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Eagles Whip Patriots


As their season disintegrated right before their eyes, the New England Patriots appeared not to know what hit them. Koy Detmer knew.

"I just call it the whuppin' stick," the Philadelphia Eagles' third-string quarterback said after throwing a career-high three touchdown passes in a 24-9 victory over the wrecked team that used to be the Patriots.

Detmer, filling in for injured starter Donovan McNabb and backup Doug Pederson, was referring to the celebratory dance he performed after each touchdown. But his comments applied to what the Eagles (4-11) did to New England, a team whose playoff hopes all but disappeared with its fifth loss in six games.

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Game Summary

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  • "Maybe we're just not that good," said Drew Bledsoe, who was sacked six times and threw four interceptions. "I don't know what the answer is to the situation we're in."

    The Patriots fell to 7-7 after starting the season 6-2. Buffalo's victory at Arizona in a night game eliminated New England from playoff contention.

    Adam Vinatieri produced New England's only points with three field goals. Bledsoe was 23-for-49 for 331 yards, and has 15 interceptions in the last six games.

    "Whether it's me, whether it's the offense, whether it's the entire team, we're just not very good," Bledsoe said.

    Defensive tackle Chad Eaton said, "This is humiliating is what it is."

    Celebrating with an emphatic flogging motion some players call "whippin' it," Detmer created quite a stir with three TD passes, including a 50-yarder to Torrance Small. Detmer was 10-for-29 for 181 yards, raising questions about why he didn't start sooner.

    Put it this way: Eagles fans, infamous for their surliness and for booing Santa Claus at a game years ago, actually cheered jolly ol' Saint Nick when he kicked a field goal at halftime.

    "It would have been a shame not to win this game with everybody counting on me to do it," said Detmer, who breathed life into the Eagles' 3-13 season last year even though he was 1-4 starting the last five games.

    Detmer made his biggest play just moments after getting his head pounded into the hard Veterans Stadium turf. Detmer was hit as he threw and gave way to Pederson and his broken rib for the remainder of the possession.

    Detmer only had the wind knocked out of him and walked off the field laughing.

    "You kind of feel like a sissy flailing around, because it was nothing," he said.

    Detmer came back and threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to the speedy Dietrich Jells to make it 24-9 in the third. Detmer took three swashbuckling steps toward the Eagles sideline and proceeded to "whip it" with gusto swinging his arm back and forth as if slapping someone across the face.

    "I saw Scott Zolak do it in the preseason last year," Detmer said. "I just got a kick out of it and thought it was pretty neat."

    Though reluctant to say Detmer could be a starter for another team, Eagles coach Andy Reid said, "He's a beauty, but he's definitely not a dancer."

    Reid and Pederson, incidentally, were with Green Bay last year when Detmer "whipped it" while facing the Packers sideline in a 24-16 loss.

    "He got to whip it three times today," Pederson said.

    "I'm just like you, I have no idea what that is," McNabb said.

    Mike Mamula had three sacks, Troy Vincent had two interceptions and Mike Caldwell recovered a fumble and the Eagles' own blocked punt. That was a momentum-swinging play that led to an 11-yard TD pass to Small that made it 17-6 in the second quarter.

    Bledsoe hit Troy Brown for 37 yards in the final 90 seconds, but he quickly had a pass to the end zone intercepted by Vincent the final indignity for a reeling New England team.

    "Our performance today leaves a taste in your mouth that you're not going to get rid of for a while," said Patriots coach Pete Carroll, whose job is in jeopardy if his team misses the playoffs. "I'm just about as sick about this as you can be."

    Notes

  • The strangest sequence in a turnoverfilled game occurred when Philadelphia's Allen Rossum fumbled a kickoff, with New England's Brown recovering at the Eagles 28. Al Harris picked off Bledsoe's pass intended for Terry Glenn, ran it back 84 yards and fumbled! Brian Dawkins recovered at the Patriots 11, and Detmer hit Small for the TD.
  • The Eagles ended a seven-game losing streak against AFC teams.
  • Otho Davis, the Eagles' longtime trainer who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, was inducted into the team's honor roll at halftime. .. Eagles CB Bobby Taylor broke his jaw in the first quarter and didn't return. Rookie OL Doug Brzezinski got a stinger in the fourth quarter and missed his first snaps all year.

    ©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

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