Eagles corral the Colts
Eagles 26, Colts 24
Eagles corral the Colts
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
They all mean the same thing, these NFL games. It says so in the standings every day. A win is a win, a loss is a loss, a tie is a tie, and all had better be forgotten in time for the next weekend. It is the way of their world.
But that is in the accounting sense. In the cosmic sense, some of these games do mean more than others. Count this one among them: Eagles 26, Colts 24.
What the Eagles have done is identify themselves as a contender with this win. With a 5-3 record now, two of the Eagles’ wins are against the handful of teams in the two conference’s higher echelons (Indianapolis and Atlanta). And coming as this one did, after a game at Tennessee that they absolutely gave away, marks this Eagles teams as both pretty good now and also as pretty resilient. Those are two good things to be.
Playing in his first game back from what he now has described to CBS as three broken ribs, Michael Vick was dynamic again, with 218 yards passing and 75 yards rushing. On the first play of the game, Shady McCoy had a 62-yard run on the first play of the game that announced to the world that this day might be different. And wide receiver DeSean Jackson showed no signs of the concussion he suffered 3 weeks ago, with seven catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
Still, it was the Eagles’ defense that will walk away from this game with the greatest psychic benefits. First, they pressured and bottled up Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who had tortured the Eagles in three previous career games. Even more important, in some ways, they played a calm, buttoned-up, non-panicky game after their collapse against Tennessee -- even when presented with all manner of obstacles, including a couple of key penalties with which they angrily disagreed.
The end was messy, to say the least. The Colts scored with 1:50 remaining to bring them to within 26-24 -- on a drive that continued only because Trent Cole was called for an inadvertent love tap to the back of Manning’s helmet as he was in the process of stripping him of the ball.
After the Colts kicked off, an 11-yard end around to Jackson got the Eagles a first down. Then another end around to Jackson got them 6 more yards. And with the Colts calling their timeouts, and the Eagles needing one more first down to ice the game, a false start penalty on guard Nick Cole on third-and-2 pushed them back 5 yards, and a Vick scramble came up short -- officially, it was a sack for zero yards -- and the Eagles were forced to punt.
Which left Manning on his 26-yard line, with 40 seconds to play, no timeouts, and needing a field goal to win. But he didn’t get it, instead forcing a throw over the middle that was intercepted by Asante Samuel with 6 seconds remaining.
In all, there was nothing particularly attractive about it, filled with penalties and mistakes on both sides -- blown coverages, blown opportunities, you know. Along the way, there was a frightening (but, thankfully, not catastrophic) injury to Colts receiver Austin Collie that highlighted both the fragility of players in a brutal sport and the difficulty with which defenders and officials are attempting to deal with the new realities concerning concussion prevention.
But in the end, it was a W. And for the Eagles, maybe, a little bit more.
Comments (79)
The officiating was horrible nice win birds!!!!— Phillyaviator37- The Colts did nothing without the aid of the refs....all scoring drives, the benefit of flags....— EGLSFAN
- I really enjoyed the NBA refs working the game today. It made things much more entertaining.— AreaMan
- Congrats to the Eagles. As a Colts fan it was a very hard game to watch. You all way outplayed us!! You so deserved to win this game. You did it with class by not choosing to run the clock out but instead playing to the end. Good Job Michael Vick and Team.— coltsfan
- Classy Coltsfan. Thanks. Some Eagle fans won't be as courteous to their brother Eagle fans as you are.
— tpizza - We still need to work on the red zone offensive but, a win is a win.— gauwow
- WOW. Terrible officiating. Completely frustrating and completely one-sided. Safe to say they won't be doing the super bowl this year. That crew should not be allowed to do another game, ever.— DirtyBirds
- Hide your wives, hide your children...wolf and bill20 are so on the warpath right now...mad and bitter..beware!!
LMAO— mlr710 - Great win considering the officals— eagle fan for life
- ref's were absolutely terrible, way to gut it out, after this game, the ref's should be fined— xlGmanlx
- Um, wiff?— tpizza
Mike Vick baby— elijah29- Worst officiated game I've seen in years. You'd have thought the refs had money riding on this one.— Carcharios
- Manning had the ball in his hand with less than a minute to go, and he came up with nothing...that's why I tell all my friends that manning is a good quarterback - not a great quarterback.— ThinkTwice
So, we're all in agreement. Today the Birds beat the Colts and the refs.- 14 points the refs have given to the colts. The Collie fumble and the Peyton fumble = 14 pionts. The Eagles vs The Colts & refs!!! This is "Goodell's Moronic Masterpiece!!!!" The right team won, but good god what has happened to football. ?????— joethaplumber
- yo really, high school ref's could have done a better. Worst calls i've seen in years. Get your head out of your butts and give back the money someone pays you to be an idiot !!!!— medigon
Agreed officiating was the worst I have seen in a long time. I think the ref should still get his envelope even though the Colts didn't win. He did everything in his power to make it happen.- Thank you Coltsfan...it's nice to see a bit of civility on these boards. That was a hard fought game and Peyton had me holding my breath until his completion to Asante. I had my family around me cheering, pizza, and beer...the W made it that much sweeter. Good luck to ya's going forward!— Emell
- One of my best friends is a monstrous Colts fan----even she thinks the refs sucked and were screwing the Eagles. HUGE win against 2 opponents---Colts and refs.— cgrant
- The call on Cole's "love tap" (and that's exactly what it was!) was laughable....one of the worst calls I've seen in a long time. If the Colts had won, you could not have convinced me that there wasn't a conspiracy between the NFL and the refs! Good win....now let's please beat Donovan!!— jimyd0315
- thanks colts fan.. and the eagles are pit-bull-champions! kiddding, kidding..i'm just kidding. refs almost stole this one. vick was a little rusty and the defense needs to start tackling better. andy needs a time-out coach. that clip of reid punt-pass-kick is an all-time classic. ..it looked like a graphic for the evolution of man. but all in all a very good w. the defense in the 2nd half was amazing. vick please stop taking all those body shots.
- You won't see wolf or Bill tonight. They're both curled up in a dark corner crying over our victory. Let the REAL fans celebrate tonight, without the negative ones...they'll be spouting their drivel soon enough. Nice job EAGLES!— Emell
- And here I was thinking I was the only one who thought the officiating stunk...
- The officials should be fined $50,000 apiece for attempted grand theft. That was an abysmal performance. The game lasted almost four hours due to their abhorrent tactic of throwing flags on nearly every critical play. The game had no rhythm, as Phil Simms adeptly pointed out, b/c of the referees' insistence on stopping the game to throw petty flags on both teams. At the end they tried to impose their will on the outcome and almost succeeded. What a bunch of buffoons.— farside37
- Let's be more precise here. The refs merely made the calls according to the rules. It's the rules that are absurd. There is no way the human eye, the refs eye, can catch and determine whether a hit is illegal or not. There has to be booth review. No way Coleman used his helmet. Cole caught Manning's helmet, barely, but it has to somehow be determined that it was incidental. I hold Goodell responsible right now but something tells me he doesn't care.— Murrayman
Refs have money on the game? Some of the calls were ridiculous and almost cost the Birds the game. Nice win. Lets keep it going next week and stomp Donovan.- Did anyone notice how peyton took a full step forward when he was calling the play in the shotgun? That's a false start for anyone else...don't even get me started with the uneccessary roughness calls. This is getting out of control!— djw26
- Hats off to the defense.. the freakin refs did everything they could to keep the colts in the game!!! The score should been 26-17!!!.. There is no doubt the Eagles are a different team with Vick at the helm.. I hope they keep him..— nixman101
- why were the colts wearing throwbacks on the road?— bmoney17
- The officials were awful during this game. I was sorry to see Collie get hurt in the game but with that said. Did any one notice Indy called a similar play after the injury and some of the DBs kind of gave up on the hit???? If this is the type of NFL Goodell is trying to bring then I might as well start watching Rugby.............smh— cedrickc
- every week i say it was the worst officiated game i've ever seen.— sgamble077
- Might as well dress Payton with high heels, lipstick, bra and stockings. What a horrible call by a horrible ref. Go Birds!— wildwood_frank
Comment removed.- L11, yep. Seems like the NFL can't differentiate between a deliberate head shot with intent to injure from accident due to the way the receiver is running. And Cole grazes Manning's helmut = a first down? That is more absurd than the Collier call. Not sure where the answer lies. You have to protect the players from the other ones who have no problem maiming someone but giving the refs MORE discression may just cause more delays and more confusion. Difficult situation.— tpizza
- I'm all for equal opportunity and letting people with disabilities into the workplace, but the NFL's decision to go with blind refs just isn't working out.— Corey301
- The NFL needs to get serious about dealing with the rampant use of steroids and HGH. In another 15 years we're going to see plenty of 400lb o-linemen, as well as other heavier, faster players, and more and more injuries. The main culprit is the NFL's tolerance of PEDs.— p-diddy
- That was funny @wildwood_frank— cedrickc
Welcome Back, Welcome back, Welcome Back Vick and Desean.- Oh, and wiff? Hahahaha, I have visions of wiff curled up in the dark in the fetal position, sucking his thumb, mumbling some undiscernable babble while he weeps on a well used and stained poster of Kevin Kolb.
Couldn't happen to a better ex-Eagle fan.— tpizza - Comment removed.
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- Worst officiated NFL game I ever saw. Are some of these refs paid off? It's about time some investigative reporters start asking this question?— jimqk
- The Trent Cole penalty was complete bull. The refs almost took this away from us. Vick looked like the star for VT on that 32 yd gallop. Had he cut that last defender it would have been 6. We can win the SuperBowl this year. GOOOOO EAGGGGLESSSS!!!!!— DonovanMcNabb
- wolf4carlos2luv-kolbsballs, Emell is correct. Wiff won't be seen or heard from until he sobers up from this one. But OOOOOOOOH is he gonna be in for a long week. Manning masterpiece my arse. 31-13 indeed. That's why I call him Nostradumbarse. And though I have a copyright on the term "wiffocrite" feel free to use it at will. I mean it's applicable on a daily basis. Kidding aside, great win against Manning and the league. EAGLES!!!
— tpizza - Wow the refs really blew.......the whistle on the Birds. Glad we're not in the Colts division and have to watch this twice a year. Some calls were true on our offense but the defensive calls were brutal. Same old nfl...— gubbers97
- It's definitely time to start considering the Birds one of the good teams in the NFC. They can play with any team for sure. They're not elite, but what team is.— HandNik
- Great win! Sorry to disagree with some but, the refs called the game by the letter of the law. Hey, we won!
Hey Hey! Looks like we have a contender!...as far the officiating, I think the league is in quasi-mode right now as far protecting the players. Their heart is in the right place, gotta think the NFL will eventually figure something out...- ...murrayman for the winnnnnnn? it's good! you're right. the nfl only needs to look at the nba as to the direction the nfl is going. the nba kept pushing it with all their strict rules and the product is now slop on most nights. just flat out unwatchable. the rules aren't the only reason the nba is boring but it's a factor. now the nfl is pulling the same non-sense. either end the nfl all together or stop it with these crazy new rules. i will not continue to watch this garbage week after week, season after season.
- ...at least I hope their heart's in the right place.
- The refs were absolutely brutal in this game. The halftime panel was all in agreement that the refs call against Coleman was terrible, and Cower was very vocal in his support of the hit. What they didn't know was that there was another half of terrible officiating coming. Through it all, the Eagles somehow pulled it out. It was a great win for them.— watsonmr
these new rules and their "interpretation" are ludicrous..these league officials and refs are ruining a great game and turning it into a completely different sport than the one we all knew and loved...they should stop the hipocracy and just make it a flag football league...I'm absolutely disgusted....— Cerestes- Agree.. that "love tap" on Manning would be a penalty on only one other QB.. Brady... I'm so tired of these prima donna QB's getting these BS calls... the game should have been over right there, right then!!! Worst officiated game I've seen in years.— 14philly
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- How about your defender flipping out reacting to the review in front of Collie laying there motionless and potentially paralyzed. No class.— Argus45
- As most of you know, I am known for my poignant and insightful posts based upon reason, logic and fact (the anti-wolf, if you will). However, I owe everyone an apology for a recent experiment over the past few days that has gone awry. I posted several times on various articles that everyone should look for the 90s Urge Overkill hit "Sister Havana" on Youtube and give it a listen. I was hoping that the sheer upbeat-rocking-ness of this tune would generate some much needed solidarity and fellowship among Philadelphians from every social and ethnic background. However, I failed to consider what would happen when a fractured and broken personality seized upon this and used my attempt to bring harmony to the city as the centerpeice of his world of delusion and chaos. Those of you that have been following this drama in the comments section over the past few days know that I am talking about a person that goes by the name "kidmayhem." I am sorry for playing a role in the creation of this madman. I can only hope that by coming clean, as I am right now, he can reclaim the tenuous grip on reality that he had before all of this began a few days ago.
Forgive me. But still listen to Sister Havana and let it become a rallying cry for us all to be better and more tolerant neighbors and citizens anyway.
Oh, and that was a great Eagles victory, of course.
— Zee77 
Great to see the jets instead of the beginning of the EAGLES game. CBS bends to NYC. Thanks Merrill and Mike! Left SSSSSimmms muted in protest. I thought at times I was watching MASH II. How bout the guy lying there crying cuz he fell on his hair. Hah! Keeping 18 off the field anyway possible. Awesome job Eagle running game! Colle fumbled the Refs blew that. No penalty should have been called on Coleman or Cole. Great plays ruined by pathetic bush league refs.- ....calm down zeru777.. vick got a phantom rough pen. also. the refs whiffed on the borderline late hit/horse collar non-call. so i was like ok it's a wash out. from there it was pee-wee's playhouse the rest of the game. the refs seem scared to deaf to not enforce these soft rules. the insane thing about the nfl is... strict rules on the field...anything goes off of it. roger goodell..we'll keep the light on for you. maybe one day you'll see it.
- Wow the Eagles still won in spite of 2 things:
The fix was in from the officials and Andrew Reid is horrid. Huge win.
7 and 10 were spectacular, can we get a new coach and a new league????— kse - I'm not sure I can handle watching football if that is how it is going to be...any hit on any play can be a personal foul...i hate it...that game shouldn't even have been close yet we could have lost in the end. Good game Birds!— theglue
- argus... go back into the wild where you belong. the guy lived. he was protesting the joke call. that's it
- It's not even clear whether the NFL publishes the details of it's rules for public consumption but it appears that if you even glance the QB's helmet with any part of your body you are going to get 15 yards. Something has to be done to allow a review after the fact to determine if it was intentional or not. After watching the videos time and again I have little doubt Coleman wasn't leading with his right shoulder and Cole was going for the ball. These rules almost deny the existence of chaos on the edge of panic that exists in the game.— Murrayman
- Bill20....wolf...where are you? (Chirping) LMAO!!!!!!
Where you B's at?!?! Cowards. Man up!— elijah29 - Eagles 26, Colts 10, Refs 14.
How can the press completely miss this story? We've all seen poor officiating particularly in the NBA and NFL from time to time but this game. Wow. Just how large of a stack of bills was it that Peyton handed to the refs? I mean that can't be just because he's white. These stripers sure made sure the Colts beat the spread. They started with their no-calls on the Colts' defensive backfield and zero no-calls on the Eagles. Yes the eagles committed a lot of legit penalties but there were all in all about 6 BS calls.
If there were a regulatory agency it should be sent the film of this game.— HeelYes - The love tap to the head and the Collie hit call were horrible (glad he's OK, by the way), but just as bad were the no-call late hit out of bounds on Vick, the play where Wayne ran into Patterson and the zebras called illegal contact on Dmitri, and the running into the kicker where the colts punter jumped into the Eagles player. Brutal.— KMG
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- I thought I was the only one wondering who paid off the refs. I'm thinking maybe PETA. lol— atlphilifan
- Giants are still the better team and are sitting pretty in 1st place after a 41-7 win today. 5 in a row! Get ready Boneheads for McNabb!— MRD
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dallas-Cowboys-NOT-Americas-Team/155760537793562- The Eagles will go nowhere with Ookie,Ron Mexico,convicted felon.He is awful,still can not play the QB position, and the penalties they get are the worst in the NFL, I have given the Eagles the boot as soon as they signed him, and know they will never go any where with Vick,or Andy Reid, who is a control freak they are losers. By the way Vick still can't read defenses.— badbirdz
- and then to sit back and watch the 'pokes self destruct and be ridiculed over national tv - priceless...— M60tanker
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Joethaplumber I agree brother 14 points left on the field due to bad calls. But Vick and Co. pulled this one out!!! Where's Wolf and Bill20 those guys couldn't have called the outcome of this game any worse. I know it hurts to see Vick succeed. That just means a few more weeks of your boy Kolb on the bench!! LOL!!— Big#5- Comment removed.
- Where are the Vick haters that called him a "failed experiment"???? Jwatson? Bill? Others? Hopefully you got over your blatantly hate-filled comments and now realize that this is the real Philly QB.— philly449
- carcharios....the line was either 3 or 2 1/2 at game time, so you never know what those refs were up to.....Indy covered the spread, so someone made alot of money.— philly449
- McNabb and the Skins are waiting to knock dog killer out again, just like they did in the last game! Get ready to have some more ribs hurt Vick! Go Skins!— MRD
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