The Eagles needed touchdowns on a blocked punt Tremaine Edmunds Jersey , interception return and punt return to beat the New England Patriots the last time the teams met in 2015.
They don’t think it’ll take another set of unusual scores to win the Super Bowl.
Malcolm Jenkins, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Mychal Kendricks and Beau Allen are six key defensive players left from a team that upset the Patriots 35-28 at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 6, 2015. It was former coach Chip Kelly’s next-to-last win before Philadelphia fired him later that month.
”I think we match up well,” Jenkins said. ”They’ve obviously got a great system, great offense, probably the best quarterback of all time, a great tight end, speedy receivers. They’ve got a real good scheme, and they isolate people, but if there’s any defense out there that can match up with every single person, I think it’s this defense, so we’re looking forward to it.”
Jenkins intercepted Tom Brady’s deflected pass and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead after they overcame a 14-0 deficit. They got a 24-yard TD return by Najee Goode off a blocked punt and Darren Sproles took a punt 83 yards for a score.
But the Patriots were missing Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Dion Lewis in that game. They’ll see Lewis on the field this time around, and possibly Gronkowski if he recovers from a concussion.
”We have to play 60 minutes against them,” Cox said. ”What makes Tom Brady unique is he gets rid of the football so quickly Tre'Davious White Jersey , and he doesn’t really make any mistakes. It’s going to come down to us getting after them. It’s about us, it’s not about them.”
Graham sacked Brady twice and hit him three other times the last time they played. He knows pressuring Brady without having to blitz is the key to success.
”If you can get to him with four, you’re on the right track because Tom Brady is the GOAT (greatest of all time),” Graham said. ”He’s the man and everybody understands you’ve got to play him for 60 minutes, sometimes even longer if you go overtime. You’ve got to get after him, get him rattled, because he’s the head of that team and everybody knows it.”
The Eagles have the NFL’s No. 1 defense against the run and were fourth overall in yards allowed and points allowed. They’ve stepped it up in the playoffs, giving up just 17 points to the Falcons and Vikings. One of those two TD drives was only 18 yards after a fumble. They haven’t allowed a point in the second half.
Given their success this season and the last time they faced Brady and the Patriots as 10-point underdogs 25 months ago, the Eagles are confident they’ll bring home the franchise’s first Vince Lombardi Trophy.
”Greatest quarterback of all time, but that doesn’t mean that he’s unbeatable,” Jenkins said of Brady. ”We’ve got a destination that we’re geared to. No matter who’s in front of us, we’ve got somewhere to go. We’re not worried about what’s in front. We’re going to run through what’s there.”
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MILWAUKEE — Lorenzo Cain plans to be back in the lineup Sunday afternoon when the Milwaukee Brewers wrap up a four-game series with the Atlanta Braves at Miller Park,
Cain had been on the disabled list with a sore groin since June 26 and was eligible to return Wednesday, but the final step of his recovery took slightly longer than expected. He went through a full workout Saturday afternoon at Miller Park and after getting through it without issue declared himself ready to go.
“I’ll be playing tomorrow,” Cain told reporters as he walked off the field after his workout.
Since signing a four-year, $80 million contract with Milwaukee in January, Cain has been a force in the batter’s box and in center field. He was slashing .291/.394/.438 with eight home runs and 26 RBIs in 72 games for the Brewers, numbers that make him a leading candidate for a spot when All-Star rosters are announced Sunday evening.
The 32-year-old has made an All-Star team once in his career — in 2015 with the Kansas City Royals Zay Jones Jersey , but Brewers manager Craig Counsell said the chance of Cain landing a spot on the National League roster had no bearing on his return timeline.
“The all-star game is a separate entity,” Counsell said. “He feels really comfortable right now and is doing really good. If everything turns out well today, then we’re set for tomorrow and the next day.”
Reinstating Cain will require another roster move for the Brewers. The team has managed its roster on a nearly daily basis this season, shuttling fresh arms and hot bats back and forth between Milwaukee and Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Part of it, naturally, has been based on need, but part of it is also an attempt to create the strongest roster possible on any given day.
“Our point of doing it is just to kind of optimize our roster every day, ” Counsell said. “You go into a game with kind of a forecast of the game a little bit. If you need the pitching, you have to have the pitching. But if you don’t need the pitching, you have to have the position player. You have to let the previous games dictate it for you and tell you what’s going to happen.”
Junior Guerra (5-5, 2.87 ERA) was part of that shuffle already this season. He opened the year with Colorado Springs and was brought back to Milwaukee when the need arose. The right-hander hasn’t let up since and takes the mound Sunday afternoon looking for a victory in a third consecutive start.
Guerra threw five shutout innings in a no-decision in his only appearance versus Atlanta in 2016.
The Braves counter with left-hander Sean Newcomb (8-3, 3.10), whose last outing was one he’d like to forget. Pitching through sweltering heat and humidity, Newcomb was tagged for five runs, three hits and five walks while working 2 2/3 innings at Yankee Stadium.
“I guess it was one of those days,” Newcomb said. “It was definitely a hot one. I had to go out there and deal with the elements and a good lineup. I just didn’t have my best stuff.”
Newcomb was 7-1 with a 2.07 ERA in the 11 previous starts and will be looking to revert to that form Sunday when he faces Milwaukee for the first time in his career.