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A Wild Day For Eagles On Special Teams

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LOS ANGELES –Jake Elliott had full confidence that the timing would be fine. All he had to do was make the field goal. He did just that, a 33-yarder, with 3:45 remaining in the game to give the Eagles the eventual winning points in a crazy 43-35 win on Sunday over the Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Elliott made three field goals in the game, one that had its share of ups and downs for the Eagles' special teams.

"You're going to have games like that against special teams that are as aggressive as the Rams are," said punter Donnie Jones, who was involved in all of the action. "We had one go against us and that's never good, but we hung in there and came through at the end of the game."

A huge play on special teams temporarily tilted the game in the favor of the Rams when a blocked punt was recovered and returned for a touchdown as the Rams took their first lead of the second half in the third quarter of the game.

Michael Thomas stepped inside of Corey Clement on Jones' left side and cleanly blocked the punt. Blake Countess, a sixth-round selection of the Eagles in 2016, picked up football after one bounce and scored the touchdown that gave Los Angeles a 28-24 lead.

It was the Rams' second blocked punt returned for a touchdown this season.

Los Angeles nearly got through to Jones earlier in the game, but Jones got the ball off just in time. But the Rams keep coming with their dominating special teams and turned the game around in the third quarter with the block and return for score.

"They just beat us," Jones said. "Give them credit. They have a great group on special teams."

The Eagles rode the strength of Elliott's three field goals, strong coverage in the kickoff game - the Rams had four returns for only 74 yards - and at the very, very end of the game, with the Rams putting on a full block-the-punt rush, the Eagles were able to get the kick off and avoid more trouble.

Jones rushed off a punt that traveled 38 yards to the Rams' 24-yard line. The play ended with one second remaining on the clock and the Eagles' defense returned a fumble on the Rams' desperate last play to add the icing on the winning cake.

"I just had to get it off. We knew they were coming," Jones said. "The guys did a great job giving me time to get my kick off."

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and clinched the NFC East.

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