Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has admitted his joy and relief after his side came from behind to beat New England Patriots on Sunday and close the gap at the top of NFC East.

Eagles recovered from a poor start to inflict just a second defeat of the season on the AFC East leaders with a 35-28 victory and move within half a game of leaders Washington Redskins in their own conference.

Kelly admitted that his side have not been playing at the level they aspire to in recent weeks but insisted that his players must now start to realise how good they are.

"I have always been proud of [this team] and I told those guys that, that sometimes they do not see in them what I see in them," he told the franchise's website.

"I know that we have a good football team, and they showed it today, and they have shown it at other times during the season. The last two weeks we did not show it, and that is what was disappointing for [the players].

"I think that we generated pressure. I thought the effort that our guys played with up front was really, really good and that is what we needed from those guys."

Eagles now return to Philadelphia to start a three-game run at home with a clash against Buffalo Bills next Sunday.