The Philadelphia Eagles picked off Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers late in the game to seal a 34-27 victory over the Packers on Thursday in a bruising NFL clash that saw players from each team stretchered off.
Philadelphia linebacker Nigel Bradham seized the interception in the final minute as Rodgers tried to connect with Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
The ball bounced off the chest of Valdes-Scantling and Bradham came up with it as the Eagles handed the Packers their first defeat after a 3-0 start to the season.
Photo: AFP
Less than a minute earlier, players from both teams were gathered around in concern as Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox was taken from the field on a stretcher after colliding with teammate Andrew Sendejo.
The two came together trying to tackle Packers tight end Robert Tonyan, who had just caught a pass, Sendejo’s shoulder ramming Maddox, who flopped to the turf.
The Eagles said that Maddox had been transported to hospital as a precaution, but that he had movement in all of his extremities.
It was the second frightening injury of the night. In the first quarter, Green Bay running back Jamaal Williams was stretchered off after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Philadelphia defensive end Derek Barnett.
He had already been contained by Bradham when Barnett charged in and made contact.
Williams, who gave a thumbs-up signal as he was carted off, was also taken to a hospital for evaluation and he too had movement in all of his limbs, the Packers said.
The victory ended a two-game losing streak for the Eagles, who improved to 2-2.
Philadelphia’s Jordan Howard rushed for two touchdowns and caught another. His two-yard plunge with 14 minutes, 13 seconds remaining proved to be the game-winning score.
The Eagles defense, depleted by the injury departure of cornerbacks Sidney Jones and Maddox, held on. Green Bay had two attempts from inside Philadelphia’s five-yard line to get the tying score, but were thwarted both times.
Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz connected on 16 of 27 passes for 160 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers.
Rodgers made his first 10 passes and finished by making 34 of 53 passing attempts for 422 yards, two touchdowns and a fumble that set the stage for an Eagles scoring drive.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was