Caught Looking Ahead: Eagles Grind Out Win In Week 4

To many schedule watchers, week 4 of the NFL schedule was looked at as the calm before Terrell Owens and Dallas Cowboys storm. It screamed of a possible trap game for the Philadelphia Eagles who could easily underestimate a bad Green Bay Packers team and get caught up looking to division rival Dallas in their future.

In the first half, the feared lackadaisical effort from the Eagles became a reality. The Eagles made crucial mental mistakes on scoring opportunities and showed little to no intensity. In the second half, the Eagles were woken up by a long touchdown pass to Greg Lewis, which shifted momentum and turned the game in the Eagles favor. They eventually took the game as easily as predicated, 31-9.

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Donovan McNabb
For Donovan McNabb, this season is on pace to be one of his most successful of his career. Minus the cancerous TO, many experts believe McNabb will need to be the MVP of the NFC for the Eagles to have a chance at the Super Bowl. Against the Green Bay Packers, Donovan was nothing short of fantastic. A low intensity Eagles team showed up Monday night against the Packers and it was McNabb who had to jump start them after the half. Rushing for the Eagles’ only touchdown of the first half, he threw for two more and then rushed for his second touchdown in the second half, which cemented the blowout win.   This was Donovan’s first career dual rushing touchdown game, and considering his talent and ability to use his feet to put up points, this fact is somewhat surprising.

Greg Lewis
Greg Lewis’ status with the Eagles was in question with the addition of Donte’ Stallworth in the beginning of the season.  He is a very suitable third receiver, when not asked to do too much, Lewis has proved he can be a very formidable weapon. Dropping a few passes in his limited attempts to produce in the first few weeks, Lewis took the reigns in the second half after an unfortunate injury to Stallworth, and scored not one but two touchdowns. Having only one career touchdown coming into the game, Lewis took two out of Monday night; he gave the Eagles what they needed, a depth player to step up and make plays.

Eagles’ Secondary
With Lito Sheppard and Roderick Hood plagued with injures, it was up to Joselio Hansen and Dexter Wynn to stop a hall of fame quarterback from picking them apart. A week prior, Brett Favre had a field day against the Detroit Lions’ banged up secondary, throwing for three touchdown passes. The same was feared to happen to the Eagles. Contrary to possibility, the Eagles secondary played extremely well, bagging two interceptions and not allowing the Packer receivers to make big plays.

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Correll Buckhalter
With Brian Westbrook deemed unsuitable to play just minutes before the game with a knee injury, it was suddenly Correll Buckhalter’s time to shine to a national audience. By having the spotlight thrust on him rather quickly, Buckhalter admitted after the game that his nerves had caught up with him because this was his first start in more than two years. Buckhalter fumbled twice — both times in the red zone, though one was accredited to a muffed hand off by McNabb. He also appeared to not have a firm grasp on the ball on other plays, which forced coach Andy Reid to put in the also mistake prone Ryan Moats. He surprised all and carried the ball well, helping the Eagles wake up in the second half.

Defensive Line
The Eagles defensive line has been one of the best in the NFL in the first 3 weeks. Many predicted the line to have a incredible game, against the Packer’s weak Offensive line, and force Favre into turnovers. What many fans considered a poor effort by the line, may not have been as bad as they thought even though they recorded no sacks. For most of the game, Favre used a quick three step drop to avoid the Eagles blitz and pass rush. This quick drop and pass made it appear as if the Eagles were not finding much success pressuring Favre, when they simply did not have the time to. Later in the game the Eagles line started to win the battles and pressured Brett into making mistakes. They were just 3 quarters too late.

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The second the Green Bay game ended, attention was immediately put on the return of Terrell Owens in a Dallas Cowboys uniform to Philadelphia. The Cowboys were coming off an impressive win against a terrible Tennessee Titans team, a team to reckon with in the NFC. Like other immobile quarterbacks, Dallas quarterback Drew Bledsoe will make costly mistakes if the Eagles can manage to put consistent pressure on him. If this game turns into a shoot out, this will be where the hamstring injury to Donte’ Stallworth (that is rumored to keep him out two weeks) will be felt the most. The Eagles do not have the weapons to match Dallas in a gun blazing shootout — but with tact and good coaching they could pull out a win.

Either way, let the media spectacle begin.

Photo by AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy