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Eagles Show Heart In A Thriller

Posted Sep 16, 2012

It was a marketing campaign hatched a year early. You remember it, right? Heart ... heartbeat ... the Eagles. Two games into 2012 and this team is all about heart and thrills and chills and, yes, wins ...

Sunday's home opener against Baltimore was a knock-down, bloody-knuckle game, won in the last minute by the Eagles, 24-23. It would be impossible and unfair to suggest that there was one, or even two, players who led the Eagles to a 2-0 record for the first time since 2004.

This one took an entire Eagles village -- players, coaches, and the fans that rocked the foundation of Lincoln Financial Field for an entire gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

The winning points were scored when quarterback Michael Vick took a designed sneak out of the shotgun and found enough daylight to score a touchdown and watched as Alex Henery capped the 80-yard drive with the extra point.

But it wouldn't have been complete had the defense been left out of the fun. Once again, Juan Castillo's charges had the responsibility of holding a one-point lead in the final two minutes, and again the Eagles did the job. 

The crowd went bonkers, of course, as it did the entire show. It was a fantastic start to the home schedule, complete with the pre-game flyover and the fireworks and the intensity of the physical Ravens coming to town. There was more pushing and shoving in this game than any in recent seasons and it nearly broke down into an all-out slugfest before and after the whistle.

Mostly, though, the Eagles overcame another handful of turnovers -- four in all, including two Vick interceptions -- to reach 2-0. They are, according to research done by ESPN, the first team since 1983 (Los Angeles Rams) and only the fifth team in the last 50 NFL seasons to get to 2-0 with four or more turnovers in each game.

Remarkable.

"We have a team," said running back LeSean McCoy, "that believes in each other that somehow we're going to get the win."

Where do you begin with this one?  How about at the very start, when the Eagles opened the game with a marvelous offensive drive that started at their 20 and moved 68 yards on nine plays as coordinator Marty Mornhinweg employed some no-huddle looks to reach the red zone. But on a play from the Baltimore 12-yard line, Vick rolled right and threw late into the back of the end zone for tight end Clay Harbor. The pass was intercepted and the threat was over and, oh boy, were the Eagles going to go through this again?

No, they weren't. Not exactly, anyway. Defensive end Trent Cole gave the football right back to the offense by sacking Joe Flacco from the blind side -- against, interestingly, The Blind Side subject, left tackle Michael Oher -- and Cullen Jenkins recovered for the Eagles at the Ravens 15-yard line.

This time, the Eagles didn't waste the red-zone opportunity. They ran 6 plays and ended the drive on McCoy's 1-yard touchdown run and the Eagles had a lead and some momentum.

By the time halftime rolled around, though, Baltimore had carved out a 17-7 lead and the Eagles were in comeback mode.

Up stepped DeMeco Ryans, who has had two fantastic games. His interception, plus an unnecessary roughness against running back Ray Rice, set the Eagles up at Baltimore's 42-yard line and Vick made the Ravens pay as he rolled left and threw to a wide-open Jeremy Maclin in the end zone. Maclin, on his knees, made the 23-yard catch for the score and the Eagles drew to within three points.

The second half was really about the Eagles' defense, which allowed only 8 first downs, including just one in the third quarter. A couple of Ravens field goals put Baltimore ahead 23-17 early in the fourth quarter and set the stage for a final 4 minutes, 43 seconds to remember.

Vick completed 4 of 5 passes for 70 yards and ran 3 times for 11 yards and took the designed run into the end zone to tie the game. Once Henery booted the PAT, the defense closed the door on the Ravens. A strong four-man pass rush allowed the Eagles to mix their coverages and players like Ryans and Cole and Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks and Brandon Boykin and both starting safeties and, well everyone, played awesome defense.

Who was great? Ryans is doing it all on the field. Boykin has been a beast as the third cornerback. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Nnamdi Asomugha gave up limited plays to Baltimore's good crop of receivers. Nate Allen and Kurt Coleman have been around the football for two games.

On offense, the Eagles overcame the loss of starting center Jason Kelce to a potentially serious knee injury and left tackle King Dunlap to a hamstring injury and plugged in Dallas Reynolds at center and Demetress Bell at left tackle and rolled up 486 yards. The Eagles dropped back to throw the ball about 37 times -- give or take some Vick scrambles -- and dialed up about the same number of runs. Vick averaged an obscene 10.5 yards per pass attempt and he took full advantage of tight end Brent Celek, who caught 8 passes for 157 yards and wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who had 7 receptions for 114 yards. 

It was so encouraging to win this game. Good teams on the way to great teams win these kinds of games. They overcome mistakes and injuries and adversity and very good opponents and win these kinds of outings.

The Eagles have a bunch to clean up. The turnovers are still too many. The injury to Kelce is a concern. Dunlap may see Bell bypass him on the depth charge sometime very soon. The Eagles still were called for 7 penalties, which is just too many. The special teams were spotty at times.

But the Eagles won a game they probably would have lost in recent years. They fashioned another huge fourth-quarter comeback. They showed great leadership and trust in each other. These are the kinds of things coaches look for, a special chemistry that develops early in a season that can be magical.

In two games, the Eagles have shown an enormous amount of heart. It's a good way to characterize what's going on with this team, with a locker room that has quickly learned how to win games, no matter how and no matter what else is happening in the chaotic early season. Sunday was a thriller, a game and a moment to cherish. These are the kinds of wins that carry a team a long way, and can help define a season.

Do you believe? The Eagles sure do, and it's wonderful to see.



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