Eagles football blog

Eagles finish 8-8

After the Eagles won their epic struggle for mediocrity with a 17-9 conquering of the Buffalo Bills yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field, there were only a few things left to ask the coach and players during their exit interviews. How would you describe this 8-8 season that started with an Edward Scissorhands loss in Green Bay and ended with three straight victories that apparently were good for the team's heart and soul but not enough for a cherished invitation to the postseason party?

Eight-and-eight never has been a reason to celebrate. "It's easy to sit back and say it's frustrating, but it was more or less a test for all of us," quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "I thought we missed on a lot of opportunities throughout the season, and we kind of paid for it. That's why we're sitting here now with the season over." Continue

Finishing click

They know. They know, they know. You don't even have to say it. If this Eagles offense had shown up a few times earlier in the season, the Birds would be going to the playoffs, would be the contender most people thought they were when the season began.

"It is [frustrating]," center Jamaal Jackson agreed, after the Eagles defeated the New Orleans Saints, 38-23, the visitors' second-highest-scoring game of the year, a week after they were officially eliminated from wild-card contention. The 7-8 Eagles have scored fewer than 20 points nine times this season. They lost three crucial games down the stretch by a total of 10 points. "In the back of our minds, we knew what we could do. We've been knowing what we could do, all year. We didn't put it together [when it mattered]. Today, we did." Continue

Birds conquer Dallas behind a fired-up defense

Sure, you're probably wondering this morning what this Eagles season could have been like if the team that showed up yesterday at Texas Stadium and three weeks ago against the unbeaten New England Patriots would have shown up during some of those excruciatingly close losses.

The Eagles' players and coaches may be thinking the same thing as they eat their morning cornflakes. Last night, however, as they boarded their charter flight back to Philadelphia, the Eagles allowed themselves to smile and enjoy a 10-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys that ended a three-game losing streak. Of course, it should be noted that the Eagles remain mathematically alive for that final playoff spot even though they are a 6-8 team. Dallas slipped to 12-2, but still clinched a first-round playoff bye because Seattle lost to Carolina. Continue

Giants edge punchless Eagles, 16-13

Plaxico Burress had seven catches for 136 yards and a touchdown, leading the New York Giants to a 16-13 victory over the host Eagles today that likely ended the Birds' faint playoff hopes. Burress scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning, and made another long catch to set up a third-quarter field goal that proved to be the difference in the game. On a day when both teams stuggled to establish momentum, Burress gave the Giants just enough.

David Akers attempted a 57-yard field goal that would have forced overtime, but the kick bounced off the right upright with one second left in the game. The Giants improved to 9-4 on the season, while the Eagles fell to 5-8 and lost at home for the fifth time this season. Continue

Gift-rapped

It wasn't the dumbest loss of the season. Hard to top the season opener at Green Bay for that honor. Losing solely because you can't field punts, well, that trumps just about anything else that might come up.

But this was close, this dagger-to-the-guts, 28-24 Eagles setback to the Seattle Seahawks that occurred because A.J. Feeley hit Seattle linebacker Lofa Tatupu in the chest with passes not once, not twice, but three times, the last on third-and-7 from the Seahawks' 11 with 14 seconds remaining. On the final pick, Feeley was trying to hit Reggie Brown, as he had for a touchdown a week earlier at New England, but Feeley failed to notice the 242-pound linebacker standing between them. (Feeley also threw a third-quarter pick to linebacker Julian Peterson, perhaps mistaking him for Tatupu.) Continue

Eagles throw scare into Pats

Those who tuned into Sunday Night Football expecting to tune out early were pleasantly surprised last night. Instead of the anticipated beating by the seemingly unbeatable New England Patriots, the national television audience was treated to a shocking shoot-out with backup quarterback A.J. Feeley and the Eagles coming up just short against the great Tom Brady and his arsenal of weapons.

In the end, the Patriots got to 11-0 by scoring a fourth-quarter touchdown, then holding on for a 31-28 victory at Gillette Stadium. The Eagles went home with a 5-6 record and some mixed emotions. "That was probably the best game we played all season, and we still lost, so we didn't play well enough," offensive tackle Jon Runyan said. "If we play like that the rest of the season, anything is possible." Continue

The claw of average

So here are your 5-5 Philadelphia Eagles, their ledger balanced for the first time all season, thanks to a 17-7 victory over a winless Miami Dolphins team that would not have scored if Ted Ginn Jr. had not run back a punt 87 yards for a touchdown. But what does 5-5 mean, in this context?

They're traveling to New Eng-land next weekend and to find anybody who thinks the Birds are going to win there, you'd have to poll a very select group. Say, offspring of Eagles players, ages 6 and under. It was pretty much impossible to make a statement by beating the now 0-10 Dolphins and, sure enough, the Eagles didn't. Continue

Westbrook helps Eagles stun Skins

Brian Westbrook scored three touchdowns, two in 58 seconds late in the fourth quarter, giving the Eagles a stunning 33-25 win over the dazed Washington Redskins today at FedEx Field. Westbrook scored on a 10-yard run with 2:18 remaining, after the Redskins (5-4) turned the ball over less than a minute after Westbrook went 57 yards with a screen pass to give the Eagles (4-5) their first lead of the second half.

Westbrook had 100 yards rushing on 20 carries and caught five passes for 83 yards. He also scored on a four-yard shovel pass on the Eagles' first possession of the game. The Eagles scored 20 points in the fourth quarter after being held in check much of the afternoon. Continue

Deride 'em, Cowboys

Forget the falling leaves and the wintry breeze you might have felt last night. It just got really hot in South Philadelphia. Hot for the Eagles' quarterback, whose first two crucial turnovers handed the Dallas Cowboys a 14-point halftime lead en route to a 38-17 victory at Lincoln Financial Field. The blowout seemed to both confirm the Cowboys as the class of the NFC at midseason and destroy any reasonable hope the Eagles might have entertained of defending their NFC East title. Going into the game, Donovan McNabb said the road to the division crown ran through Philadelphia. He didn't mention he was going to help the Cowboys pave it. The calls for the end of the McNabb Era will get much louder now.

Hot for the embattled coach, whose players could have put to rest all the speculation about the drug convictions of two of his sons affecting his attention to the job. Instead, by looking completely overmatched in their biggest test of the season, they intensified the air of crisis that attends the first 3-5 start Andy Reid has suffered since 1999, the year he took the job. Continue

McNabb, Eagles grind out a victory

It was one small step for a team that still believes it can shoot for the moon (or at least a playoff berth), especially if its star quarterback continues to show more mobility and improved accuracy the way he did today at the Metrodome. Giant leaps must still be made, however, if the Eagles' 23-16 victory over the Minnesota Vikings is going to have any significant meaning in the next two months when the NFC playoff race truly takes shape.

"It's a step," offensive tackle Jon Runyan said, refusing to put too much stock in a win that got the Eagles' record to 3-4 as they get ready to take on the first-place Dallas Cowboys in a critical NFC East game Sunday night. "This was about getting that good feeling back and building on our confidence a little bit. Now, we have to go from there." Runyan did not pretend this win over the 2-5 Vikings was pretty, easy or efficient. He just knows it was necessary. Continue