Eagles-Broncos final score: Denver stomps Philadelphia in a blow out, 52-20

Eagles-Broncos final score: Denver stomps Philadelphia in a blow out, 52-20

 

 Peyton Manning threw for infinity yards and infinity touchdowns as the Eagles fell to the Broncos in Denver on Sunday afternoon.

 

The 1-2 Eagles entered this game as huge underdogs to the 3-0 Broncos.

First Quarter

Eagles get the ball first. A three and out to open the game. Punt.

Denver's turn. Too easy. Peyton Manning puts a nifty drive together that ends with a Wes Welker TD. 9 plays, 74 yards. 7-0, Broncos.

Eagles driving. A couple of Vick runs, Shady mixed in. Oh hey, a James Casey sighting! First career catch as an Eagle. PHI in the red zone... Brent Celek drops a pass on third down. Eagles kick a FG instead of going for it. Not liking that decision. 7-3, Broncos.

Trindon Holiday is dangerous on kick returns and he proved it with a long KR for a TD. Looks like there was a hold on Jordan Poyer, but no call. Makes the Eagles redzone FG decision even worse. 14-3, Broncos.

Eagles back on offense. Lots of Vick scrambling. Bryce Brown getting some carries. DeSean Jackson goes down after a catch, but only misses one snap.

Second Quarter

Eagles move into scoring position but settle for a FG again. Why aren't they going for it? 14-6, Broncos.

A third down stop for the Eagles defense! Well, that was unexpected. Denver almost broke off a huge play after Eric Decker burned Cary Williams in coverage, but Decker couldn't make the catch.

Eagles driving. Tough catch by DJacc gets challenged. but it's definitely a catch. Play stands, good call.

Bryce Brown 35 yard run sets up the Eagles in scoring position... and a short Chris Polk 4 yard TD run caps off the drive! Hey, the Eagles are in this thing?! 14-13, Broncos.

To no one's surprise, Broncos answer with a drive of their own. Knowshon Moreno TD. Eagles struggling to defend the run as well as the pass. 21-13, Broncos.

Eagles ball. Driving down the field... 4th and 6 on Denver's 37. Not a fourth down conversion attempt. Not a field goal. A punt. A punt! Why? Low net yards. Where's the aggressiveness?

Denver's ball. A Cedric Thornton sack on Peyton Manning helps force a stop with 18 seconds left in the half. That, and a silly decision by Knowshon Moreno to push DeMeco Ryans which forced Denver out of FG position. Broncos punt.

Eagles kneel and go to half-time. It's a one possession game. Not too bad, huh?

Third Quarter

Broncos on offense to start the second half. Running the ball effortlessly. Broncos capitalize on the drive with a Demaryius Thomas TD. On the play before the TD, the Eagles were charged on a HIGHLY questionable pass interference call on Bradley Fletcher in the endzone. Gift call for the Broncos. Denver was likely to score anyway. 28-13, Broncos.

The Eagles punt on their next drive, and again to no one's surprise the Broncos capitalize on an offensive drive. Demaryius Thomas TD. The blow out is on. 35-13, Broncos.

More blow out. Welker TD. 42-13, Broncos.

Fourth Quarter

MORE BLOW OUT. Eagles have a punt blocked. 49-13, Broncos.

Alex Henery misses a 46 yard FG. He's 2-5 at kicks from 40-49 yards this year. Not good.

Peyton Manning is done for the day. Broncos backup QB Brock Osweiler in. It's that kind of game, folks.

Broncos 53 yard FG. 52-13, Broncos.

Just under 7 minutes left, Nick Foles comes in for the Birds.

Hey, a Jeff Maehl garbage TD. 52-20, Broncos.

Final Thoughts:

Philadelphia drops to 1-3. The three losses are against AFC teams. The Eagles are still 1-0 in the NFC/NFC East.

The Eagles offense is very much legit. They became the first team in NFL history with 1000+ passing yards and 750+ rushing yards in the first 4 games of a season. But at the same time they only put up 13 points.

Michael Vick threw for 248 yards on 14/27 passing, 0 TD and 0 INT. He also ran for 41 yards on 8 attempts. LeSean McCoy ran for 73 yards on 16 carries (4.6 avg).

Everyone knew the Eagles would struggle on defense. They simply lack the talent and it's not like their coaching staff is top notch either. Peyton Manning is the best QB in the league and their offense is almost unstoppable.

An annoying part of today's game, though: Chip Kelly's lack of aggressive play. As I documented multiple times in this recap, Chip had the chance to go for it on fourth down but simply didn't. Twice, that meant settling for FGs instead of TDs. No onside kicks or fakes, either. Maybe that's asking for too much but what did they have to lose?

Hoping to beat the best team in the NFL by being conservative is a flawed strategy. I'm not sure why Kelly was so passive today after being known as an aggressive guy in college.

Ultimately, it didn't matter though. It was a blow out. There's a lot of blame to go around. Chip's lack of aggression didn't single handily cost the game. The defense was bad. The offense didn't put up enough points. Special teams gave up 14 points (KR for TD, blocked punt).

Look, the sky is not falling. Losing to the best team in the NFL on the road is not the end of the world.

The Eagles still play in a terrible division and they have some VERY winnable games coming up (at Giants, at Buccaneers).