Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Denver Broncos staged a dramatic late comeback to shatter the Philadelphia Eagles’ unbeaten start to the NFL season on Sunday, overturning a 14-point deficit to snatch a 21-17 victory on the road. The reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles looked poised to extend their 100% record after battling into a 17-3 lead early in the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field.
But the Broncos showed huge character to battle back, with JK Dobbins rushing over from close range to help cut the gap to 17-10. After the Broncos defense forced a punt, Denver took the lead with quarterback Bo Nix engineering a touchdown for tight end Evan Engram. A successful two-point conversion put the Broncos into a slender 18-17 lead with 7min 36sec remaining.
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Philadelphia’s sputtering offense was then forced to punt once more, and Denver took possession with Nix working the ball downfield. A 36-yard Wil Lutz field goal gave Denver a four-point cushion before the Eagles’ final possession ended with an unsuccessful hail Mary attempt from quarterback Jalen Hurts as time ran out. Denver quarterback Nix saluted a superb Broncos defensive performance after the visitors forced Philadelphia into punting seven times while recording six sacks on Hurts.
“We just kept stopping them on defense and we just started putting drives together,” Nix said. “Our defense just played incredible. They just kept getting us the ball back no matter what happened, they never wavered, and we just scored when it mattered,” he added.
– ‘Complete disappointment’ –
In other games on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens’ season lurched from bad to worse with a humiliating 44-10 beatdown at home by the Houston Texans. The Ravens, missing a slew of starters including quarterback Lamar Jackson, slumped to 1-4 for the season after an offensive onslaught led by Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. Stroud tossed four touchdowns with 244 passing yards from 23-of-27 attempts as Houston improved to 2-3.
The defeat though was another brutal loss for Baltimore, who were strongly tipped to challenge for the Super Bowl before the season kicked off. Ravens coach John Harbaugh described the team’s mood as “complete disappointment” and challenged his organisation to regroup. “We’re gonna have to find a way to turn it around and figure out who we are this next week,” Harbaugh said. “We’re gonna have more than half the season left and we’re gonna have to find ourselves.”
A thrilling game in Seattle saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snatch a 38-35 victory over the Seahawks with a field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter. A seesaw duel saw Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throw for four touchdowns and 341 yards but it was not enough against a Tampa Bay side who improved to 4-1 for the season. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was once again the talisman for the visitors, hitting Sterling Shepard with the game-tying touchdown with just over one minute remaining, before Chase McLaughlin’s 39-yard field goal clinched victory.
The Detroit Lions are also standing on 4-1 after bringing up their fourth straight win in a 37-24 defeat of the Cincinnati Bengals. Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw three touchdowns with 258 yards to spark Detroit.
In Los Angeles, the Washington Commanders rallied from a 10-point deficit to score 27 unanswered points in a 27-10 defeat of the Chargers at SoFi Stadium. The Indianapolis Colts, who suffered their first defeat of the season against the Los Angeles Rams last week, got back to winning ways with a blowout 40-6 rout of the Las Vegas Raiders at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Dallas Cowboys moved to 2-2-1 with a 37-22 defeat of the winless New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford while the New York Giants lost 26-14 at the New Orleans Saints.
In London, the Minnesota Vikings improved to 3-2 after grinding out a 21-17 win over the Cleveland Browns at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
© 2024 AFP
