Eagles Dominate Broncos

The Denver Broncos came into Philadelphia to take on the Eagles at a cloudy Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles welcome Jay Ajayi who was acquired in a trade from the Dolphins. The Broncos looked to get back into the playoff race. The Eagles are in the driver's seat as they led the NFC East with a 7-1 with their bye week coming up. Who would come out on top in this inter-conference matchup in Philly? Let's get to it! The Broncos would start with the ball and on the first play, Brock Osweiler would go to Demaryius Thomas for 14 yards for a first down. The Broncos would go third and 3 and if looked like the Eagles would get the stop but a holding penalty would give Denver a first down.  On second and 7, Osweiler would go to Cory Latimer for 19 yards. The drive would halt and Brandon McManus would make a 52 yard field goal and the Broncos would lead 3-0 early in the first quarter. On the Eagles first possession, they would face a third and 9 and Carson Wentz would find Trey Burton for 14 and a first down. They would face a second and 1 and the Broncos would go offsides for another Eagles first down. The Eagles would face a third and 1 and the pass would fall incomplete but the Broncos would get called for holding and a first down. On the next play, Wentz would go to Alshon Jeffrey for a 32 yard touchdown. The PAT would make 7-3. The Eagles defense would get a Denver three and out. On the next Eagles drive, Wentz would connect with Torrey Smith for 11 and then Brent Celek for 15. The Eagles would get a 45 yard field goal from Jake Elliott to increase the Eagles lead to 10-3. On the first play of the drive, Osweiler would get intercepted by Patrick Robinson and returned 17 yards. They would face a third and 10 and Wentz would throw to Corey Clement and would escape like Houdini for the 15 yard touchdown. The PAT would make it 17-3 in the waning seconds of the first quarter. The Broncos would face a third and 2 as the first quarter came to an end. CJ Anderson would get six yards for a first down but a holding penalty would negate the play and the third and 12 pass would fall incomplete and would be forced to punt. The Eagles would go three and out on their next drive. The Broncos would get a good return from Isaiah McKenzie. He would get 44 yards to the Eagles 43 yard line. The Broncos would get a 53 yard field goal from McManus to cut the Eagles lead to 17-6. The Eagles would face a third and 5 and Wentz would go to Jeffrey for 14 and a first down. On second and 11, Wentz would go to Celek for 15. On the next play, Wentz's pass would fall incomplete but the Broncos would get called for roughing the passer. Next play, Wentz would throw his second touchdown pass of the game, a 27 yard strike to Burton for the score. The PAT would make it 24-6. The next Denver possession would result in a long drive that would be another field goal from McManus to make it 24-9. Jay Ajayi would get two yards for a first down as we hit the two minute warning. Ajayi would go for 14 on the first play after the two minute warning and then Ajayi would go 46 yards for the touchdown. The PAT would make it 31-9. The Broncos would go three and out and punt the ball back to the Eagles. The Eagles would be unable to score as we headed to halftime. The Eagles would start with the ball in the second half and Clement would go for 28. The Eagles would face a third and 1 and Wentz would keep it for a yard and a first down. Wentz would go to Jeffrey for 17 on second and 10 and LeGarrette Blount would go for 10 yards on second and 4. They would face a fourth and 1 and Wentz would find Nelson Agholor for a yard and a first and goal at the 2. Wentz would option to Clement for the two yard score to make it 38-9. The Broncos and the Eagles would trade three and outs then on the next Broncos possession, Osweiler would be intercepted by Rodney McLeod and returned 50 to the Broncos 11 yard line. Three plays later, Wentz would go to Jeffrey for a score and their second time of the day and the PAT would be missed and the lead would be 44-9. Osweiler would go to Booker for 11 on second and 9 then on third and 5, Osweiler would find Latimer for 32 as the third quarter came to an end. The Broncos would face a fourth and 6 and Osweiler would find Thomas for nine yards and a first and goal at the 2. On third and goal, Osweiler would go to Thomas for the score and the lead would be cut to 44-16. Then the Broncos' Brandon Marshall would return a fumble 19 yards for the score to make it 44-23. The next Eagles drive would result in Corey Clement's third touchdown of the game from four yards out. The Eagles would cruise to victory as they improved to 8-1 and 5-0 at home as they blew out the Broncos. 

Thoughts on the game: Other than the first drive of the game by Denver, the Eagles pretty much dominated the game. Carson Wentz threw four touchdown passes. One would have thought Jay Ajayi would have stolen the show but in fact, Corey Clement had the best game of the running backs. He had three total touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 receiving). Jay Ajayi indeed have a good game, going 46 yards for the score. The Eagles have certainly looked good throughout the first half and hope to take that momentum into Dallas after their bye week this week.