EAGLES DEFEAT BROWNS – STILL NEED HELP
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DeSean Jackson has a quarterback rating of 0.00 after throwing pass for an interception against the Browns.
The only thing the Eagles can now do to qualify for the playoffs is win every game left on their schedule and hope things fall into place for them.
The Eagles kept up their part of the mission with a 30-10 victory over the hapless Cleveland Browns, raising their record to 8-5-1.
The Eagles need the Atlanta Falcons (9-5) or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-5) to lose a game, then, if they win out, the Birds are in the playoffs.
The Falcons go on the road to take on the surging Minnesota Vikings (9-5) who have won four in a row. They finish the season at home against the
The Buccaneers host the San Diego Chargers (6-8) this Sunday night; then finish the season hosting the Oakland Raiders (3-11), also many will also believe is a gift win.
McNabb said he is happy his team is playing well now.
“They don’t remember how you were play early in the season,” McNabb said. “They always remember how you play toward the end, and hopefully things will work out well. But we have to enjoy this win now and get ready for
McNabb took his team to the end zone early, taking the opening drive downfield 64 yards on eight plays finishing with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Curtis for a 7-0 lead.
The Browns answered with their only meaningful points of the game, going 63 yards on nine plays resulting with a 27-yard field goal by Phil Dawson.
The Eagles did not exactly look sharp at times while building their lead to 30-3 prompting coach Andy Reid to empty his bench for most of the fourth quarter.
On their first possession of the second quarter, the Eagles drove from their own 16-yard line to the Browns’ seven.
On third and goal, Reid called for a direct snap to rookie wide receiver DeSean Jackson who then tried to throw a touchdown pass to fellow wide receiver Hank Baskett.
After watching
The Eagles made the score 17-7 on Asante Samuel’s interception return and had with time running out in the first half, mounted another drive inside the Browns one-yard line.
With nine ticks on the clock, Reid called for a pass play that ended up in the arms of cornerback Brandon McDonald deep in the end zone.
The nightmare of the Giants game a week ago surfaced when McDonald raced 98 yards with the theft and looked like he might score when Brian Westbrook and Baskett knocked him out of bounds at the three-yard line.
The Eagles and McNabb managed the second half much better tacking on two more field goals and a 10-yard laser from McNabb to Greg Lewis, who caught the ball standing alone in the back of the end zone.
Kevin Kolb did not help his stock once again when, after entering the game with 10:05 left, proceeded to throw an interception to McDonald on the second play from scrimmage that was returned 24 yards for a touchdown.
After the win, all the talk was about getting help from
“You can’t worry about that right now,” said Reid, whose team will take on the free-falling Washington Redskins next Sunday at FedEx Field. “You take care of the things that you can control right now, and that’s playing good football. Everything else you have to put out of your mind because there is nothing you can do about it.”
Reid was asked if he would be scoreboard watching next week.
“I hope we’re looking at our scoreboard,” Reid retorted. “That’s what I want to make sure we’re doing – paying attention to the game that we’re playing. We have two very good football teams coming up here, teams that have beat us before this year. We have to make sure that we’re concentrating on the Philadelphia Eagles and nobody else.”
Reid was asked if he will offer advice to Vikings head coach Brad Childress in advance of the Vikings game with the Falcons.
“Brad and I talk every week, so I’m sure we’ll talk at some point.”
Al Thompson can be reached at al.thompson@footballstories.com.
