Eagles Hold On to Beat the Broncos 30-27

In a game that appeared to be over in the third quarter after the Eagles opened up a 17 point lead, it actually came down to a 28 yard David Acker's field goal with four seconds left to give the Birds a dramatic 30-27 win over the Denver Broncos. In the final drive, WR Jeremy Maclin made a 27 yard shoestring catch that was at first called incomplete, but overturned upon review to give Philadelphia a first down at the Denver 13 yard line. Three plays later Acker hit the winning kick.

The win, their sixth in a row runs the Eagles' record to 11-4 and gives them a chance to clinch the NFC East with a Dallas loss tonight to the Redskins, or a win over the Cowboys next week. If they can get the win next week and Minnesota loses to either Chicago on Monday night or to the N.Y. Giants next week, they would be the number two seed and get an automatic first round bye.

While a win is a win no matter how you get it, there has to be a bit of concern over the second half collapse against a team they completely dominated in the first half. Everything seemed to work with tremendous ease as they scored 20 points in four straight drives in the first and second quarter. All their effort was derailed in the second half by a much more aggressive, and possibly desperate Denver team. Turnovers, penalties, and bad execution allowed the Broncos to crawl back into this game as the Eagles appeared to take their foots off their throats.

Lost in the drama of the day was Brian Dawkins return to Philadelphia as he was never really a factor in this game. I envisioned him coming up with a crushing sack or a big interception to ignite his team, but he ended having a very average game. None the less, the Eagles still could have used him on their side today as their secondary once again was a bit shaky especially in the third quarter when Denver closed the gap with two touchdowns 59 seconds apart.

Despite almost blowing this game, the fact remains they did not and in the end that is all that really counts. After all in a few weeks the only aspect of the games they will be playing is whether or not they win or lose. Let's hope today provides a bit of a wakeup call so they realize that most games aren't won in the first half, especially in the playoffs.