Philadelphia Eagles 15 best wins from 2010 to 2019
. . Week 13, 2015: Eagles 35, Patriots 28. 5. player. 54.
Perhaps this was the game that taught a struggling Philadelphia Eagles franchise that they could play with the NFL’s elite and one day become champions. In Week 13 of the 2015 season, a team we knew had no shot at a title manhandled a New England Patriots team that was still at the height of their dominance.
The 10-1 Patriots should have won this game easily, but the gutty Eagles would grind this one out behind a blocked punt that they would return for a touchdown and a punt return by Darren Sproles that was also taken to the house (and that’s just what they did on special teams).
A game that began with a 14-0 Patriots head start was completely flipped by a five-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz, the aforementioned blocked punt by Chris Maragos that was returned for a touchdown by Najee Goode, and an interception and 100-yard return by Malcolm Jenkins.
On the next drive, the Pats were forced to punt, and Darren Sproles took that one back 83 yards to the house. Sam Bradford threw a touchdown to Jordan Matthews, but you know how those Patriots are. Sometimes, it feels like you have to beat them three times to win one game. They’d give their all in a late-game rally as you’d expect, scoring 14 points to lessen the gap to a touchdown lead, but Philly held on.
It wasn’t a fluke. It wasn’t luck. The Eagles straight up kicked their behinds on that day. Philadelphia wouldn’t reach the playoffs until the 2017-2018 season, but this may have been the game where several members of a young roster learned that they could play in big games with the best and that they could win those games. It was a lesson that would serve them well a couple of years later.