Eight total turnovers and an unprecedent three interceptions by Donovan McNabb highlighted the game along with the Eagles redzone defense. Every time Washington moved within the redzone, that vaunted NFL's best inside the 20 defense would take over. They sacked, forced interceptions and dropped passes and even missed field goals on the Redskins offense. Brian Dawkins had two second half INT's himself along with 6 tackles. As of now, there should be four Eagles going to the Pro Bowl on defense alone: Brian Dawkins, Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor and Jeremiah Trotter. They form the core of the NFL's best pass defense. No team has scored more than 10 points on the road versus the Eagles. They have only given up 2 total touchdowns all season on the road and have a 6-0 record to show for it, best in the NFL. They have now won 8 in a row on the road, the longest streak since the 49ers had 18 in a row back in the late eighties. The Eagles next opponent is the San Francisco 49ers at 3Com Park on Saturday.

The day started out with a very familar tone to it. Remember the last time these two teams played, McNabb had his worst day of his young career when he threw for a total of only 92 pasing yards. He again started 1 for 6 with most of the misses either in the dirt or over the head of the intended receiver. Then as quick as you can turn on the lights, he led the team 66 yards on 11 plays for the games' first touchdown. The drive climatically closed with a short 4-yard catch to a rolling Freddie Mitchell. It was his first as a professional in the NFL. He also showed his first touchdown dance too. David Akers also kicked a 40-yard field goal right before halftime which gave the Eagles a 10-6 lead. It should of been at best a 10-10 tie. Bobby Taylor was beat bad by Rob Gardner who caught a Tony Banks pass and ran straight for the endzone. It was the hussle of Brian Dawkins who caught and tackled him on the seven yard line. The Eagles defense once again refused to give in to the Redskins and forced another Brett Conway field goal of 25 yards. Brett Conway had a shaky game again, converting only 2 of 4 field goal attempts. David Akers, his counterpart made both of his field goals: a 40 yarder in the 2nd quarter and a 50 yarder in the 4th. David Akers has now converted 16 straight field goal and only missed 2 all year. Another Pro Bowl Candidate?

The story of the game of course was the Philadelphia defense which once again came up big time after time. Even with four total turnovers and 3 of them deep in their own territory, the Redskins still failed to score anything other than 2 lousy field goals and 6 total points. In the 4th quarter in particular, McNabb was intercepted on the 30-yard line by that old wiley veteran Darrell Green who had his first INT of the year. That one INT, also gave him the the longest streak of consecutive years with at least 1 interception. That streak reached 19 years on that play. The Redskins drove the ball down inside the 20 and the defense held strong on a 4th and 11 play from the 21 yard line. If that wasn't enough test for the defense, after just 3 plays, Bruce Smith stole the ball as he ripped it straight out of Duce Staley's arms. Washington again was in prime position to score points. Again, the Eagles defense held like a brick wall. Tony Banks even completed a pass to Michael Westbrook for a 27-yard catch down to the 1 yard line. Next play, the Redskins ran Stephen Davis right up the middle for a 1-yard loss. On the next play, N.D. Kalu broke loose and rushed Tony Banks forcing his throw straight to Brian Dawkins, who caught the ball and fell to the ground. Game over. This time Donovan and company did not relinquish the ball until the clock read 0:00.

Now that the Eagles are 9-4 and are in perfect position to win the East Division, it is time to discuss the playoffs. With 1 more victory or one Giant loss, the Eagles will in fact clinch their first title since 1988. They currently hold a 3 game lead on both New York and Washington. The Eagles should and will get at least 1 home game in January. Best bet as Eagles fans now is to root for the Green Bay Packers to win their division and/or the Saints to win tonight against the Rams. Both the Rams and Bears hold the tiebreaker on the Eagles. The Rams of course won the opening game in Philly in OT, 20-17. While the Bears have a current 6-0 record in common opponents versus the Eagle who now have a 3-2 record. If the Eagles were to win out, they would be 12-4 with a 9-3 conference record. To get one of the byes, we need the Bears to finish tied with us and the Packers or for the Bears to lose at least 2 games. For overall home field advantage, we would also need the Rams to lose 2 more games in the conference. Of course this is all dependent on Philly winning out. Next week could be their last real test. If they win, the Giants will be eliminated from the Division race and most likely the wild card race, espeically if they also lose to improving Seahwaks.