ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Just when it looked as though it couldn’t get any worse for the underachieving Eagles, it did.
Now the most-hyped team in the preseason finds itself with one of the worst records in the NFL after a 31-24 loss to the Bills yesterday.
After squandering fourth-quarter leads in each of their past three games, the Eagles were in position to rally from a 21-point deficit against the upstart Bills. But Michael Vick’s fourth interception of the game late in the fourth quarter gave the Bills the ball, and Juqua Parker jumped offsides with 1:23 left on a fourth-and-inches play on Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s hard-count to allow the Bills to run out the clock and secure a win over the free-falling Eagles.
Philadelphia’s 1-4 record was expected to be reversed at this point. Instead, they’re a team that commits too many turnovers and penalties, and isn’t opportunistic enough on offense when they get deep into the opposition’s territory.
“I’ve never been a part of anything where you feel like things are snowballing on you,” Eagles tight end Brent Celek said. “You feel like when you’re in the game, things just continually feel like they’re not falling your way. But that’s up to us, we can turn it around.”
Vick went 26 of 40 for 315 yards passing and two touchdowns, but was undone by his career-worst four interception day. He added 90 yards rushing to give him 4,948 for his career, passing Randall Cunningham for most yards by an NFL quarterback.
Philadelphia has lost four in a row — its longest skid since 2005 — and is off to its worst start since 1999, coach Andy Reid’s first season.
“We’ve just got to put it all together for four quarters,” Vick said. “At this point, it’s out of the coach’s hands. I think it’s the players, be cause we’re the ones out there.”
Buffalo running back Fred Jackson finished with a combined 196 yards from scrimmage and scored on a 5-yard run, and linebacker Nick Barnett had two of Buffalo’s four interceptions.
After scoring on a 31-yard interception return in the second quarter, Barnett sealed the victory by grabbing Vick’s tipped pass intended for Jason Avant with 1:49 remaining at the Bills 26.
The Bills took over and never gave the ball back. The game was decided on — what else? — another Eagles miscue.
Parker’s gaffe gave the Bills a new set of downs and a chance to run out the clock after Philadelphia had used up its timeouts.
The Bills (4-1) bounced back from blowing a 14-point lead in a 23-20 loss at Cincinnati last weekend. Buffalo has matched its best start since 2008.
“We’re putting ourselves in a tremendous opportunity,” Jackson said.
