Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Philadelphia Eagles held off a late Tampa Bay Buccaneers fightback to extend their perfect start to the NFL season with a 31-25 road victory in a battle of previously unbeaten teams on Sunday.
The reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles looked to be cruising after opening up a 24-3 second quarter lead, thanks to Sydney Brown’s blocked punt return touchdown before quarterback Jalen Hurts connected with tight-end Dallas Goedert for two more touchdowns. Tampa Bay reduced the deficit at half-time thanks to Chase McLaughlin’s monster 65-yard field goal — the longest NFL field goal ever kicked in an outdoor stadium.
Related news
The Buccaneers rallied in the third quarter, with quarterback Baker Mayfield throwing touchdown passes of 77 and 72 yards for Emeka Egbuka and Bucky Irving to cut the Eagles’ lead to 11 points at 31-20. A further McLaughlin field goal in the fourth quarter put Tampa Bay within eight points, but the Bucs’ hopes of a comeback fizzled when Mayfield tossed an interception on first down on the Eagles’ 11-yard line in the fourth quarter. A final Tampa Bay drive also stalled in the final two minutes, with the Bucs turning over on downs when Mayfield was sacked on fourth and nine.
The win in sultry conditions at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium was Philadelphia’s 20th in their last 21 starts, including last season. “There’s a certain level of grit that you have to have to play in this league, and the more grit you have, usually the better you are,” Eagles quarterback Hurts said. “I think as a team we showed that today. It was all hands on deck for this win. We found a way to win and that’s all you can ask for.”
In other early NFL games on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills also moved to 4-0 for the season with a 31-19 defeat of the New Orleans Saints. Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw two touchdowns and ran for another to help set up victory against the Saints, who remain winless at 0-4 following their latest defeat. The Saints, though, ran Buffalo close throughout, and a Blake Grupe field goal early in the fourth quarter got New Orleans to within two points at 21-19 late in the game. Allen, however, hit Dalton Kincaid for a 28-yard touchdown before Matt Prater’s late field goal made the game safe, leaving the Bills breathing a sigh of relief. “That’s the NFL — every team we play is more than capable of winning each and every week,” Allen said afterwards. “They came out with a really good game plan offensively and defensively. They came ready to play today.”
Elsewhere on Sunday, the Los Angeles Chargers saw their unbeaten start to the season brought to a halt in a 21-18 defeat away to the New York Giants, who had gone into the game at 0-3. In other games on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers held off the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 in the first-ever NFL game played in Ireland, with running back Kenneth Gainwell rushing for two touchdowns at Dublin’s Croke Park in front of 74,512 fans. The in-form Detroit Lions improved to 3-1 with a 34-10 thrashing of the Cleveland Browns, while the Atlanta Falcons were 34-27 winners over the Washington Commanders.
© 2024 AFP
