Preseason Game 1 at Philadelphia (8/13/09):
Philadelphia won the toss and elected to receive. Rookie Jeremy Maclin returned the ball out to the 21. The Eagles were hit with an offense a pass interference call on the first play of the game when DeSean Jackson pushed off on Wilhite. The Eagles drive stalled out and they had to kick away. The Patriots went three and out on their first possession. On theit next possession, Brady found Randy Moss over the middle for 15 yards. On the next play, Brady went deep for Moss and Asante Samuel was called for pass interference setting up the Patriots inside the Eagles' 20. It was a 56-yard play. During this sequence, Maroney carried the ball three times and hit the holes with conviction. From the 4, Brady hit Chris Baker wide open in the left corner and the Patriots were up 7-0. On the Eagles next possession, DeSean Jackson made a nice reverse field run to pick up a first down, and McNabb and the offense moved the ball very well. The Eagles drive stalled at the 20 and Akers kicked a field goal to make it 7-3. On the Patriots’ next possession, Brady attempted to air it out, and the pass was intercepted by Brown at the Eagles 10 yard line. Brady was furious with himself on the sidelines after making a bad throw.

Moving into the second quarter, the Eagles drive stalled and they had to punt. Rookie Julian Edelman took the ball on the right sideline at the 25, broke a couple of tackles, and took it to the house. A 75-yard punt return and the Patriots were ahead 14-3. The Eagles started their ensuing drive deep in their own territory. McNabb hit Celek on a pinpoint pass over the middle for a first down out to the 25. From there, the running game effectively punched holes through the Patriots' front seven, but the Eagles had to settle for a 43-yard field goal from Akers. The Patriots methodically moved the ball down the field in a no-huddle offense from their 25 on their next possession, the key play being a 35 yard pass play from Brady to Moss. From the nine, Brady found Chris Baker on the back line in the end zone in New England was ahead 21-6. McNabb was replaced by AJ Feeley, who moved the ball quite well on a couple of pass plays. But once the ball was inside the 20, the Patriots' defense stiffened, and the Eagles went in reverse on a sack and a penalty. Akers' field-goal attempt from the 44 was blocked by Patrick Chung, Brady made it through the first half and played very well, but most importantly came out of the game in one piece.

Ken Walter took over as quarterback for the Patriots in the second half. It looks as though Walter has supplanted Kevin O'Connell has the team's number two quarterback. Sammy Morris made three great runs to open up the second half. Walter then hit Edelman over the middle to bring the ball to Philadelphia's 25. The drive stalled at the 20, and Gostkowski drilled a field goal to make it 24-6. On the ensuing drive, Feeley moved the ball smartly downfield on a series of quick hitters, but the drive fizzled at the 25 and Akers hit his third field goal of the night to make it 24-9. On Eagles next possession, they benefited from a great punt return by Macklin. This time, they had no problem cutting through the Patriots' defense and ended up scoring a touchdown as Buckley took it in from the 3 yard line to make it 24-16. The Patriots got the ball back and ended up going for it on fourth and one, but Sammy Morris was stuffed short in the Eagles took over at New England's 35. Feeley went deep for Macklin, and Darius Butler was called for pass interference at the 6. On third and goal from the one, Feeley hit Buckley on a hitch pass to the right for a touchdown in the Eagles decided to go for two, but Feeley's throw was intercepted by Butler.

As the game moved into the fourth quarter, it was announced that Michael Vick signed with the Eagles. After weeks of rumors associating Vick with a number of teams, he'll try to make his way back into the football world with Philadelphia. Gostkowski kicked a 48 yard field goal to put the Patriots back on top by five at 27-22. On their next drive, Eagles moved the ball bounced in the Patriots' 20 before the drive stalled and they had to settle for another field goal by Akers to make it 27-25. The Patriots started the next drive at their own seven with Kevin O'Connell running the controls. Ben Jarvus Green-Elliott moved the ball out to 25 on a nice run, but the drive fizzled there and they had to punt it away. On the Eagles' next possession they moved the ball deep into Patriots' territory and Akers attempted a 42-yard field goal but missed wide left with one minute remaining. Green-Elliott took the ball up the middle for a first down and O'Connell killed the clock from there.

It was great to come away from the first preseason game with the offense having executed well. The defense appears to be a little bit behind, but all that really matters is that there were no injuries of note. The players who impressed the most for New England were three draft picks: Edelman, Pryor and Chung (who looks like a big time hitter).