WATSON, JACKSON SQUARE OFF; MEXICO HOSTS MONDAY NIGHT
In Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota, the Eagles and quarterback NICK FOLES orchestrated a critical touchdown drive that drained 7:01 off the fourth-quarter clock. On that 14-play, 75-yard march, Foles completed 8 of 10 passes, including an 11-yard scoring strike to ZACH ERTZ as Philadelphia retook a lead it would not relinquish in a 41-33 triumph over New England, the Eagles’ first NFL title since 1960 and first-ever Super Bowl championship. Just before half, Foles caught a 1-yard TD pass from TREY BURTON, branding the phrase “Philly Special” into Super Bowl lore. The Patriots (613) and Eagles (538) combined for a Super Bowl record 1,151 net yards.
Thirteen years earlier, on February 6, 2005, at Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, the Patriots captured their third Lombardi Trophy over a four-year stretch, a 24-21 win over the Eagles. New England linebacker and current Titans head coach MIKE VRABEL caught a 2-yard touchdown from TOM BRADY to break a 7-7 tie in the third quarter. Game MVP DEION BRANCH, who had 11 receptions for 133 yards, set up that touchdown with three key grabs. TEDY BRUSCHI and RODNEY HARRISON had fourth-quarter interceptions in the first Super Bowl ever to enter the final stanza in a tie game.
WATSON-JACKSON SHOWDOWN MARQUEES WEEK 11:
Two of the NFL’s most exciting young quarterbacks square off Sunday when the HOUSTON TEXANS meet the BALTIMORE RAVENS (1:00 PM ET, CBS). Last week, Baltimore quarterback LAMAR JACKSON recorded his second 2019 game with a 158.3 passer rating, the highest attainable mark, and became the second player in NFL history (BEN ROETHLISBERGER, 2007) to post two 158.3 passer ratings in the same season. He also added a career-long 47-yard touchdown run in Baltimore’s win at Cincinnati. The Texans’ DESHAUN WATSON earlier this season posted his own 158.3 rating, in Week 5, and became the first player ever to pass for at least 400 yards and five touchdowns with five-or-fewer incompletions in a single game.
Watson enters Week 11 ranked fourth in the NFL with a 107.1 passer rating, while Jackson is ninth with a 101.7 mark. Sunday’s matchup is the second time in NFL history that two starting quarterbacks under the age of 25 with a passer rating of 100-or-better will square off in Week 11 or later. The first was a year ago this week, November 19, 2018, when JARED GOFF (113.0 rating, 24 years, 36 days old) and the Rams defeated PATRICK MAHOMES (117.4 rating, 23 years, 63 days old) and the Chiefs, 54-51.
