This gives new meaning to the term flag football.
Friday night's preseason game between the Eagles and the Patriots will be remembered for the yellow laundry that rained upon the turf of Gillette Stadium as the Patriots held off the Eagles, 42-35, in a high-scoring affair. There were 21 accepted penalties between the two teams.
As for the action on the field, quarterback Nick Foles and wide receiver Jordan Matthews bounced back from shaky starts last week in Chicago. Foles was 8 of 10 for 81 yards and finished his night with a nice 6-yard touchdown to tight end Zach Ertz, who did a wonderful job shielding safety Patrick Chung.
Matthews was the Eagles' leading receiver with nine catches for 104 yards including a 25-yard reception. After battling some drops in Chicago, Matthews didn't let anything hit the ground and did a great job catching the ball away from his body and running fast and hard after the catch.
The highlight for the defense came on the game's opening drive when cornerback Cary Williams picked off quarterback Tom Brady and returned the ball 77 yards for a touchdown. It was the end of the night for Williams who exited the game after the score with a hamstring injury.
The Eagles are 0-2 in the preseason and still have plenty to improve before the season opener against the Jaguars. The Eagles committed four turnovers on offense. On defense, the Eagles allowed the Patriots to convert 10 out of 15 third-down opportunities and allowed 476 total yards.
After Williams scored the first touchdown of the game, the Patriots scored three straight touchdowns all through the air - one from Tom Brady and two from Jimmy Garoppolo. Foles' touchdown to Ertz was followed by an amazing juggling grab by wide receiver Arrelious Benn, who also blocked a punt, to tie the game at halftime.
Mark Sanchez had a strong performance for the second-straight week completing 11 of 12 pass attempts for 117 yards and two touchdowns. His only incompletion was an interception on the first play of the second half. Running back Henry Josey, who saw a significant amount of playing time with injuries to Chris Polk, Matthew Tucker and David Fluellen, had 56 rushing yards and a beautiful 27-yard reception off a screen pass for a touchdown.
