Eagles Edge Out Redskins 37-34
PHILADELPHIA, PA (CBS) — It sounded like a car wreck, minus the screeching breaks, the crunching metal and the twisted body parts. This aftermath left a supine, churning Nick Foles wincing, his joints locked in pain. The blindside hit Foles took from Washington's Chris Baker in the fourth quarter stirred an enraged wave of white from the Eagles' sideline charging across Lincoln Financial Field seeking retribution.
About 10 minutes later, after the battle royal died down, players were ejected, order restored and the DeSean Jackson return reduced to a side note, the Eagles got it in a 37-34 victory over the Redskins in an emotionally charged NFC East early-season showdown on Sunday.
The Eagles moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2004, when the Eagles won the NFC.
Foles showed great resolve leading the Eagles to 10 unanswered points in a four-minute span, hitting Jeremy Maclin for a 27-yard touchdown that snapped a 27-27 tie and guiding the Eagles to what eventually were the game-winning points when Cody Parkey hit a 51-yard field goal.
The Eagles started the game with three of their five starting offensive linemen from last year. They finished it with one, Todd Herremans, after All-Pro left tackle Jason Peters was ejected for throwing a punch at Baker for the Foles hit.
Foles never wavered. Composed, Foles completed 28-of-42 for 325 yards and three touchdowns, behind a line that featured Andrew Gardner at left tackle, replacing the ejected Peters, new acquisition Wade Smith at left guard, replacing the moved Dennis Kelly, David Molk at center, replacing the injured Jason Kelce, Kelly moved to right guard replacing Herremans, who was moved to right tackle, where Gardner started the game.
Got that?
With 9:55 to play, and the game knotted at 27-27, Foles appeared to throw an interception to Washington cornerback Bashaud Breeland (a replay later showed Breeland dropped the ball, negating the pick). As Breeland got up to return the interception, Foles got nailed by Baker with a blind-side left shoulder right in the chest, sending Foles down.
Peters rushed to Foles' aid, trying to get at Baker on the Washington sideline. That's when all hell broke loose, with the Eagles' bench rushing to the aid of Peters, engulfed by burgundy.
"I wasn't having it, I mean that was just a cheap shot, you're taking on the smallest guy on the field and you're cheap shotting him, he's not even trying to make the play," Peters said. "I just reacted. I shouldn't have did what I did. I was just trying to protect my quarterback. I really wasn't thinking. I saw [Baker] hit him and I just reacted.
"That wasn't scripted or planned, the guy did what he did. I was just protecting my quarterback. I was just hoping we won. I wasn't trying to hurt my team. I know I need to be out there, but I'm just glad we won. I wasn't thinking. We won. That's all that matters. Foles is Foles. He's a tough guy, a tough character. I told [Baker] what I thought. He tried to do it and he tried to hurt him. But I think it put a charge in us. We responded."
Chip Kelly has always espoused Foles' toughness. The Eagles' coach saw Foles get pounded in college, and each time, Foles got back up. Maybe it took Foles to get knocked around again for the Eagles to wake up.
Baker didn't think he did anything wrong.
"Well, I was doing what I was taught, and that's to block," Baker said. "I did not look to see if it was the quarterback. But all I saw was someone going towards the ball and I got my head in front and lowered my shoulder, which is a legal football move, doing what I was taught to do and I get punched in my face on the sideline and the next thing you know I'm ejected for a block."
Molk was right next to Foles when the hit took place.
"That sounded like a car accident, it was a hard hit, a really, really hard hit," Molk said. "I was so focused on this massive dude turning around on me that I didn't really see Nick down. Pain is pain and you can see it all over Nick's face. You can see the agony within him, and for him to get up and lead us to victory, that's a tough guy."
Upon getting himself together, Foles told his teammates, "Let's get back to work." As if nothing happened.
"The guy has to be the most positive guy in the world," Molk said. "You get clocked as hard as you ever could be, and he's back in there. Nick didn't even curse. I would have been [expletive] everything."
Jeremy Maclin outdueled his former teammate Jackson, making eight catches for a game-high 154 yards and a touchdown. Maclin gleamed once the topic of Foles' toughness was broached.
"Nick's a beast," Maclin said. "When your quarterback can get up from a hit like that and lead us to victory, that just shows what kind of person he is and what kind of player he is. He's a guy we want leading this team. It would have pissed me off, but he wasn't. That woke us up as a team. We went over there as a team to protect our quarterback like we should have."
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