The Philadelphia Eagles came back from a 14-point deficit, with some help from the refs, to beat the Indianapolis Colts 30-27 on Monday Night Football in Indianapolis. The Eagles opened the scoring with a field goal, then never led again until time expired at the end of the game.
Even though the Eagles outgained the Colts dramatically, 458-341 yards, they looked to be headed for a loss, until late in the game. Trailing 20-6 with 6:43 left in the 3rd quarter, Philadelphia scored 2 touchdowns in a 4-minute span to tie the score.
The Colts then went 80 yards in 12 plays to take a 27-20 lead with 11:49 remaining in the 4th quarter. After stopping the Eagles on their next drive, Indianapolis was moving into position to put the game away, when Malcolm Jenkins intercepted an Andrew Luck pass. Upon a closer look, Colts’ receiver T.Y. Hilton, who was the intended receiver on the play, was grabbed, with no penalty called.
Shortly after the interception, a phantom horse collar was called against the Colts, giving the Eagles another 15 yards toward the tying touchdown. The Eagles did tie the score at 27 on a 6-yard touchdown reception by Jeremy Macklin from Nick Foles with 3:25 remaining.
When Indianapolis got the ball back, they strangely ran the ball on 1st and 2nd down, and had an incomplete pass on 3rd down. The Colts then punted the ball back to the Eagles. The Eagles responded with a 36-yard field goal by Cody Parkey to win the game 30-27. The Eagles are 2-0, while the Colts fall to 0-2. Both teams won their divisions last year.
In the Week 1 games, I didn’t see any really bad calls by the referees, which surprised me. But they made up for it in Week 2. I don’t understand why it seems like the college officials are much better than the NFL officials. That doesn’t make sense.
In addition to the screw job delivered to the Colts, the Seattle Seahawks scored on a 51-yard run by Percy Harvin for their 1st touchdown of the game. However, Harvin clearly stepped out at the 22-yard line. The review officials even missed this call. At least that mistake didn’t decide the game, as the San Diego Chargers sent the defending Super Bowl Champion Seahawks home with a 30-21 loss.
There were a few games on Sunday that had even bigger comebacks than the Eagles 14-point rally. The Green Bay Packers trailed the New York Jets 21-3 early, and eventually won the game 31-24. The Jets appeared to tie the game with about 5 minutes left with a long touchdown pass, but their offensive coordinator had called a timeout just before the play ran.
On Sunday night, the San Francisco 49ers appeared to be cruising to an easy win, leading 17-0 late in the 1st half, but 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick helped the Chicago Bears come back by throwing 3 interceptions and losing a fumble. The Bears ended up winning 28-20.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
