EAGLES NEWS

Out since week 4 with broken ribs, Mike Vick returned to the starting lineup today and didn't miss a beat. Out since week 7 with concussion symptoms, Desean Jackson returned for the Eagles today as well and he too didn't miss a beat. Together Jackson and Vick combined for 401 yards of offense and a TD. Lesean McCoy also had a pretty big day with 16 rushes for 95 yards, most of them on a 75 + yard romp to open the game. Together the triumvirate helped the Eagles keep a nose in front of Peyton Manning and the Colts for most of the evening. Aside from their heroics, the Eagles defense also showed surprising poise against Manning, intercepting him twice and holding him to under 300 passing yards and 1 TD. The D also continued their strong play against the run, holding Indianapolis to just 62 rushing yards on the day. The lone damper on the Eagles performance were several questionable penalties, two of which contributed Colt's scoring drives, that marred an otherwise exciting game.

Following McCoys opening scamper. Vick found Jackson from 9 yards out for a quick 7 -0 lead. On the ensuing Colt's drive Asante Samuel intercepted Manning and returned it into Colt's territory. The Colt's defense stepped it up though, and Eagles couldn't punch it in, instead settling for a chip shot Aker's field to make it 10-0. After stopping the Colts on downs near midfield the Eagles got the ball back inside their own 2 yard line, from which Vick directed a 96 yard drive, including a highlight reel 40 + yard pass to Desean Jackson. Unfortunately the Eagles again couldn't punch it in, instead settling for another chip shot Aker's field goal for a 13-0 lead. Finally the Colts offense started rolling after that, as Manning marched them 76 yards, before hitting Jacob Tamme from 3 yards out to cut the lead to 13-7. The Eagles drove right back into Colt's territory again on their next drive, but again they couldn't punch it in and settled for another chip shot Aker's field goal for a 16-7 lead.

It was on the ensuing Colt's drive that the evening's first controversy developed. Halfway through the drive, Manning connected with Austin Collie on deep pass into the Eagle's territory. Collie was then blasted by Quintin Mikell and Kurt Coleman, playing in place of Nate Allen who was injured earlier. The hit by Coleman knocked Collie out cold and jarred the ball loose, prompting the officials to rule an incomplete hit and flag Coleman for uneccesary roughness. Only one problem. Replays clearly showed Collie made the catch, got two feet down, lowered his helmet to protect himself and took a step forward, all before either hit. So he was not a defenseless receiver and Coleman's hit was perfectly legal. The officials didn't see it that way and Colts capitalized on their good fortune a few plays later with a 6 yard run by Javarris James cutting to 16-14. The Eagles couldn't do anything on their next drive and with the ball back to finish the half Manning drove into range for Adam Vinatieri to put the Colts up 17-16 at half.

After a series of defensive stops the Eagles again managed a drive into the Colt's territory and again couldn't punch it in, settling for a 44 yard Aker's kick to push back ahead 19-17. A couple stops later the Eagles had the ball back early in the 4th quarter, and marched 80 yards into the Colt's territory and this time, after Eagles had 3 TDs called back, 1 by penalty, 2 by review, Vick himself snuck one in from a yard out for a 26-17 lead. The Eagle's defense appeared to have things in control after that until another penalty got in the way. With just over 2 and a half minutes to play, and the Colts having to convert a 4th and 18 to keep the game alive, The Eagles came with the blitz and seemed to force Manning into a virtual game ending fumble. Only one problem. Trent Cole was whistled for a personal foul, a blow to Manning's head which gave the Colt's an automatic first down. Replays cleared show though that Cole did not do so intentionally and was instead swatting at the ball. The officials could easily have let it go, instead they flagged Cole and Manning took advantage handing to James for a 1 yard run to cut it to 26-24.

Still the Eagles should have been able to run out the clock after that and actually just needed to convert a 3rd and 2 with just 54 seconds left to do so. Only one problem. The Eagles were flagged for going offsides even though replays clearly showed a Colt illegally simulating the snap count and drawing them off. With a 3rd and 7 instead of a 3rd and 2 the Birds were forced to just send Vick on an outside run and use a much clock possible. When all was said and done. Manning still had 40 + seconds to drive the Colts into field goal range for the win. Fortunately the Eagles defense stepped up. Dmitri Patterson perfectly blanketed receivers down field on a couple deep Manning throws, and then Samuel picked him off for the 2nd time of the evening to seal the huge 26-24 Eagles win, which moves them to 5-3 overall, and solo 2nd in the NFC East with a date with Donovan Mcnabb and the 3rd place Redskins, in Washington, er Landover, Maryland looming next week.