Lions edge Eagles to snap early losing streak

Prescott has yet to throw a pick as the Cowboys played a late game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Wentz was 11-of-12 with two touchdowns against the blitz on Sunday, according to ESPN Stats & Information research; and he is now 27-of-32 with three touchdowns against the blitz this season.

Tate, who was held to one catch in a loss at Chicago the previous Sunday, had three receptions for 39 yards. A poor return and negative run by Golden Tate resulted in a quick punt. That sparked a scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard throw to Mathews to pull the Birds to within 14-7. That negated a third-down sack and enabled the Lions to score a touchdown when they would otherwise have likely settled for a field goal attempt.

“It felt real good.

“It’s big, man”, Slay said. “Hats off to him, he made a great play and sealed the win for them”.

“Ryan and Darren, as I’ve said before, are the two primary guys”, Pederson said. That includes his use of a heavy linebacker rotation in the first half that kept his top players at the position – Nigel Bradham and Jordan Hicks – off the field for chunks of time while the Lions gathered steam. Detroit wasn’t getting much pressure and Wentz made them pay. He was asked how he understood the rule: if the ball touched Jason Kelce, who was out of bounds, then it’s a dead play, right? Obviously not something that the Eagles were expecting.

After fielding questions about his struggles all week, Tate said Sunday’s performance lifted a weight off his shoulders.

“I think (Tomlinson) is developing exactly like most offensive linemen do”, Caldwell said. Had some flashbacks to high school, Tate said. “He doesn’t play like a rookie”. “You’d love to continue to play, but it is what it is”. The 29-year-old running back just can’t put the ball on the ground in that spot. After a touchback on the kickoff, Wentz threw deep for Nelson Agholor on the very first play, and Slay was able to run under the ball and intercept it. On Detroit’s next possession, Theo Riddick did a little bit of everything but the drive almost stalled out around midfield. Particularly right now, you know, weve had injuries here and there, so we wanted to try to get his feet wet a little bit so we put him in and out. If Schwartz was trying to teach Bradham a lesson – and Pederson said that was not the case and the Birds were trying a rotation with Stephen Tulloch and Mychal Kendricks in tandem – it was not a good move.

It would get worse before it would get better. Constant injury issues and fumbles are always going to be part of the deal with him.

The Lions were two-for-two on fourth-down conversions. “It was huge, you talk about a huge stretch”, Caldwell said.

“It’s just one of those things”, Pederson said. The rookie quarterback got aggressive on Philadelphia’s final drive and tried to air out to Nelson Agholor. Theo Riddick caught two touchdowns in the win. “We didn’t make the play”. Wentz finished 25-33, for 238 yards 2 TDs and 1 interception for a QB rating 102.8.

This kind of thing will be easily forgotten in an ugly Eagles loss, because who cares about kickers, but Sturgis deserves credit for having a good day. Anquan Boldin led with most receiving yard (48). Stafford was 19 of 25 for 180 yards.

The Eagles defense was terrible in the first half but finished strong. They were handed their first loss of the season mostly due to 14 penalties and their defense giving up 21 points in the first half.

The Lions won because they didn’t beat themselves with penalties or get gashed with endless big plays.

The Eagles led 23-21 and were a first down away from running out the clock when Slay hit Mathews hard on a pitch play to knock the ball loose.