GAME NOTES: Defensive and Special Team Errors Hurt Patriots Against Eagles

Earlier this week, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said his team was going up against the best special teams unit they’ve seen so far this season. After a blocked punt and a second punt both returned for touchdowns, the Philadelphia Eagles certainly lived up to their reputation.

The Eagles scored 21 points on defense and special teams as part of a 35-28 win over the Patriots. The defeat means that this is the first time since 2003 that New England has lost back to back games.

All seemed to go right for New England at the start of the second quarter, taking a 14-0 lead on touchdown receptions from James White and Danny Amendola, but things seemed to go wrong after New England took a two-score lead.

A surprise and unusual move, New England elected to use a drop punt from Nate Ebner on the kickoff after the second touchdown, with the Eagles recovering the 24-yard kick. The good field position was the start of an eight-play, 59-yard drive that resulted in a five-yard touchdown pass from Sam Bradford to Zach Ertz with 4:10 left in the half.

Things went from bad to worse after an unblocked Chris Maragos blocked and recovered a Ryan Allan punt from the New England 38, returning the recovery for a touchdown and tying the game at 14-14 with eight seconds left in the half.

New England’s woes continued into the second half when Malcolm Jenkins’ interception on Tom Brady midway through the third quarter was returned 99 yards for a touchdown and Darren Sproles ran 83 yards on a punt return to make it a 28-14 game with 4:18 left in the quarter.

The Eagles quickly turned around and scored on offense, extending the lead to 21 on a 10-yard pass to Jordan Matthews early in the fourth quarter.

Scott Chandler’s 14-yard touchdown catch and a one-yard sneak by Brady cut the lead to seven, and a fumble recovered by Jamie Collins gave the Patriots one last chance to tie the game with 1:02 to play.

Starting at their on 25, New England could only get to the 37 with drops from Brandon LaFell and Amendola hurting the team on the final plays.

New England returns to play next Sunday night when they travel to play the Houston Texans.

The following are game notes provided by Patriots Media Relations:

TEAM NOTES

SUCCESSFUL ONSIDE KICK

The Patriots executed a successful onside kick in the fourth quarter after scoring to cut the Eagles’ lead to 35-21, setting up a scoring drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown run by Tom Brady to cut the Philadelphia lead to 35-28 with 3:00 left. Rashad Melvin pounced on the loose ball after Stephen Gostkowski’s kickoff hit an Eagles player. The onside kick recovery was the second of the season for New England, having also recovered an onside kick vs. Washington on November 8, 2015. For Gostkowski, it was the third successful onside kick of his career, having also had a successful onside kick against the Cleveland Browns on December 8, 2013.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

BRADY PASSES MARINO FOR THIRD PLACE ON THE NFL’S ALL-TIME LIST

Tom Brady moved out of a tie with Dan Marino for sole possession of third place on the NFL’s all-time touchdown list with 421 career scoring passes after throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to RB James White in the second quarter. Brady finished the game with 423 career scoring passes, standing alone in third place on the NFL’s all-time list.

MOST CAREER TOUCHDOWN PASSES

(regular season only) Bold indicates active players

rank name touchdowns

1. Peyton Manning 539

2. Brett Favre 508

3. Tom Brady 423

4. Dan Marino 420

5. Drew Brees 419

BRADY HAS 71st CAREER 300-YARD GAME AND SEVENTH OF 2015

Tom Brady finished the game with 312 passing yards for his 71st career 300-yard game and the seventh 300-yard game of the 2015 season. Only Peyton Manning (93) and Drew Brees (92) have more 300-yard games than Brady. The Patriots are 59-12 in Brady’s 71 career 300-yard games. Brady had five 300-yard games in 2014 and his personal single-season record is 11 300-yard games in 2011. Drew Brees has the league record with 13 300-yard games in 2011.

BRADY REACHES 30 TOUCHDOWN PASSES FOR SIXTH TIME

Tom Brady threw two second quarter touchdowns to reach 30 touchdowns for 2015. He is the fourth player in NFL history with at least 30 or more touchdown passes in six seasons. Brady finished the game having tallied 31 touchdown passes in 2015.

MOST SEASONS WITH 30-PLUS TOUCHDOWN PASSES

Brett Favre 9

Peyton Manning 9

Drew Brees 7

Tom Brady 6

Dan Marino 4

Aaron Rodgers 4

Tony Romo 4

Philip Rivers 4

TOM BRADY HAS SECOND PASS RECEPTION OF CAREER; FIRST SINCE 2001

Tom Brady caught a 36-yard pass reception from Danny Amendola in the third quarter. It was his second career receptions. His other reception was a 23-yarder from Kevin Faulk on Dec. 22, 2001 vs. Miami.

JAMES WHITE HAS CAREER HIGH DAY

James White set career highs with 10 receptions and 115 receiving yards and added his third touchdown in as many weeks. Coming into the game, White had 17 receptions for 118 yards in his career. White’s 115 receiving yards are the fourth most in Patriots history by a running back in a game, and are the second-highest such total for the Patriots since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, trailing only Shane Vereen’s team-record 153 receiving yards vs. Cleveland on December 8, 2013. White’s 10 catches tie the fifth most by a running back in team history and are the third highest such total of the Bill Belichick era (since 2000), trailing only Shane Vereen’s club record 12 catches vs. Cleveland on December 8, 2013, and Kevin Faulk’s 11 catches vs. Tampa Bay on Sept. 3, 2000.

PATRIOTS HISTORY / MOST RECEIVING YARDS IN A GAME BY A RUNNING BACK

Player Date Opp Rec

Shane Vereen 12/8/2013 Cle 153

Dick Christy 11/4/1960 Oak 124

Joe Johnson 11/25/1960 Hou 123

James White 12/6/2015 Phi 115

Larry Garron 12/11/1966 Hou 113

Tony Collins 10/27/1985 TB 109

Kevin Faulk 11/10/2002 Chi 109

Kevin Faulk 11/23/2003 Hou 108

Billy Lott 10/22/1961 Buf 108

PATRIOTS HISTORY / MOST RECEPTIONS IN A GAME BY A RUNNING BACK

Player Date Opp Rec

Shane Vereen 12/8/2013 CLV 12

Tony Collins 11/29/1987 PHI 11

Kevin Faulk 9/3/2000 TB 11

Leroy Thompson 11/13/1994 MIN 11

James White 12/6/2015 PHI 10

Tony Collins 11/16/1986 LA Rams 10

Tony Collins 9/28/1986 DEN 9

Kevin Faulk 12/29/2002 MIA 9

WHITE SCORES THIRD TOUCHDOWN IN AS MANY WEEKS

James White had a 4-yard scoring reception from Tom Brady in the second quarter. It was the third touchdown in the last three games for White, who had a career-high two scores against Buffalo on Nov. 23, 2015.

AMENDOLA HAS FIRST CAREER PASS

The 36-yard pass play from Danny Amendola to Tom Brady in the third quarter was the first pass of his career.

BRADY HAS SIXTH GAME IN 2015 WITH 3 OR MORE TOUCHDOWNS

Brady threw for three touchdowns against Philadelphia and now has six games in 2015 with three or more touchdowns.

JAMIE COLLINS FORCES FUMBLE IN FOURTH QUARTER

Jamie Collins forced a fumble by Kenjon Barner in the fourth quarter with the Patriots trailing 35-28. The fumble was recovered by Malcom Brown and set up a potential game-tying drive for New England. The forced fumble was Collins’s team-leading fourth of the season.

KESHAWN MARTIN RETURNS FIRST KICKOFF WITH PATRIOTS

Keshawn Martin was credited with an 18-yard kickoff return in the second quarter, his first kickoff return as a member of the Patriots.

QUICK HITS

• Jerod Mayo sacked Sam Bradford for a 0-yard loss on first down in the fourth quarter with the Patriots trailing 35-28. The sack was Mayo’s first of the season and continues a streak for the Patriots of having at least one sack in every game in 2015.

• Jabaal Sheard batted a Sam Bradford pass at the line of scrimmage in the first quarter, forcing a first-down incompletion. In the second quarter, Sheard tackled Darren Sproles for a 3-yard loss on a second-down running play, forcing the Eagles into a third-and-13 that they did not convert.

• Devin McCourty and Jonathan Freeny combined to stop DeMarco Murray for a 2-yard loss on second down in the first quarter, forcing a third-and-12 that the Eagles did not convert.

• Malcolm Butler batted away a Sam Bradford pass intended for Nelson Agholor in the first quarter.

• Jerod Mayo broke up a Sam Bradford pass in the second quarter after Patrick Chung pressured Bradford. Additionally, Mayo tackled Darren Sproles for a 3-yard loss in the fourth quarter.

• Jamie Collins broke up a Sam Bradford pass intended for Jordan Matthews in the fourth quarter.

• Jerod Mayo and Patrick Chung combined to stop Darren Sproles for a 1-yard loss on second down in the fourth quarter with the Patriots trailing 35-28.