Vick rallies Eagles for late 24-23 win over Ravens

By ROB MAADDI

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — With the game on the line, Michael Vick made all the right decisions — again.

Vick scored on a 1-yard TD run with 1:55 left, helping the Philadelphia Eagles overcome a slew of turnovers to beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-23 on Sunday for their second straight comeback win.

The Eagles are 2-0 for the first time since Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens led them to the Super Bowl in 2004.

“In the moment, you have to be at your best,” Vick said. “It’s got to be an any-means-necessary mentality.”

Rookie kicker Justin Tucker made field goals of 56, 51 and 48 yards for the Ravens, but Joe Flacco couldn’t get Baltimore (1-1) in his range in the final minute.

Flacco overthrew Ray Rice on fourth-and-1 from the Ravens 46, and the Eagles ran out the clock.

Vick threw four interceptions at Cleveland last week, but rallied the Eagles to a 17-16 win.

He did it again, though the replacement officials almost made a costly mistake.

Down 23-17, the Eagles started at their 20 with 4:43 left. Vick threw passes of 24 and 13 yards to Brent Celek. A 19-yard pass to Clay Harbor coupled with a roughing-the-passer penalty put the ball at the 3.

Vick then threw incomplete as he was being hit by Haloti Ngata, but the play was ruled a fumble and it was recovered by the Ravens. A replay overturned the call and Vick scored on the next play.

“There’s some serious calls the refs missed,” Baltimore’s Ray Lewis said. “It’s just the way it is, man, all around the league. We have to correct that. These games are critical. Guys are giving everything they’ve got all across the league. But these are calls, with the regular refs, if they were here, we know the way the calls would be made.”

The Eagles committed three turnovers in the red zone in the first half and lost two starting offensive linemen in the second. They have nine turnovers in two games, a major reason why they only have 41 points despite totaling 942 yards of offense.

“We have to get better at it,” coach Andy Reid said. “You have to take care of the football. You have to throw the football to the right person. This isn’t something we planned on having.”

Vick finished 23 of 32 for 371 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Celek had eight catches for 157 yards and DeSean Jackson had seven receptions for 114 yards.

This was a homecoming of sorts for Flacco and Ravens coach John Harbaugh. Flacco grew up in nearby Haddon Township, N.J. Harbaugh spent 10 seasons as an assistant under Reid before going to Baltimore in 2008.

Tucker almost made them winners.

An undrafted rookie out of Texas, Tucker beat out veteran kicker Billy Cundiff in the preseason and has made all six of his field goals in the first two games.

Tucker’s 56-yarder at the end of the first half sent the Ravens into the locker room up 17-7. His 51-yarder early in the fourth made it 20-17.

Cundiff was 1-for-6 from beyond 50 yards last year, and missed a potential game-tying, 32-yarder against New England in the waning seconds of the AFC championship game.

“I think we’ll be just fine coming out of this going forward,” Harbaugh said.

Two plays after center Jason Kelce sprained his right knee and was carted back to the locker room, the Eagles got within 17-14 on Vick’s 23-yard TD pass to Jeremy Maclin. Vick scrambled to his left and threw on the run to Maclin, who slipped behind coverage and went to his knees to make a nifty catch.

Philadelphia lost two more starters on its next drive. First, King Dunlap left with a hamstring injury. Maclin was then carted off with a hip pointer after making a block on Celek’s 24-yard catch. Celek hurdled Ed Reed to gain a few extra yards on the play. Still, the Eagles reached the 5 before settling for Alex Henery’s tying 23-yard field goal.

The starting quarterbacks were coming off opposite performances in Week 1. While Vick struggled against the Browns, Flacco was near-flawless in a dominant 44-13 win against Cincinnati last Monday night.

Flacco was 22 of 42 for 232 yards, one TD and one interception against Philadelphia.

Despite the makeshift line blocking for him, Vick didn’t take as many hard hits and was sacked only twice. He scrambled eight times for 36 yards before kneeling twice at the end.

Using the no-huddle from the start, the Eagles moved the ball effectively to the Ravens 12. But Vick made another errant throw and was intercepted in the end zone by Bernard Pollard. Vick scrambled out of the pocket and had space, but he fired opposite his momentum.

“You can’t always hit a home run,” Vick said. “Sometimes you have to settle for singles and doubles. That’s what I have to learn. I can’t force the ball.”

Trent Cole stripped Flacco on Baltimore’s second play and Cullen Jenkins recovered at the Ravens 15.

McCoy ran in from the 1 for a 7-0 lead.

Vonta Leach scored on a 5-yard TD run to tie it at 7.

After the Ravens failed to convert on a fake punt — Sean Considine ran 3 yards on fourth-and-4 — the Eagles took over at Baltimore’s 45. The drive ended in another turnover. Rookie Bryce Brown fumbled a handoff on third-and-1 at the 20, and Albert McClellan recovered at the 30.

Flacco connected with Jacoby Jones on a 21-yard TD pass to give the Ravens a 14-7 lead.

The Eagles drove to the Ravens 9 before Lardarius Webb caused McCoy to fumble. Lewis recovered and was slammed down to the ground by Vick. McCoy had one fumble last year when he was an All-Pro. He already has lost two in two games.

Notes: Rice ran for 99 yards and caught six passes for 53 more. … Eagles improved to 5-9 in home openers under Reid and won one for first time since 2008. … Tucker’s 56-yard FG tied Wade Richey for longest in Ravens history. … Entering the season, McCoy had lost one fumble in the previous 28 games, spanning 565 touches. He lost his second on his 36th touch. … Dallas Reynolds replaced Kelce at center and took his first snap in the NFL.

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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobMaaddi

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