New England Patriots Outlast Philadelphia Eagles, 24-21, in Preseason Thriller

The third time was the charm for the reserves in Foxboro, and it came in dramatic fashion.

The New England Patriots returned to Gillette Stadium for a second home preseason contest on Saturday night — this time, cracking the win column for the first time in the 2026 season with a 24-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. After weathering an early storm from Philadelphia up front, New England caught fire late and escaped with a come-from-behind victory in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.

The win comes on the heels of two highly-competitive joint practices with Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday that saw the Patriots’ starters assert themselves on both sides of the ball. In game action, it was the roster hopefuls and reserves who were on deck — and several shined en route to a thrilling first win of the year.

After two days of joint practices that heavily featured both teams’ starters, it was Tommy DeVito and the Patriots’ second-unit who steered the ship early on Saturday night. DeVito struggled to find solid ground against the Eagles during the week; those woes carried over into game action early, but were overshadowed by deficiencies within the depths of the offensive line and an explosive play late. 

First-round pick Caleb Lomu started at left tackle for New England after an up-and-down showing during the preseason opener and joint practices on the right side of the offensive line. He was helped by extra blockers throughout the first half, but gave up a sack to defensive tackle Ty Robinson on a defensive line stunt late in the second quarter. Marcus Bryant — who had been playing more left tackle for the Patriots as of late — reverted back to the right side to begin the game, but left during the opening series with an apparent lower-leg injury. The severity of his injury is currently unknown, but he had been making a run at the swing tackle role for New England and adds to a growing list of unavailable linemen in Foxboro.

The interior of the line also raised questions. Without free agent addition Greg Van Roten in the lineup, James Hudson III started at right guard and was notable for the wrong reasons: two holding penalties on the first drive and a missed block on a blitzing Jeremiah Trotter Jr. that resulted in DeVito being sacked before reaching the back of his set later on. Left guard Mehki Butler and center Jacob Rizy also had their share of issues picking up blitzes, allowing a sack on third down to end a drive midway through the second quarter.

The Patriots were also controlled at the point of attack on defense early, and Philadelphia willingly continued to feed running back Will Shipley until the front-seven proved they could stop a rolling ground game. Shipley ran nine times for 51 yards in the first quarter (5.7 yards per carry), and kicked off the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run at the start of the second quarter — plowing through safeties Dell Pettus and John Saunders Jr. to give the Eagles a 7-0 advantage.

DeVito and the passing game were slow to show signs of life, but began to hit their stride late in the first half. Initially, it was DeVito’s legs that made the difference for New England when they finally cracked the scoreboard, as his 36-yard scramble on the Patriots’ first possession of the second quarter put the team in position for an Andy Borregales 41-yard field goal. He was able to shake-off the rust that was on display last week and converted his first-and-only attempt of the night.

With the deficit trimmed to four points, New England’s defense showed shades of their training camp dominance on Philadelphia’s ensuing drive. Kindle Vildor nearly intercepted the ball twice and registered another pass breakup on third-down to stall the Eagles, while Gabe Jacas made an impact in the backfield with two quarterback hits (one was ruled a roughing the passer penalty).

It was then that the Patriots' passing game started to click. Efton Chism III found open space with a 24-yard conversion on a 3rd-and-4, then came back with elusiveness on an eight-yard reception on the following possession. Second-year wide receiver Kyle Williams was targeted early and often when attempting to push the ball downfield, and erupted with a 69-yard touchdown reception down the right sideline to give New England its first lead of the night, 10-7, with just under three minutes remaining in the second quarter. He finished with two receptions, 74 receiving yards, and one touchdown on six targets.

Philadelphia would regain the lead before the halftime break, making effective use of screen passes against the Patriots’ aggressive downhill defense to take a 14-10 advantage into the locker room.

New England’s first half was anything but smooth, beginning in the trenches and extending to the boundaries. Still, Williams’ explosive touchdown kept them within striking distance on the scoreboard and boosted the box score numbers. DeVito concluded his evening 8-of-15 passing with 151 passing yards, one touchdown, and added 44 rushing yards on three carries. He was sacked three times.

The Eagles marched down the field to extend their lead at the start of the third quarter, but came up empty-handed after rookie linebacker Namdi Obiazor broke up a 4th-and-3 conversion attempt to tight end E.J. Jenkins in the back left corner of the end zone. Obiazor was targeted on a 28-yard gain to running back Carson Steele earlier in the drive, but recovered to make the drive-stalling stop.

Offensively, it was the Behren Morton show in the second half once again for New England in preseason game number two. In his debut last week against the Indianapolis Colts, Morton was at the helm of an ultra-conservative second half offensive approach and finished the game 7-of-13 passing with 66 yards.

Against Philadelphia, much more was placed on Morton’s shoulders as the Patriots attempted to mount a second half comeback. He operated the offense behind the same offensive line that started the game until the fourth quarter (with the exception of the injured Bryant) and found early success spreading the ball around to a variety of receiving targets. New England’s issues up front persisted, however, as sixth-round pick Dametrious Crownover surrendered a sack to edge rusher Joshua Weru to put a halt to the Patriots’ opening drive of the third quarter.

Morton’s additional responsibilities on Saturday night extended past the offense. He also operated as New England’s punter after Bryce Baringer exited the game in the second quarter. It’s unclear why Baringer wasn’t available following his second punt of the night. Morton finished with three punts for 133 yards (44.3 yards per punt) and one touchback.

The battle in the trenches began to take a turn on Philadelphia’s second possession of the third quarter. Defensive tackle Eric Gregory made a key short-yardage stop on 3rd-and-1 and the Patriots forced a turnover on downs on the following play. They’d make the most of that stop.  

The offense hit the ground running when Morton retook the field, engineering a 12 play, 59-yard drive that concluded with a Lan Larison touchdown from two-yards out. Larison was responsible for several key runs on the possession, with a 4th-and-1 conversion to get the offense moving and a 10-yard gain on 3rd-and-9 on the play that preceded his score. Other pivotal plays from the scoring drive included a third-down strike from Morton to wide receiver Tejhaun Palmer and a 20-yard scamper from running back Jam Miller over the left side of the offensive line. 

The Patriots took a 17-14 lead with 13:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, but wouldn’t claim victory without surviving one final push by the Eagles.

On what could have been a putaway drive by New England midway through the final stanza, former-Patriots’ cornerback Shaun Wade forced a fumble near the sideline on running back JaMycal Hasty that was recovered by Philadelphia linebacker Brandon George. The Eagles capitalized on the turnover, gaining a late 21-17 advantage as Steele scored a leaping touchdown over safety Eric Butler on a 20-yard reception from McKee.

Morton would have one final chance to claim victory with 3:39 left on the game clock, and had ice in his veins as he marched New England 73 yards in 11 plays for the game-winning score. He tossed a 37-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Nick DeGennaro (four receptions, 61 yards) with 57 seconds remaining, and a strip-sack by rookie edge rusher Quintayvious Hutchins on Philadelphia’s final possession sealed the win in Foxboro.

Morton finished the night 13-of-17 passing with 129 yards and the game-winning touchdown pass in what was an excellent showing from the Patriots’ rookie gunslinger. 

With joint practices and preseason games against the Colts and Eagles in the books, New England now looks ahead to the preseason finale in Cleveland against the Browns on Thursday night. Cutdown day quickly follows on Sunday evening, framing next week’s contest as a final audition for those players on the roster bubble to leave a lasting impression.

How do you think the Patriots performed in their preseason win over Philadelphia? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and join the conversation on Patriots Roundtable.

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Related Articles:

- What to Watch For: New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles Preseason Week 2

- 5 Key Takeaways From New England Patriots-Philadelphia Eagles Joint Practices: Day 2

- 5 Key Takeaways From New England Patriots-Philadelphia Eagles Joint Practices: Day 1

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