PRO FOOTBALL : Ramsey Rallies Patriots, but Eagles Win in Overtime, 34-31

A 38-yard field goal by Philadelphia’s Paul McFadden with 2:44 remaining in overtime gave the Eagles a 34-31 victory over New England Sunday and spoiled an outstanding performance by Patriot quarterback Tom Ramsey.

Trailing, 31-10, with less than nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Patriots sent the game into overtime when Ramsey threw for two touchdowns and ran for the tying score in a span of 6:58.

“We were dominating the game and then all of a sudden, we lost our poise,” Eagle Coach Buddy Ryan said.

Ramsey, the former UCLA and L.A. Express quarterback, finished with 34 completions on a club-record 53 attempts for 402 yards and 3 touchdowns.

McFadden’s winning kick came two minutes after he missed a 39-yarder.

“I’d let my teammates down many times and they never batted an eye,” said McFadden, who two weeks earlier missed a 39-yard attempt with 11 seconds remaining to give the New York Giants a 20-17 victory.

The Patriots are 0 for 10 in overtime games after their kicker, Tony Franklin, failed on field-goal attempts of 31 yards with five seconds left in the fourth quarter and 46 yards with 9:59 to go in overtime.

“I have no excuses,” said Franklin, acquired in a 1984 trade with Philadelphia. “We should have won the game and I lost it.”

Franklin, the NFL’s leading scorer last season, made just 1 of 4 field-goal attempts Sunday and has made only 12 of 23 this season. In each of the last three seasons he’s made at least 78% of his attempts.

The victory put Philadelphia (5-6) in a second-place tie in the NFC East with Dallas and St. Louis. New England (5-6) fell into a tie for last place in the AFC East with Miami, one game behind Buffalo, Indianapolis and the New York Jets.

On the first play after McFadden missed his field-goal try with 4:46 left in overtime, Eagle linebacker Garry Cobb recovered Mosi Tatupu’s fumble, giving the Eagles the ball at the New England 30-yard line.

After Randall Cunningham’s five-yard completion to John Spagnola, an incompletion and Michael Haddix’s four-yard run, McFadden kicked the game-winner.

The Eagles took their 31-10 lead on Cunningham’s second touchdown pass to Mike Quick, a 29-yarder with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Ramsey then threw for a 13-yard touchdown pass to Stanley Morgan and a 3-yarder to Willie Scott, cutting the lead to 31-24 with 5:18 remaining. His one-yard run with 1:05 left capped an 84-yard march and tied the game.

Cunningham completed 18 of 31 passes for 314 yards and 2 scores.

New England never led after Cunningham threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Quick with 10:13 left in the second quarter, which gave the Eagles a 10-7 lead.

On New England’s next play from scrimmage, Mike Pitts recovered a Ramsey fumble and ran 21 yards to the Patriots’ 2-yard line. Cunningham scored on a 1-yard run on fourth down and the Eagles led, 17-7.

The Eagles took a 24-10 lead after Anthony Toney’s 1-yard run capped a 74-yard scoring drive on the first series of the second half. Toney led all rushers with 24 carries for a career-high 123 yards.