Winners and losers from Patriots’ hard-fought win over the Eagles

A rough night for Tom Brady and the passing game.

Here are the winners and the losers from the New England Patriots’ 17-10 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Stadium on Sunday.

Winner: The Patriots secondary

Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz almost doubled his passing yards in the final five minutes of the game, but while those drives finished with significant yardage, the Patriots allowed no fourth-quarter points. That was thanks in large part to New England’s secondary.

Wentz finished the game 20-of-40 for 214 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots secondary, particularly Stephon Gilmore and J.C. Jackson, were impressive in keeping the Eagles’ pass-catchers at bay. (It helped that their receiving corps looked depleted without Alshon Jeffery.)

Safety Terrence Brooks also played in Patrick Chung’s role while he was out with an injury. Brooks finished tied with a team-high seven tackles, but also added two pass breakups and a pair of quarterback hits; he has been a pleasant surprise since joining the team with the apparently-unfair label as solely a special teams standout.

Even on the Eagles’ second-longest play of the game, a 25-yarder from Wentz to Zach Ertz in the fourth quarter, the quarterback had to zip the ball into an incredibly tight and dangerous window. It was remarkable (and perhaps lucky) to complete the pass. Wentz tried something similar on the following play and McCoury got a hand on it, which nearly resulted in an interception.

Loser: Jason McCourty, CB

There was one exception to the strong play among New England’s defensive backs: Jason McCourty. He made a costly mistake in the first play from scrimmage by committing a pass interference that cost the Patriots 49 yards. Wentz later targeted receiver Mack Hollins down the right sideline on a double move, which fooled McCourty. J.C. Jackson took over for McCourty as the team’s second cornerback. That said, in the fourth quarter, McCourty got redemption with two crucial fourth-quarter breakups.

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