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PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Eagles played the role of spoiler with third-string quarterback Koy Detmer at the helm, although the New England Patriots did nothing to help themselves. Detmer threw a career-best three touchdown passes in his first start of the season and the Eagles took advantage of seven turnovers in a 24-9 victory over the Patriots. The loss, coupled with wins by Buffalo and Miami, officially eliminated the Patriots (7-7) from the playoffs. Detmer completed just 10-of-29 passes for 181 yards and threw two interceptions for Philadelphia (4-11), which improved to 5-0 all-time at home against New England. Linebacker Mike Mamula had a career-high three sacks and conerback Troy Vincent had two interceptions for the Eagles. "I thought Koy Detmer came out and rose to the occasion and did a nice job," said Philadelphia coach Andy Reid. "He'll be the first to tell you he was inconsistent, but that's expected coming from that position." Drew Bledsoe was 23-of-49 for 331 yards, but threw four interceptions as New England lost for the fifth time in six games. Bledsoe was sacked six time for a loss of 43 yards. "Obviously you saw it out there and it wasn't pretty," said New England coach Pete Carroll. "I just don't know want to make of it. I don't know what to say. Philadelphia did a nice job on defense and overall in the game. That was a disgrace. You can't win too many games with all those turnovers. We shot ourselves in the foot too many times." The Patriots were hurt by eight dropped passes, including one on fourth down by Terry Glenn in the end zone with 5:51 left in the fourth quarter. New England got the ball back with just under five minutes left, but Vincent stepped in front of Glenn and intercepted Bledsoe's pass at the Philadelphia 27. Vincent also had an interception in the end zone with 52 seconds to play. "That was my assignment," said Vincent about shutting down Glenn. "Each week it's my job to face other teams' so-called top guy and it's a great challenge. He is one of the top receivers in the game and I was looking forward to the challenge." New England lost for the first time in four games against the NFC East this season and needs wins in its last two games as well as help from other teams to make the playoffs. Philadelphia's first two scores came after turnovers. Tony Simmons fumbled the opening kickoff and linebacker Mike Caldwell recovered at the New England 24. The Eagles ran three plays and Norm Johnson kicked a 43-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead before a minute expired. Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter had a 30-yard interception return and Koy Detmer's pass to Torrance Small turned into a 50-yard touchdown, giving the Eagles a 10-0 lead with 3:34 remaining in the first quarter. "We come out and turn the ball over and they score three points. We drive down there and we turn it over again," Bledsoe said. "We're down a bunch and and we're playing from behind. They blitzed us the entire game and we really didn't have an answer for it. We simply got outplayed." Adam Vinatieri kicked a 23-yard field goal to cap an eight-play, 60-yard drive early in the second quarter. The Patriots cut the deficit to 10-6 when Vinatieri kicked a 43-yard field goal with 3:41 remaining in the second. New England had another chance to score when Allen Rossum fumbled the kickoff and Troy Brown recovered at the Philadelphia 28. But on first down Al Harris picked off Bledsoe's pass and had returned it 84 yards. Detmer found Small for an 11-yard TD, giving Philadelphia a 17-6 advantage. The Patriots closed within 17-9 when Vinatieri booted a 46-yard field goal 4:43 into the third. Detmer hooked up with Dietrich Jells on a 44-yard score 68 seconds before the end of the third quarter.
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