When you think of the two-minute drill, you think of John Elway, Dan Marino or even Joe Montana. All these guys are now retired and are either enshrined or will be enshrined very shortly into the NFL's "Hall of Fame" in Canton, Ohio. Well, the NFL now has a possible forth name to add to the list if he continues to excel at the two minute offense. Yes, he is only 24 years old in his second season. But in reality, this is his first full season as a starting QB in the NFL. His name is Donovan McNabb. Now along with Tampa Bay, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Washington, all has seen his magic late in the half or even better, late in the game as he orchestrates an Eagles offense the length of the field to either tie, win or give the Eagles the lead over their opponent. He did it again with only a little over a minute and half in the first half. First he passed 3 times to Brian Mitchell for 3 first downs. Then with only 17 seconds left, he scrambled out of the pocket and then threw a laser down the middle to Charles Johnson who sprinted down to the 5 yard line before he was tackled from behind. This set the stage for the Eagles 2nd TD with a first and goal play on the 5 yard line. The pass was a perfect missile to Na Brown standing in the corner of the endzone. The Eagles led 14-3 at this point and never really looked back again as Tampa Bay could not muster any sort of offense in the second half until late in the forth quarter when the game was out of reach.

The game started out as a war between defenses in the first quarter, where both teams looked hapless as both defenses controlled the action, though Donovan completed most of his passes and even got the Eagles some first downs. When the teams switched fields after the first quarter, the winds were in the Eagles faces. Tampa managed a drive down the field mostly on the legs of Michael Alstott who rushed for 42 yards on 7 carries in the first half, but had none in the second half. Even worst, was Warrick Dunn's output. He finished the day with 8 carries and 1 measley yard. On Tampa's drive, the Eagles defense tightened up and forced the Bucs to kick a field goal. Tampa led 3-0 and that was it for anymore scores on the day. The last time a Philadelphia team held a team without a touchdown was in the 1949 NFL Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams which the Eagles won 14-0. Tampa had one opportunity late in the forth quarter, but on 4th down and 4 inside the Eagles 20 yard line, Troy Vincent knocked down the pass to seal the deal.

After the Bucs FG, the Eagles went 3 and out and settled for another punt. Shaun King immediately threw a pass to Keyshawn Johnson for a quick first down. Then it was Damon Moore who met Warrick Dunn on first down just as he was handed the ball. Net result, -5 yards. Second down. Carlos Emmons repeated the feat, net result was again -4 yards. So on 3rd and 19, you just knew that Tampa would try a pass. The only problem was that poor Warrick Dunn was stuck blocking Hugh Douglas. It was like a mack truck speeding along at 50 mph hitting a motor scooter. Douglas continued until he smashed Shaun King from behind who never had a chance. The result was a fumble and recovery by Mike Mamula. Donovan McNabb escaped the pocket and scrambled 11 yards to the Buc 5-yard line. On third and goal on the five, Andy Reid called the QB draw and Donovan like always was unstoppable as he lunged into the endzone to give the Birds a 7-3 lead and sent the already crazed fans into a feeding frenzy which lasted all the way till the last seconds withered away in the forth quarter. The Eagle' fans were truely the 12th man on the field as they helped the players raise their level of play to completely and totally dominate a Bucs team picked by many experts to be playing Jan 28 at Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXV. This was not Tampa's game at all. Instead it was a total team effort of the men in midnight green and they reveled in it all game long.

At the start of the second half, the Birds drove the ball all the way down the field, basically stuffing it down their throats with Chris Warren leading the way with his legs. Even though, David "Green" Akers missed a 36 yard FG largely to a very gusty wind, the Eagles held the ball for over 8 minutes. Tampa went 3 and out. Donovan McNabb again led the offense down the field and just one minute into the forth quarter, McNabb found Jeff Thomason over the middle in the endzone for the third Eagles touchdown. Score: 21-3. GAME. SET. SEASON OVER for the Bucs. The Eagles defense simply outplayed the Bucs time and time again, rushed Shaun King with a blitz here and a blitz there. Tampa was held to only 199 total yards, with over 100 yards of their offense coming in the last 10 minutes of the game when it was all but over. The weather was not much of a factor as was the Eagles defense and Donovan McNabb. McNabb completed passes to 10 different receivers and the Eagles as a team rushed for 126 yards compared to the Bucs 50. Total defeat came as the Eagles 3 corners, Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor and Al Harris refused to give Keyshawn and the other Buc's receivers any room to maneuver basically the entire game. They knocked down pass after pass or forced the receiver to drop the pass. The Eagles rush on QB Shaun King was like the Noreaster that hit the area the other day, they came in wave after wave and never gave Shaun King the chance to get any rhtymn at all.