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Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The Philadelphia Eagles used a late Golden Tate touchdown to defeat the Chicago Bears 16-15 in the wild-card round on Sunday night at Soldier Field. Former Eagles and current Bears kicker Cody Parkey's 43-yard field goal attempt with 10 seconds left clanged off the left upright and then the crossbar to preserve the Eagles' victory and second straight trip to the NFC Divisional Round.
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With the win, Eagles quarterback Nick Foles built on his magical run from last postseason when Philadelphia captured a Super Bowl title. Starting quarterback Carson Wentz went down with a knee injury in the regular season and Foles took over, eventually winning Super Bowl MVP honors in the victory over the New England Patriots.
"I think the big thing is, we saw some adversity tonight in the first half [and] I had a couple of turnovers," Foles said after the game. "I think the big thing is that no one loses faith, no one stops believing, everyone just keeps talking, keeps believing in one another and we just rallied. Our defense really kept us in this game."
The defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (10-7) jumped into the playoffs after blanking the Washington Redskins 24-0 in Week 17 and receiving help from the Bears with their 24-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings in the regular-season finale.
The Bears (12-5) entered halftime with a 6-3 lead after Eagles kicker Jake Elliott and Parkey exchanged field goals. Elliott booted a 43-yard field goal at the 9:32 mark in the first quarter, and Parkey connected from 29 and 36 yards out in the second.
Rookie tight end Dallas Goedert gave the Eagles their first lead of the contest with a 10-yard touchdown from Foles late in the third quarter.
The Bears answered with Parkey's 34-yard kick at the start of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 10-9. Five minutes later, Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky found receiver Allen Robinson for a 22-yard score. A failed two-point conversation kept the Bears' lead at 15-10 with 9:04 left in the game.
Foles, who faced a fourth-and-goal from the Bears' 2-yard line with 56 seconds remaining, rolled out to the right and threw a dart to Tate for the game-winning touchdown.
The Bears began their final drive with Tarik Cohen's 35-yard kickoff return to the Chicago 42-yard line. Trubisky tossed a deep pass down the right sideline to Robinson for 25 yards, putting the Bears in field-goal territory.
Robinson gained eight more yards after a short pass from Trubisky to the Eagles' 25-yard line, and Parkey trotted out to attempt the game-winning field goal.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson iced Parkey, who made the first practice kick. His next attempt bounced off the post twice, sealing the game for the Eagles.
Foles completed 25-of-40 throws for 266 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He was sacked only once. The Eagles' running game had a combined 23 carries for 42 yards.
Trubisky was 26-for-43 passing with 303 yards and one touchdown. Robinson was his favorite target with 10 catches, 143 yards and a score.
Philadelphia plays at the New Orleans Saints (13-3) next Sunday in the divisional round.
