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Eagles wide receiver Jason Avant gives his gloves to youngsters after the Eagles' 30-10
win over the Cleveland Browns. Avant had five receptions for 101 yards for his first
career 100-yard game. It was a career high for the third year receiver. His previous
high was 5 catches for 55 yards against the Redskins the second week of last season.
The Eagles dominated Cleveland throughout the game, out-gaining the Browns 418-196
in total yardage.
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Philadelphia Eagles'
Stats Of The Week
Brandon McDonald's 98-yard INT return to end the second quarter is the third
longest ever against the Eagles, but only the second longest in the last month.
The two longer INT returns were Ed Reed's 107-yarder in Baltimore and Mike
Gaechter's 100-yarder for the Cowboys in 1962. Asante Samuel's 50-yd INT return
was his longest since he had intercepted Vinny Testaverde of the Jets in his third
NFL game and returned it 55 yards in a game at Foxboro, MA, the third week of 2003.
Eagles rookie Quintin Demps had kick returns of 39 and 27 yards and also added
his first career NFL sack in the game's final minute. The Browns averaged 2.8 yards
on 20 carries for 57 yards. This is the ninth time in 14 games the Eagles held their
opponent to 3.2 yards per carry or worse.
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McNabb's Precision Performance Helps
Lead Eagles To Dominating Win, 48-20.
This was as easy a win as a win can be without even trying. The Cleveland Browns came into
Philadelphia, their season already over and they played like the dogs they are also know by
their fans. In Fact, the Eagles gave away at least 2 TD’s and let the Browns score a
meaningless TD in trash time with the scrubs playing. A 30-10 victory was more or less a
44-3 whooping on Monday Night. And the stats don’t lie. The Eagles dominated every aspect
of the game except for special teams. The Birds doubled them Dawgs in virtually every stat;
net yards (418-196), rushing yards (134-57), passing yards (284-139) and time of possession
(38-22 minutes). Only return yards on punts (122-70) and INT returns (122-70), did
Cleveland out stat the Eagles. McNabb was only responsible for 1 of the team’s 3 INT’s.
DeSean Jackson and Kevin Kolb threw the other two. But McNabb’s only INT almost turned
into another last second disaster. With 9 seconds left in the half, the ball inside the
1-yd line and the situation was third down and goal, Andy Reid called for the fade pass
to Hank Baskett. McNabb didn’t put enough touch on the pass and the Brown’s Brandon
McDonald was in easy position to pick off the pass. McDonald then proceeded to run
down the sidelines with Westbrook and Baskett in hot pursuit. Westbrook somehow forced
the cornerback to slow just enough for Baskett to force him out of bounds at the 7-yard
line and the half ended.
The Eagles never punted the ball until late in the second half. The Eagles marched up
and down the field the entire game with Donovan McNabb at the helms. He had just that
one bad pass as he completed 26-of-35 passes for 290 passing yards and 2 TD’s. He also
completed passes to 9 different players. Not one of his drives failed to gain less than
29 yards. The first two drives ended with 10 points. McNabb took the opening kickoff
and with a mix of 9 runs/passes (4/5), moved the team right down the field in just 4:15
and capped the drive with a nice 14-yard pass for a TD to Kevin Curtis. Cleveland would
answer with a FG on an 8-play, 64-yard drive of their own. After that, it was all Eagles
as the team drove the field for 56, 77, 65 and 64 yards, respectively. While the Browns
next 3 possessions ended with 2 punts and an INT to end the half. The second half was
not much better for the Browns as they had 4 punts, 1 INT and a possession that ended
on downs. The Browns’ quarterbacks were pathetic as they completed just 11-of-29 passes
for 156 yards and 2 INT’s. They also combined for a 27.4 QB rating. The Eagles QB’s
combined for a 75.5 rating, though Donovan McNabb had a 105.7 QB rating. Both Kevin
Kolb and DeSean Jackson threw 3 passes combined and 2 INT’s.
Cleveland’s defense did play with some heart holding Westbrook to just 53 rushing yards
on 16 carries. Correll Buckhalter actually outgained the star RB with 55 rushing yards
on 6 carries. And even Eckel had 28 rushing yards on 9 carries. The Eagles offense was
only stopped by silly or stupid decisions otherwise; McNabb could have been pulled
halfway through the third quarter instead of the 4th quarter. Cleveland was no match,
who now holds an 8-5-1 record and well alive for a wild card spot in the playoffs.
They still need to win their last 2 games and need one loss by either Tampa bay or
Atlanta in their 2 remaining games. Right now, the Washington Redskins loom just 6
days away and seem like a team that has already given up too. If the offense plays
just half as good as they had in this game and the defense continues their mastery,
then next week should end up in the win column. The defense needs to keep the pressure
on the Jason Campbell and it will be an easy win. Then that would set up the grand
finale with the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams figure to be playing for that last spot
in the playoffs. But Philly still must take care of business next week against the
Redskins. Andy Reid will make sure of that too. And the mistake of this next game
would be to overlook Washington, as the Redskins are still a division foe who will
play with some pride. Make no mistake, the Redskins will put up a fight and the
Eagles must play mistake free to win. We shall see.
E-A-G-L-E-S .... EAGLES
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