EAGLES NEWS

The Birds welcomed the Washington Redskins to the Linc this afternoon. At 3-7 overall and winless on the road coming in the Skins should have been easy pickins for the Birds. Instead they put up a strong effort and forced the Eagles to dig deep in the 4th quarter for the win. Offensively, the Birds were fine with a balanced 381 yards(123 rushing, 258 passing). Donovan Mcnabb had a nice game, throwing for 260 yards and a TD, Jason Avant had 5 catches for 94 yards, and Lesean McCoy rushed 17 times for 76 yards to lead the way. The defense on the other hand was a problem for the Birds. Asante Samuel intercepted two Jason Campbell passes, and Trent Cole was his usual dominant self, with a sack, 3 tackles and countless times pressuring Campbell. However, Washington's normally futile offense piled up over 300 yards and 24 points, which is just embarrassing for the Eagle's defense. They just can't keep allowing that every week and expect to get away with it. Anyway the Redskins had the momentum early as the Eagles botched an onsides kick attempt to start the game, and gave Washington the ball at the Eagle's 19. Just a few plays later it was 7-0 Skins. Thanks to a 35 yd td pass from Mcnabb to Desean Jackson the Birds rallied ahead 10-7 by the end of the 1st quarter. Washington came back with an 80 yard 2nd quarter TD drive, with Campbell firing a 4 yd TD pass to Santana Moss for a 14-10 lead. Asante Samuel then intercepted Campbell on the Skins final 1 drives of the half, to set up 2 David Aker's field goals and put the Birds up 16-14 at the half. Washington came back with yet another 80+ yard drive to open their 2nd half with Campbell tossing a 10 yd TD pass to Fred Davis for a 21-16 lead. Later Mcnabb was hit as he threw and intercepted deep in Eagles' territory to set up a Redskins' field goal and 24-16 lead heading into the 4th quarter. There with a little over 10 minutes remaining the Eagles drove 90 yards, with Eldra Bunkley running it in from a yard out to cut the lead to 24-22. Then Lesean McCoy took a shovel pass, ran into his own line and then somehow stayed up right just long enough to get in the end zone for the 2 point conversion and the 24-24 tie. Washington did nothing on their next drive and the Eagles were drive into range for an Aker's field goal and a 27-24 lead with under 2 minutes to play. The Skins then went 3 and out on their next series to finish off the Eagle win. So the Eagles move to 7-4 overall and are now in good position to at least claim a wild card spot for the 2nd year in a row.