Eagles Score 20 Unanswered Points to Take 20-14 Lead at Halftime vs. Jaguars

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles were a bloodied in the first quarter against the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars, falling behind by 14 points.

One of those scores was a big momentum gainer for the Jaguars, a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown from safety Andre Cisco before the game as four minutes old.

It was the first time the Eagles trailed in a game since the Lions took a 7-0 lead on them in the opener on their first possession.

The Eagles battled back against the Jaguars, scoring 20 straight points to take a 20-4 lead into halftime on a windy, rainy Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

The crowd cheered their Super Bowl-winning head coach Doug Pederson upon his return, but the fast start by Pederson’s new team had them booing at the close of the first quarter.

The Eagles, though, were just getting warmed up.

The Jaguars were leading the league in rushing defense, allowing just 55 yards per game, and in the takeaway/giveaway department at plus-7.

The Eagles, though, took the ball away twice, recovering two fumbles from quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

The first one was recovered by Fletcher Cox.

The second by Haason Reddick.

Both led to Eagles touchdowns.

The Eagles gashed the Jags on the ground, too.

Miles Sanders and Kenny Gainwell both had 10-yard touchdown runs. Gainwell’s burst accounted for the final scoring in the first half with 26 seconds to play.

Sanders had 14 carries for 58 yards. Trey Sermon even got into the act, running once for 14 yards in his Eagles debut. As a team, the Eagles shredded Jacksonville’s middle and ran for 112 yards on 25 rushes.

Jason Kelce and Landon Dickerson did a great job of delivering the pain in the middle of the line of scrimmage.

The Eagles played most of the first half without CB Darius Slay (forearm) and LT Jordan Mailata (shoulder) along the way. Their return was questionable as of halftime.

The team also lost linebacker Patrick Johnson, who was being evaluated for a head injury.

The Eagles were 3-for-4 on fourth down in the half, including a conversion on a Hurts sneak late in the half that led to Gainwell’s go-ahead points.

Hurts completed 10 of 15 throw for 127 yards and the one interception and one TD run, a fourth-and-goal burst up the middle to pull the Eagles to within 14-7 with 9:13 to go in the second quarter. He took a vicious hit from Jags LB Devin Lloyd as he crossed the goal line.

A.J. Brown had three catches for 62 yards and tight end Dallas Goedert added three for 41.

Lawrence was just 5-for-11 with 75 yards and one TD, but Jacksonville mustered just 104 total yards to Philly’s 239.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.