How did the Eagles win this game? Almost every stat says they should of lost. They were outrushed, 178-125 yards. They were outgained, 305-201 yards. The Eagles even lost the turnover battle, 4-1. They even lost in time of possession, 32 to 28 minutes. “It wasn’t the prettiest thing, obviously,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “There were too many penalties… We’re going backward at times faster than we’re going forward.” One reason why the Eagles won because the St. Louis Rams committed 8 false starts, even in their own friendly dome. You ask, how did that happen? The Rams are decimated as badly as the men in white and green. The main reason why the Eagles won was the only turnover committed by the Rams turned into 7 points and a 17-16 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Rams came gunning out, like almost every Eagles opponent driving the field after the opening kickoff. They simply were running it down the defense’s throats. But the 69-yard drive stalled as the Eagles defense tightened its chinstraps forcing a 26-yard FG by Jeff Wilkins and an early 3-0 lead for the Rams. Philadelphia struck right back with another 59-yard TD run by rookie Ryan Moats. Moats had another positive game, rushing 12 times for 78 yards. Early in the second quarter, a terrible mistake by Mike McMahon gave the lead back to St. Louis. This time, Pisa Tinoisamoa picked off a pass from the Eagles 5-yard line and ran it in for a 10-7 lead. The Rams extended their lead to 16-7 on two more Wilkins’ FG’s. The first with 6:13 left in the half made it 13-7 from 53 yards out. Then after a Lamar Gordon fumble on the Eagles 37-yard line, Wilkins eventually kicked his third successful FG from 28 yards out. With just 3 minutes left in the third quarter, the Eagles David Akers added a FG himself. The 31-yard FG made the score 16-10.

At the end of the third quarter, the Rams started to move the ball again. On a 3rd-and-10 play, the Eagles Jevon Kearse forced Rams QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to overthrow his receiver. The ball was intercepted by Brian Dawkins, who then returned the ball 24 yards to the St. Louis 28-yard line. Six plays later with the Eagles facing third-and-goal from the 3-yard line, McMahon found a wide-open Mike Bartrum for the touchdown. Bartrum has caught only 2 passes all season long, both for touchdowns (the other was against Kansas City). When Bartrum catches a pass, the pass usually results in a TD and an Eagles victory. Well the defense came alive and had one more trick up its sleeve. The Rams were on the move, but had the ball at the Eagles 37-yard line with fourth down looming. With Steven Jackson out of the game, Marshall Faulk was then called upon to try and pick up the first down. Faulk finished the game with 87 yards rushing on just 16 carries. So you figure he would get the easy 1-yard for the first down. Eagles linebacker Dhani Jones anticipated the play and stopped Faulk dead in his tracks. The Eagles would have to stop the Rams one more time on fourth down with only 53 seconds left, but Matt Ware forced an incompletion and the Eagles raised their record to 6-8. With just 2 games left, they still could finish at .500, not bad for a last place team. They travel to the Arizona desert on Christmas Eve. I think they’ll win this game and come home to face the Redskins to end the season.