PHILADELPHIA: The Philadelphia Eagles scored four fourth quarter touchdowns, rallying in a snowstorm to beat the Detroit Lions 34-20 as wintry weather wreaked havoc on several NFL games yesterday.
LeSean McCoy rushed the ball 29 times for a franchise-record 217 yards and scored two of the Eagles’ fourth-quarter touchdowns in snowy conditions at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
McCoy broke Steve Van Buren’s record of 205 yards set in 1949.
“Records are made to be broken and it was standing for so long,” McCoy said. “This is the craziest game I’ve played in. The best one too.”
Snow began falling hours before kickoff and continued throughout the game.
With the blizzard-like conditions hampering NFL offenses yesterday, a number of teams turned to their running games and the Eagles were no exception.
Philadelphia trailed 14-6 at the end of the third but they turned it around with the help of McCoy, who scored from 40 and 57 yards.
Quarterback Nick Foles capped a seven-play, 71-yard march with a one-yard touchdown run, and Chris Polk rushed another for 38 yards to cap the Philadelphia rally.
Foles finished 11-of-22 passing for 179 yards and a touchdown. DeSean Jackson added four catches for 59 yards and a score for the Eagles, who have won five straight games.
“When we faced adversity at halftime, nobody wavered,” Foles said. “We knew we were going to come out and make plays.”
Philadelphia holds a half-game lead over Dallas in the NFC East and can take sole possession of the division if the Cowboys lose in Chicago.
Detroit has lost three of its last four games.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with the weather,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “It was more that we didn’t play well. We didn’t play well enough in the second half to get the win.”
Tom Brady threw two touchdowns passes inside the two- minute warning and the first place New England Patriots rallied for a 27-26 win over the Cleveland Browns at Gillette Stadium outside Boston.
New England, who improved to 10-3, orchestrated its third straight comeback win but they had to do it without Rob Gronkowski.
The star tight end was carted off the field in the third quarter after suffering what is believed to be a torn ACL.
Gronkowski caught a pass from Brady before his right knee absorbed a hit by defensive back TJ Ward. He is scheduled to have an MRI to assess the damage.
“It hurts to see any of those guys go down,” Brady said. “Certainly with Gronk, and we’ve sustained some pretty big injuries this year with really important, critical players, so we’ve got to just keep bouncing back.”
Peyton Manning continued his run of success with 397 yards and four touchdown passes as the Denver Broncos scored 24 consecutive points en route to a dominating 51-28 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Matt Prater booted a NFL record 64-yard field goal for Denver.AFP
