The road to the Super Bowl in the National Football Conference goes through Philadelphia.
Jake Elliott on Monday night kicked a 48-yard field goal with 22 seconds left to help the Eagles clinch the No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs with a sloppy 19-10 victory over the Oakland Raiders.
The Eagles (13-2) went to the Super Bowl and lost 24-21 to the New England Patriots the last time they had a home-field advantage following the 2004 season.
Photo: AP
They will need the edge after a second straight poor performance. The defense struggled in a 34-29 win at the New York Giants last week. The offense was awful against the Raiders.
“We played great team ball,” Eagles cornerback Patrick Robinson said. “The offense didn’t play as well as they have been, the defense had to step up.”
Ronald Darby intercepted Derek Carr’s pass and ran it back 52 yards with 54 seconds left, but was ruled down by contact at the spot of the pick. Nick Foles then completed four straight passes for 21 yards. After an incomplete pass, Elliott nailed his kick right down the middle.
“We have to pick up for each other,” Darby said.
Derek Barnett returned a fumble 23 yards for a touchdown after picking up a lateral on Oakland’s final play from scrimmage.
Coming off a 12-4 season, the Raiders (6-9) were a popular pick to challenge the Patriots for the American Football Conference title, but they were on Sunday eliminated from the playoff chase.
Still, playing for pride, Oakland nearly spoiled Philadelphia’s Christmas.
“Defensive battle, hard-fought game, certainly had our chances,” Raiders coach Jack del Rio said. “We ran it well, struggled throwing it. Defense played extremely well.”
Foles had a tough time on a windy night. He was 19-38 for 163 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
“I didn’t play good enough,” Foles said. “I have to play cleaner, [need] pinpoint accuracy and good decisions on third downs.”
Carr was even worse. He was 15-29 for 140 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
“Any time you give the ball to the other team, it hurts,” Carr said. “We got to help [the defense] out.”
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