Game of the Week

Redskins 17 Eagles 14

The eyes of the NFL world were on Philadelphia this Sunday to watch the return of Donovan McNabb.  There were questions from a number of people, including me, to how the locals would greet the returning QB, and I'm glad to say the Eagles fans were very classy.  I wrote an article before the game on Sunday highlighting just what McNabb had done for the Eagles in his 11 year career there, and I was very happy to hear the cheers for him as he was announced before the game.  The Philly crowd is a notoriously tough one, but well done Eagles fans!!  There were embraces between McNabb and many of his former teammates, notably a big hug from opposing QB Micheal Vick, before kickoff also.

Once the game started of course, the Eagles fans jumped down McNabb's throat, and the boos rained in.  The Redskins though, started really fast, and were hitting hard.  The first TD of the day came on a 12 yard run by Ryan Torain, who ran through Eagles S Quintin Mikell on his way to the endzone.  This bull dozing run from Torain summed up just what kind of mood the Redskins were in, and before the Eagles could figure out what was happening McNabb found TE Chris Cooley for 31 yards, and a 14 - 0 lead after 1.

The Eagles opened the 2nd quarter with a 49 yard FG, following good play from Vick with both his arm, and his legs.  Vick though did get injured on this drive as he had a 23 yard scramble, and as he dived for the line he got sandwiched by 2 Redskins defenders.  This collision caused a rib injury, and kept Vick out for the rest of the game.  The Redskins though went straight back down the field, including a McNabb 57 yard bomb to WR Anthony Armstrong, and added a FG of their own from 26 yards making it 17 - 3.  Kevin Kolb, the QB that the Eagles chose over McNabb came into the game.  On his first play from scrimmage Kolb fumbled the snap, but luckily managed to recover the ball himself.  The Eagles then slowly moved down the field and added another FG, to make the game 17 - 6 at half time.

The 3rd quarter was littered with mistakes.  McNabb had a pass for Joey Galloway INT by Eagles rookie S Nate Allen,  LeSean McCoy had the ball knocked out of his hands as he ran towards the goal line, so the score remained 17 - 6 going into the 4th.  The Redskins managed to run a lot of the clock down in the 4th before finally Kolb and the Eagles offence got a chance to put point on the board with around 7.30 to go.  The Eagles went no huddle, and marched down the field before Kolb found TE Brent Celek with a 5 yard TD pass.  The Eagles, now trailing 17 - 12, decided to go for a 2 point conversion, in order to make it a FG (3 point) game.  The attempt failed, so the Redskins had a TD lead with just 4 minutes left in the game.  The Redskins dug in and kept the ball for around 3 minutes, but Kolb and the Eagles offence had one last chance, with 1.07 on the clock.  With the help of a couple of laterals, Kolb got the Eagles to the 32 and had one last chance.  Kolb bought time and heaved the ball into the endzone.  The ball went straight into the hands of WR Jason Avant, but he couldn't hold on, and Redskins CB DeAngelo Hall INT the tipped ball, and the Redskins had the win. 

This must have been a very sweet moment for McNabb.  His new Redskins team had understood just what this game meant to him, and had raised their game to help him get the 'W'.   He had shown the Eagles organisation just what they were missing, and now with Vick injured, do you reckon the would take him back if they could?