Defense, Weaver and Vick Lead Eagles to Victory

On a day when both teams were missing key players, the Eagles dominated the Falcons using several big plays to inflict much of the damage. Philadelphia's defense bottled up Atlanta until they scored a fluke touchdown as time expired, while Leonard Weaver played a starring role on offense. And, poetically, Michael Vick saved his best performance by far for his former team in his dramatic return to the Georgia Dome, accounting for a pair of touchdowns.

The Eagles took control of the game early as its defense played its best game since week 8 against the Giants, while the offense capitalized using several big plays. After a three and an out by the Falcons to start the game, McNabb quickly drove the team down for a field goal. They then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and four plays later McNabb hit Weaver for a short touchdown to give the Eagles an early 10-0 lead. On the next drive, David Akers missed his first field goal in weeks that was set-up by Weaver's 59-yard catch and run.

They added a field goal in the 2nd quarter after a 56-yard Maclin reception and held the Falcons off the board with a goal line stand at the end of the half on a drive that was primarily orchestrated by the officials. First, the Eagles recovered a fumble that was ruled down by contact, and then were told they could not challenge the call because they never recovered the ball. If the officials had reviewed the play, they would have seen that the were clearly wrong on both counts. Later, two marginal personal foul calls put the Falcons in position to score, but the Eagles held onto a 13-0 lead at half.

McNabb led the team on a 80-yard drive to open the 2nd half, hitting on 6 of 7 passes. The drive culminated with Vick scampering for a TD on 3rd and 1 at the Falcons 5 yard line. A bit of irony followed when Vick's attempt to toss the ball into the crowd was intercepted by the net being raised for the extra point as if to shun the gesture from the city's fallen hero.

The Eagles quickly expanded their lead to 27-0 when Sheldon Brown stepped in front of a Chris Redman pass and returned it 83 yards for a touchdown. The defense then stifled another drive when Sean Jones picked off another pass to start the 4th period. At this point, Andy Reid decided to reward Vick by turning things over to him.

Vick did not disappoint as he connected with Reggie Brown for 43 yards on the first play. He added a 5-yard run before hitting Brent Celek on a 5-yard touchdown pass to put the Eagles up 34-0. Unfortunately, Vick banged up his right thumb on the drive, so Reid opted for Keven Kolb to finish the game.

The only thing left for the Eagles was to preserve a rare road shutout. Redman dinked and dunked his team down the field against a prevent defense, benefiting from a little luck along the way. A deflected pass landed in the hands of Tony Gonzalez for a large gain and then as the clock expired, another deflected pass popped into the arms of Roddy White standing in the end zone.

McNabb had another very solid game, tossing for 238 yards over 3 quarters. With the absence of other key players, besides Vick, the Eagles got large contributions from Weaver, Maclin and Brown. On a day that rookie LeSean McCoy could not get untracked, Weaver put on an impressive display of running. Overall, he accumulated 100 yards, including 5 rushes for 37 yards, 2 catches for 63 yards and the touchdown. Maclin stepped in for Jackson, averaging 21 yards on his four receptions.

Although Sean McDermott and his defense left the field a little disappointed that they lost the shutout, the Eagles could surely feel good about a very solid 34-7 win against a team right behind them in the standings. They were also very happy for Vick to play a starring role in his emotional return to the city that was home for his era as a superstar. Hollywood could not have written a much better script.

The day got even better when the moribund Giants found life against the Cowboys and gained an upset win. At the end of the day, the Eagles found themselves tied with the Cowboys at 8-4 and next week's opponent, the Giants, just 1 game back. With the Boys hosting the red hot Chargers, next Sunday's Football Night in America game in the Meadowlands carries large playoff implications. Also, with the regular season ending in Dallas, the Eagles control their own destiny in the NFC East.

Eagles Use Late Rally to Win Again

Donovan McNabb engineered another late game rally to lead the Eagles to a second consecutive comeback win against an inferior team. And, once again, the team overcame adversity, some of which was their own doing and other simply being sometimes how things go in the NFL. The victory allowed the Eagles to keep pace with both the Cowboys in the NFC East and the Packers in the Wildcard race, who both won on Thanksgiving Day.

Yesterday's game followed a similar script to the previous game, as the Eagles rallied from a 24-16 fourth quarter deficit to prevail 27-24. Seemingly shaking off growing criticism about his inability to lead the team back late in games, McNabb showed poise and precision on two scoring drives in the games final minutes. First he led the team on a 90-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown with 7:24 remaining and then took them 66 yards to a game winning field goal at the 1:48 mark.

Although the Redskins fell to 3-8, they came into the game with the 4th rated defense in the NFL, so these long drives were not easy and are clearly a good sign. McNabb had the added challenge of being without DeSean Jackson (who left earlier with a concussion) and having an ineffective Brent Celek (who later divulged that he may have torn thumb ligaments.) No matter- he simply leaned on Jason Avant, Jeremy Maclin and LeSean McCoy and they came through in a big way.

The big plays on the touchdown drive were consecutive tremendous catches by Avant for 46 and 20 yards, respectively, who is emerging as yet another weapon on the Eagles offense. Over the past two seasons, he has demonstrated a growing ability as a sure handed possession receiver, but now is displaying the ability to get separation and make catches down the field. The drive almost stalled at the one yard line, but Eldra Buckley finally was able to punch it in on the fourth play. McCoy then showed great determination and balance on a shuttle pass to get a two point conversion, tying the score.

After the Eagles defense held the Redskins, the offense took possession again on their own 20. This time McNabb used a pair of passes to Maclin (including a 35-yard connection) and a heavy dose of McCoy's running to move to the Redskins 14. David Akers came on to kick his fourth field goal of the game to make it 27-24. The defense then stepped up again, forcing the Redskins to the turn the ball over on downs.

One thing that was different from last week, though, was that the Eagles fell behind early. For some inexplicable reason the Eagles chose to open the game with an on sides kick that back fired into a quick 7-0 Redskins lead. Considering that the Redskins have one of the least effective offensive units and one of the better defensive units in the NFL, and were further hindered by injuries, electing to gamble at the outset seemed totally nonsensical. The last thing that the Eagles would want is to give them a short field or easy points.

Nevertheless, the Eagles did work back from the many adversities they faced, such as the absence of players and injury limitations, as well as the self inflicted variety such as penalties, ill advised gambles and the Mildcat. Once again, McNabb maintained composure and his young teammates around him responded well. The depleted defense was uneven throughout the contest as expected, but they came up big when needed in the end. Surprisingly, they struggled to get pressure on Jason Campbell, but forced the Redskins to work underneath all day.

Although favoring a sore neck, Asante Samuel jumped a couple routes to pick off two Campbell passes in the second quarter. The Eagles turned both of those into Akers field goals and grab a slim 16-14 lead at half.

McNabb finished the day 21-35-1 for 260 yards. Before Jackson got injured, McNabb connected with him on yet another long scoring strike. Late in the first quarter, Jackson slipped behind coverage and McNabb found him in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown. McCoy and Weaver both ran the ball well all day, combining for 120 yards on only 23 carries. For the second time in three weeks, Avant led the team in receiving, accumulating 94 yards on 5 receptions.

This was another game that the Eagles both should have and needed to win. They now find themselves at 7-4, one game behind the Cowboys and in the top Wildcat spot. They found ways to win each of the past two games which is good, but their challenge may have increased further with the injuries to their leading receivers, Jackson and Celek.

Fortunately, the Eagles are showing some excellent depth and quickly growing maturity on offense. It appears they are still a few weeks away from shoring up the defense, so if they hope to win next week's big game in Atlanta, it appears that it is going to require McNabb to rally his young mates again. The Falcons pulled out a comeback win themselves yesterday and lurk just one game behind the Eagles.

Eagles Crush Giants in Twin Bill Opener

The Eagles continue to establish their personality as a big play team on both sides of the ball as they hit on multiple long scoring strikes and forced Eli Manning into turnovers. They seized control of the game on the third play from scrimmage when Leonard Weaver burst through the middle on a 41-yard touchdown gallop and never let up on the way to crushing their NFC East rivals by a score of 40-17.

The final score might actually make the game seem closer than it really was, as the Birds dominated the Giants in all phases of the game. If not for a fumble, an onside kick and the Eagles playing conservatively to eat up the clock, it could have been much worse. The Eagles moved the ball easily, seemingly scoring at will while pressuring Manning into erratic throws and mistakes.

Donovan McNabb had his strongest game of the season, completing 17 of 23 passes for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns. And, true to 2009 form, all were from longer range as he hit on a 54-yard strike to DeSean Jackson, a 23-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin and a 17-yard throw to Brent Celek. Adding to their long ball array, were Weaver's run and a 66-yard touchdown sprint by LeSean McCoy.

On defense, the Eagles rotated linemen and used a variety of stunts and blitzes to put pressure on Manning. Similar to last season's playoff game, the tactic exploited Manning's poise and average arm strength. On the Giants third play from scrimmage, Asante Samuel jumped a route to intercept a pass and returned it 37 yards to set up the Eagles second touchdown.

The Giants had many experts singing their praises as they beat up weak opponents in the early part of the season. Yesterday's thorough domination at the hands of the Eagles, along with losses the previous two weeks, has knocked the Giants out of first place and has them questioning their abilities. The soft part of their schedule is behind them and they face a tough slate of games ahead.

Meanwhile, besides their lapse in Oakland, the Eagles reinforced that they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender, possessing possibly the most explosive offense in the NFL. Jackson, Maclin and Celek give McNabb the best array of play making receivers that he has ever had around him. The team has largely been without the services of Brian Westbrook, so his return adds an elusive runner and pass catcher to a running corps that has been bolstered by McCoy and Weaver. Jason Avant and injured Kevin Curtis are nice accessories. This is clearly the greatest set of offensive skill position players the team has ever assembled.

Despite still in a learning mode, Will Witherspoon looks like a considerable upgrade for the defense as he flashes around the field making plays. The pre-season loss of promising Stewart Bradley left a big hole that now seems closed. This allows the defense to be aggressive with their pass rush and re-enage their secondary to concentrate on pass coverage rather than helping with run support.

Next week is the third leg of the NFC East round robin as the Eagles host the Cowboys, who also improved their record to 5-2 with a convincing win yesterday over Seattle. Dallas seems to have found their mojo as QB Tony Romo has gained confidence with the emergence of wide receiver Miles Austin. Marion Barber and Felix Jones have returned from injury, so the Cowboys are feeling like they have their own explosive array of weapons. Next Sunday night's game should prove to worthy of the prime time spot light.