two-minute drill, Brady and Co. had one more in them, their fourth scoring drive a four-play, 69-yard drive in 59 seconds that ended with White taking a screen pass from the quarterback and, with the aid of an escort (center David Andrews, guards Shaq Mason and Joe Thuney and tight end Jacob Hollister) weaving 20 yards for a touchdown and a 27-7 halftime lead.

Even Brian Hoyer got in the act, directing a three-play, 52-yard drive (aided by two major penalties on the Eagles’ defense) that ended with Cordarrelle Patterson (four receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown) taking a screen, burying cornerback Sidney Jones with a move and scooting in for an 11-yard score that upped the count to 34-7 with 10:27 left in the third quarter.

The rest of the quarter belonged to Sudfeld who tossed 17- and 31-yard touchdown passes to tight end Richard Rodgers and wide receiver Rashard Davis, respectively, cutting the difference to 34-20 before Gostkowski connected from 29 yards away in the fourth quarter for the final.

"I thought our guys came out and played competitively tonight," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. "Got off to a good start and were able to play from ahead and made some plays in all three phases of the game. We've still got a lot of work to do, a long way to go."