Eagles at Broncos second quarter recap

The Denver Broncos opened the second quarter with back-to-back-back runs by Melvin Gordon that ended in a one yard plunge for the touchdown to cap a nine-play, 75 yard drive to cut the Philadelphia Eagles lead.

Eagles 10, Broncos 7.

Denver’s defense needed to prove they could stop the Eagles RPO-heavy game plan on their next series. They were getting close, but Hurts continued to find a way to escape would-be tacklers for positive yardage. Instead of third and long, Hurts turned that into a third and three on their first two plays. Dre’Mont Jones was able to knock the ball out of Hurts’ hand for a strip sack.

The Eagles recovered and punted the ball back to Teddy Bridgewater and the Broncos offense.

Shaking off that first drive, the Broncos didn’t need long to get a big play. Bridgewater found Denver’s TE1 Albert Okwuegbunam over the middle who turned it up field for a 64-yard gain down to the Eagles eight yard line.

Despite having a first and goal at the four, the Broncos ended up throwing the ball on two of their next three downs and were forced to kick the field goal to tie things up at 10.

Broncos 10, Eagles 10.

The Broncos defense continued to struggle in containment against Hurts and the Eagles RPO. They would find themselves back in field goal range in short order thanks in large part to a 31-yard run by Hurts. The run game was clicking early in large part because the Eagles were picking on Malik Reed.

Ultimately, that strategy would work all the way down to a first and goal from the nine. From there, they would get stalled out on back to back runs to force a third and goal from the five. Hurts would find DeVonta Smith who came wide open in the end zone for an easy pitch and catch with Kyle Fuller trailing too far behind to make a play.

Eagles 17, Broncos 10.

With 3 minutes to go in the first half, the Broncos would have a chance to score points before halftime and also receiving the first second half possession. Instead, they would go three and out and give the Eagles a chance to put up more points before halftime.

The Eagles would need just over a minute to pass midfield saving both of their remaining timeouts. DeVonta Smith continued to win the one on one battle against Surtain as he closed the deal for the Eagles scoring before halftime.

Eagles 20, Broncos 10.