As the Philadelphia Eagles embarked on their longest touchdown drive of the season in the second quarter, the Chicago Bears were in Minnesota building a 13-0 lead against the Vikings.
The playoff pieces were beginning to fall into place.
And Nick Foles made sure to keep it that way by tying another NFL record.
THEY’RE IN!!!
Foles tied Philip Rivers and Ryan Tannehill’s NFL single-game record of 25 straight completions and surpassed Donovan McNabb’s Eagles mark of 18 as Philadelphia shut out the Washington Redskins 24-0 in the regular season finale at FedEx Field.
The Bears, meanwhile, beat the Vikings 24-10, which allowed the Eagles to leapfrog Minnesota for the No. 6 seed in the NFC PLayoffs. The Eagles will play Chicago in the Wild Card Round next Sunday.
Doug Pederson commented on being able to sneak into the playoffs.
“I mean, there was a lot of excitement, a lot of jubilation in the locker room, and I just told the guys, ‘Congratulations, we’re in the postseason. I told them, ‘You set out to get yourself into the tournament.’ They’ve done that and we just got another opportunity next week.”
Foles, who finished 28-of-33 for 221 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, left the game with a chest injury and ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that he has bruised ribs. Foles is optimistic that he’ll play against Chicago.
“I’m optimistic. I feel like we’ll get this thing situated, and my goal is to be out there and play.”
The Eagles held onto the ball for an astounding 43:19, including 11:49 during their 19-play trek in the second, which was capped when Alshon Jeffery hauled in the two-yard score in the back right corner of the end zone.
Alshon Jeffery hauls in the TD in the back right corner of the end zone to finish of a 19-PLAY, 11:49 DRIVE!! pic.twitter.com/XgTWCbKMGU
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) December 30, 2018
Philadelphia outgained Washington 360-89. The Redskins were 0-of-9 on 3rd down and Adrian Peterson gained zero yards on four carries. Michael Bennett and Fletcher Cox continue to spark things up front with their relentless pressure, and the emergence of Avonte Maddox and Rasul Douglas have settled things down in the secondary. Douglas had a beautiful interception and another big game.
Rasul Douglas with the pick! pic.twitter.com/s09mtBUHUL
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) December 30, 2018
Cox had three sacks and finished with his first double-digit sack season of his career with 10 1/2.
Fletcher Cox deeeeeeeeep penetration pic.twitter.com/0uDUVaQC7o
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) December 31, 2018
There was a point in time during the game where the Eagles held onto the ball for 23 minutes and 10 seconds during a three-drive span, while Washington had the ball just twice for two minutes and six seconds.
The consecutive completion streak was ended when Foles threw behind Nelson Agholor on a 2nd-and-goal play, but hit him for the touchdown to begin a new streak in the right flat a play later.
Nick Foles tied Philip Rivers' NFL single-game record with 25 straight completions before firing an incompletion to Nelson Agholor. Foles went right back to him for the TD and a 17-0 Eagles lead. pic.twitter.com/5f1rObFHuW
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) December 30, 2018
Nate Sudfeld came in for Foles and tossed his first career touchdown to Agholor.
Nate Sudfeld's first career NFL TD pass goes to Nelson Agholor pic.twitter.com/uf3NAgcoYa
— The Bitter Birds (@AdrianFedkiw) December 31, 2018
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