FOXBOROUGH, MASS. – Eight days ago, the New England Patriots were thinking about an unbeaten season.
Now the defending Super Bowl champions are trying to recover from their first back-to-back losses in more than three years.
Najee Goode scored on a blocked punt, Malcolm Jenkins returned an interception 99 yards for another touchdown and Darren Sproles took a punt return 83 yards for a TD on Sunday before the Philadelphia Eagles held on for an improbable 35-28 victory over the Patriots.
After giving up 45 points in back-to-back games, the response from the Eagles defense and special teams was just what coach Chip Kelly needed to snap a three-game losing streak and propel Philadelphia (5-7) back into the NFC East race.
"It takes those things to win in this stadium," Kelly said, "against that coach and that quarterback."
The Patriots took a 14-0 lead before Philadelphia scored five consecutive touchdowns. Then New England (10-2) came back, taking advantage of an onside kick and a fumble to have a chance to tie the score in the final minute.
That's when Patriots receivers dropped three passes in a row to turn the ball over on downs.
"Sort of had a chance there at the end. A comeback," coach Bill Belichick said unenthusiastically. "But when you give up 21 points when your defense isn't on the field, you're going to lose 98 percent of those games."
