EAGLES NEWS

Coming into this afternoon in San Francisco the Birds were 2-3 and had to have a win, even this early in the season, to keep their playoff hopes alive. Early on things looked good as Mcnabb and offense seemed to fire on all cylinders in jumping out to a 17-6 lead. Then just before the half David Akers had a field goal blocked and returned for a TD to pull the Niners within 17-16 at the half. The momentum of that play carried over early into the 2nd half as the Niners pushed ahead. Fortunately the Birds woke up just in time and thanks to a stout 4th quarter defense that forced 3 turnovers they eventually rallied to a big 40-26 win. Offensively Correll BuckHalter had a big day in place of the injured Brian Westbrook, rushing 18 times for 93 yards and a TD, and catching 7 balls for 85 yards. Rookie sensation Desean Jackson had another strong day with 6 catches for 98 yards and Donovan Mcnabb was solid completing 23 of 36 passes for 280 yards and 2 TDs. The Defense meanwhile actually struggled much of the day, but made it happen when it counted in the 4th quarter, intercepting J.T Sullivan twice and forcing him to fumble. So it was a good day for the whole team to gain some confidence going forward. The Niners had the early 3-0 lead on a Joe Nedney field goal. The Eagles answered with a long Quintin Demps kickoff return and short drive finished by a 1 yard Buckhalter TD plunge for a 7-3 lead. Late in the first quarter Nedney drilled another field goal to cut the lead to 7-6. Late in the 2nd quarter Mcnabb finished a long drive by butting the biscuit in the Baskett with a 2 yard TD pass to Hank Baskett for a 14-6 lead. David Akers drilled a field goal a minute later for a 17-6 lead. Nedney hit his 3rd field goal with 30 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 17-9. As time expired in the half Akers attempted a 54 yard field goal that was blocked and returned 41 yards for a TD by Donald Strickland to cut the lead to 17-16. Early in the 3rd quarter Frank Gore finished a long Niner drive with a 6 yd TD run for a 23-17 Niner lead. Late in the quarter Nedney hit his 4th field goal of the day for a 26-17 lead and all appeared lost. However, the 4th quarter belonged to the Birds. Early in the quarter, Mcnabb fired a 2yd TD pass to L.J Smith to cut the lead to 26-24. In final 6 minutes Akers drilled 3 field goals to push the Eagles ahead 33-26. Then with 38 seconds to play Juqua Parker intercepted Sullivan and scampered 55 yards for a TD and a 40-26 lead and that's the way it ended. So the Eagles move to 3-3 overall and with losses today by the Cowboys and Redskins who drop to 4-2 and even the Bears who drop to 3-3, the Birds are right back in it, but they'll have to keep winning.