The gist
- Final: Patriots 24, Eagles 21 — a Behren Morton-to-Nick DeGennaro strike with 0:57 left flipped a 21-17 Philadelphia lead in Foxborough.
- Tanner McKee's audition rolled on. 16-of-22, 173 yards, 2 TDs, no picks — the backup QB1 was the best thing wearing midnight green.
- Two leaks sunk it. 140 rushing yards allowed and a 9-for-17 day on third down for New England is how a fourth-quarter lead turns into an 0-2 preseason.
How it went
Philadelphia trekked up to Gillette Stadium and left with a 24-21 loss that felt uglier than the scoreboard. The Eagles led three separate times — 7-0, 14-10, and 21-17 late in the fourth — and gave every one of them back. Rookie Behren Morton hit Nick DeGennaro for a 37-yard touchdown with 57 seconds on the clock, and the Patriots walked off winners.
Tanner McKee was the story you wanted to see. 16-of-22 for 173 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions. He closed the first half with a 14-yard scoring toss to Britain Covey and delivered the go-ahead strike in the fourth — a 20-yard rope to Carson Steele, who quietly went 6 catches, 84 yards, and a TD. Will Shipley opened the scoring with a 5-yard plunge and finished 11-56-1 on the ground. When McKee is under center, this offense moves.
The other side of the ball is where the film-room grimace lives. Tommy DeVito went 8-of-15 for 151 yards and made his one big play count — a 69-yard touchdown bomb to Kyle Williams right before halftime — then added 44 rushing yards on three carries himself. New England ran for 140 yards, converted 9 of 17 third downs, and held the ball for nearly 33 minutes. Bright spots: rookie Ty Robinson got home twice for sacks and Shaun Wade paced the defense with 10 tackles.
| PHI | NE | |
|---|---|---|
| Total yards | 301 | 388 |
| Rushing yards | 90 | 140 |
| Third down | 4-11 | 9-17 |
| Sacks taken | 4-32 | 2-16 |
| Time of possession | 27:19 | 32:41 |
What people are saying
The r/eagles Preseason Discussion Threads were open Monday and Tuesday and, refreshingly, weren't a five-alarm fire — the fan base has mostly filed this one as "the twos and threes coughed up a preseason game we were leading." The most-upvoted good-news post of the week was a "Fantastic News For DeVonta & Lemon" thread, which is the kind of headline a fan base leans into when the scoreline stings. Over on r/nfl the daily transactions wire ran the show; nobody outside of Philadelphia is losing sleep over an August 21-24.
Our take
Here's the honest read: preseason results don't count, but 0-2 with two blown fourth-quarter leads is a texture we'd rather not carry into Week 1. That's not panic. That's just what happened.
Hot take #1: Tanner McKee is a legitimate backup quarterback in this league and the Eagles are lucky to have him. A 173-yard, 2-TD, zero-pick line against a real NFL defense from the QB2 is exactly the resume you want stapled to the roster on Tuesday.
Hot take #2: The run defense against backup running backs is the thing to watch. 140 yards on the ground from a Patriots offense that wasn't featuring its starters — plus a Tommy DeVito scramble for 44 — means someone on the second and third units isn't setting the edge.
Preseason wins don't count. Preseason tape does.
Hot take #3: Ty Robinson is the roster storyline. Two sacks in a preseason game as a rookie is the kind of tape that turns "camp body" into "we found something." Watch the depth chart tighten around him this week.
Next up
The Cincinnati Bengals come to Lincoln Financial Field on Friday, August 29 to close out the preseason. Home crowd, probably a slightly longer look at the starters early, and a chance to clean up the third-down and run-fit problems from Foxborough before Week 1 lights up. If you want a broader itch scratched between now and kickoff, our 2026 first-round fantasy board and survivor pool strategy guide are ready when you are.
And if you'd rather back your reads than just shout them, well — that's literally the game.