Eagles win Battle of the Bulge vs. Ravens, 24-23...

This was a blood bath... it reminded me of a quote from an ancient Greek general named Pyyrhrus, who stated after winning a battle where he lost half his army in the process--- “Another victory like this, and we’re done for.”

There were many casualties and much collateral damage to both the Eagles and the Ravens. Jason Kelce is probably out for the season with a severe knee injury. It was ugly. Chaos dominated the action as the replacement referees were unmasked yet again---they simply cannot keep up with the speed of the NFL game---and they could have cost either team the game with bad calls and no-calls.

And I hereby nominate Michael Vick as MVP of the game--- because he kept BOTH teams in the game!

If not for some untimely bad decisions by Vick, the Eagles could have run away with this one... but Vick's boo-boo's kept it close all the way.



With the game on the line, though, Michael Vick made most of the right decisions --- and got lucky---again.

Vick scored on a 1-yard TD run with 1:55 left, helping the Philadelphia Eagles overcome a slew of turnovers to beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-23 on Sunday for their second straight comeback win.

The Eagles are 2-0 for the first time since Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens led them to the Super Bowl in 2004. 

"In the moment, you have to be at your best," Vick said. "It's got to be an any-means-necessary mentality." 

Ravens rookie kicker Justin Tucker made field goals of 56, 51 and 48 yards for the Ravens, but Joe Flacco couldn't get Baltimore (1-1) within his range in the final minute.

Flacco overthrew Ray Rice on fourth-and-1 from the Ravens 46, and the Eagles ran out the clock.

Down 23-17, the Eagles started at their 20 with 4:43 left. Vick threw passes of 24 and 13 yards to Brent Celek. A 19-yard pass to Clay Harbor coupled with a roughing-the-passer penalty put the ball at the 3.

Vick then threw incomplete as he was being hit by Haloti Ngata, but the play was ruled a fumble on a ridiculous call and it was allegedly recovered by the Ravens. A video replay overturned the call---Vick was obviously completing his forward motion on the stupid pass---- and Vick scored on the next play on a plunge inside the guard and center---nice block by Dallas Reynolds, by the way...

"There's some serious calls the refs missed," Baltimore's Ray Lewis said. "It's just the way it is, man, all around the league. We have to correct that. These games are critical. Guys are giving everything they've got all across the league. But these are calls, with the regular refs, if they were here, we know the way the calls would be made."

The Eagles committed three turnovers in the red zone in the first half and lost two starting offensive linemen (Kelce and LT King Dunlap) in the second. They have nine turnovers in two games, a major reason why they only have 41 points despite totaling 942 yards of offense.

"We have to get better at it," coach Andy Reid said. "You have to take care of the football. You have to throw the football to the right person. This isn't something we planned on having."

CHUT UP !!!

Vick finished 23 of 32 for 371 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Celek had eight catches for 157 yards and DeSean Jackson had seven receptions for 114 yards.

This was a homecoming of sorts for Flacco and Ravens coach John Harbaugh. Flacco grew up in nearby Haddon Township, N.J., and Harbaugh spent 10 seasons as an assistant under Reid before going to Baltimore in 2008.

Tucker almost made them winners. An undrafted rookie out of Texas, Tucker beat out veteran kicker Billy Cundiff in the preseason and has made all six of his field goals in the first two games. Tucker's 56-yarder at the end of the first half sent the Ravens into the locker room up 17-7. His 51-yarder early in the fourth made it 17-14.

Two plays after center Jason Kelce sprained his right knee and was carted back to the locker room, the Eagles got within 17-14 on Vick's 23-yard TD pass to Jeremy Maclin. Vick scrambled to his left and threw on the run to Maclin, who slipped behind coverage and went to his knees to make a nifty catch.

Philadelphia lost two more starters on its next drive. First, King Dunlap left with a hamstring injury. Maclin was then carted off with an aggravated hip pointer after making a block on Celek's 24-yard catch. Celek hurdled Ed Reed to gain a few extra yards on the play. Still, the Eagles reached the 5 before settling for Alex Henery's tying 23-yard field goal.

The starting quarterbacks were coming off opposite performances in Week 1. While Vick struggled against the Browns, Flacco was near-flawless in a dominant 44-13 win against Cincinnati last Monday night. Flacco was 22 of 42 for 232 yards, one TD and one interception against Philadelphia.

Despite the makeshift line blocking for him, Vick didn't take as many hard hits and was sacked only twice. He scrambled eight times for 36 yards before kneeling twice at the end.

Using the no-huddle from the start, the Eagles moved the ball effectively to the Ravens 12. But Vick made another errant throw and was intercepted in the end zone by Bernard Pollard. Vick scrambled out of the pocket and had space, but he fired opposite his momentum.

"You can't always hit a home run," Vick said. "Sometimes you have to settle for singles and doubles. That's what I have to learn. I can't force the ball."

Trent Cole stripped Flacco on Baltimore's second play and Cullen Jenkins recovered at the Ravens 15. McCoy ran in from the 1 for a 7-0 lead.

Baltimore's lead-blocking fullback Vonta Leach scored on a 5-yard TD run to tie it at 7.

After the Ravens failed to convert on a fake punt -- Sean Considine ran 3 yards on fourth-and-4 after tripping over his lead blocker -- the Eagles took over at Baltimore's 45. The drive ended in another turnover. Rookie Bryce Brown fumbled a handoff on third-and-1 at the 20, and Albert McClellan recovered at the 30.

Flacco then connected with Jacoby Jones on a right-sideline 21-yard TD pass to give the Ravens a 14-7 lead. Jones beat Nnamdi badly on that play after Flacco looked off the safeties in the middle of the field...obviously Nnamdi was looking in that direction, too.

The Eagles drove to the Ravens 9 before Lardarius Webb caused McCoy to fumble with a helmet-hit right on the football. Ray Lewis recovered and was slammed down to the ground by Vick. (McCoy had one fumble last year when he was an All-Pro. He already has lost two in two games..and both in crucial situations...).

Eagles tight end Brent Celek was Michael Vick's most effective downfield target Sunday against the Ravens, posting eight catches and a career-high 157 receiving yards. Celek was targeted six times on passes at least 15 yards downfield, with five catches for 96 yards. Entering Sunday, Celek had only been targeted by Vick on 15-plus yard passes 20 times over 12 games together with nine receptions since the start of the 2011 season.

Michael Vick sharply executed his play-action passes Sunday against the Ravens. Vick completed all seven of his play-action attempts for 150 yards and a touchdown after struggling on such passes Week 1 against the Browns. 

The Eagles are the first team in NFL history to win their first two games of the season each by one point.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco completed 8-25 passes in the second half Sunday against the Eagles and lost his touch on deep passes. Flacco was just 1-7 passing on attempts at least 15 yards downfield in the second half. He was 2-3 with a 21-yard touchdown pass on such attempts in the first half.

The Eagles are the first team since the 1983 Los Angeles Rams to start the season 2-0 with at least 4 turnovers in each of their first 2 games. 

This is the first time the Eagles have won 2 weeks in a row with at least 4 turnovers in each game since 1995 against the Giants and Redskins. This is the first time the Eagles have had a 4th-quarter comeback in the final 2 minutes in consecutive weeks since Weeks 16 and 17 in 2001 against the Giants and Bucs.

Team Stat Comparison

	BAL	PHI
1st Downs	17	26
Passing 1st downs	9	17
Rushing 1st downs	5	7
1st downs from Penalties	3	2
3rd down efficiency	4-14	7-15
4th down efficiency	0-2	1-1
Total Plays	65	75
Total Yards	325	486
Yards per play	5.0	6.5
Total Drives	15	14
Passing	214	357
Comp - Att	22-42	23-32
Yards per pass	5.1	11.2
Interceptions thrown	1	2
Sacks - Yards Lost	2-18	2-14
Rushing	111	129
Rushing Attempts	21	41
Yards per rush	5.3	3.1
Red Zone (Made-Att)	1-2	2-5
Penalties	6-45	7-58
Turnovers	2	4
Fumbles lost	1	2
Interceptions thrown	1	2
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	0
Possession	25:39	34:21

Passing Leaders

BAL	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS
Flacco	22/42	232	5.5	1	1	2-18
PHI	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS
Vick	23/32	371	11.6	1	2	2-14

Rushing Leaders

BAL	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
Rice	16	99	6.2	0	43
Leach	1	5	5.0	1	5
PHI	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
McCoy	25	81	3.2	1	20
Vick	10	34	3.4	1	8

Receiving Leaders

BAL	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LG	TGTS
Pitta	8	65	8.1	0	16	15
Rice	6	53	8.8	0	37	10
PHI	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LG	TGTS
Celek	8	157	19.6	0	28	11
Jackson	7	114	16.3	0	49	8

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER				BAL	PHI
	TD	05:40	LeSean McCoy 1 Yd Run (Alex Henery Kick)	0	7
	TD	02:08	Vonta Leach 5 Yd Run (Justin Tucker Kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER				BAL	PHI
	TD	08:32	Jacoby Jones 21 Yd Pass From Joe Flacco (Justin Tucker Kick)	14	7
	FG	00:01	Justin Tucker 56 Yd	17	7
THIRD QUARTER				BAL	PHI
	TD	10:40	Jeremy Maclin 23 Yd Pass From Michael Vick (Alex Henery Kick)	17	14
	FG	05:30	Alex Henery 23 Yd	17	17
FOURTH QUARTER				BAL	PHI
	FG	11:28	Justin Tucker 51 Yd	20	17
	FG	04:43	Justin Tucker 48 Yd	23	17
	TD	01:55	Michael Vick 1 Yd Run (Alex Henery Kick)	23	24

PHI Passing
	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	RTG
M. Vick	23/32	371	11.6	1	2	2-14	94.7
Team	23/32	357	11.2	1	2	2-14	--

Philadelphia Rushing
	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LG
L. McCoy	25	81	3.2	1	20
M. Vick	10	34	3.4	1	8
B. Brown	3	7	2.3	0	3
D. Johnson	1	6	6.0	0	6
S. Havili	2	1	0.5	0	1
Team	41	129	3.1	2	20

Philadelphia Receiving
	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LG	TGTS
B. Celek	8	157	19.6	0	28	11
D. Jackson	7	114	16.3	0	49	8
J. Avant	2	33	16.5	0	17	2
J. Maclin	1	23	23.0	1	23	1
C. Harbor	1	19	19.0	0	19	2
D. Johnson	1	13	13.0	0	13	1
L. McCoy	2	8	4.0	0	5	3
S. Havili	1	4	4.0	0	4	1
Team	23	371	16.1	1	49	29

Philadelphia Fumbles
	FUM	LOST	REC
M. Vick	1	1	0
L. McCoy	1	1	0
C. Jenkins	0	0	1
Team	2	2	1

Philadelphia Interceptions
	INT	YDS	TD
D. Ryans	1	0	0
Team	1	0	0

Philadelphia Defensive
	TACKLES				MISC
	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD
N. Allen	10	9	0	0	1	0	0
D. Ryans	7	6	1	2	1	1	0
K. Coleman	7	5	0	0	0	0	0
M. Kendricks	5	5	0	1	2	0	0
F. Cox	5	5	0	1	1	0	0
A. Jordan	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
S. Havili	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
T. Cole	1	1	1	0	0	0	0
D. Sims	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
D. Johnson	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
B. Graham	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
D. Rodgers-Cromartie	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
B. Boykin	1	1	0	0	1	0	0
N. Asomugha	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
C. Jenkins	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
J. Babin	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
J. Dorenbos	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
K. Dunlap	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
M. Gilyard	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
C. Harbor	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
D. Landri	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Team	51	47	2	4	7	1

Philadelphia Kick Returns
	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
B. Boykin	2	48	24.0	27	0
A. Jordan	1	1	1.0	1	0
Team	3	49	16.3	27	0

Philadelphia Punt Returns
	NO	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
D. Johnson	3	10	3.3	4	0
Team	3	10	3.3	4	0

Philadelphia Kicking
	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
A. Henery	1/1	100.0	23	3/3	6
Team	1/1	100.0	23	3/3	6

Philadelphia Punting
	TOT	YDS	AVG	TB	-20	LG
C. Henry	5	196	39.2	0	0	56
Team	5	196	39.2	0	0

I thought DeMeco Ryans had a great game at MLB despite the fact that he fell down on one crucial pass play while trying to cover Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta in the first half.  Ryans made an essential INT against Flacco to turn the tide of the game in the second half. He was also excellent on run defense against Ray-Ray Rice when it counted most, and also got involved in several key blitzes and penetrations up the middle to disrupt Flacco's pocket...

Rookie LB Mychal KEndricks had a very nice day as well, I thought. He picked up the coverages and zone-drops very effectively, and very nearly stole the game with several near-interceptions. He was clearly in Flacco's and Cam Cameron's heads as the Ravens' game plan de-volved toward the final quarter.

Fletcher Cox was another rookie who made an impact from his defensive tackle position. His name was called a lot on TV and radio broadcasts.