Now the rest of the country knows about Donovan McNabb that we all here in Philadelphia already knew. He knows how to lead his team to a last minute victory. He did it twice last year, against both the Cowboys and the Steelers. He did it once this year against these same New York Giants on a Monday Night game in the Meadowlands. Now, with the NFC Eastern Division at stake, he did it again. Donovan McNabb got the ball back with 2:43 left right after the Giants Ron Dayne rolled to the endzone on a 16 yard rush. The Giants went for two and converted, giving them a 21-14 lead. The first 2 plays went for incompletions, but on the second, the Giants Short was called for pass interference giving the Birds an automatic first down at the Eagles 33 yard line. Next play went incomplete again, but then McNabb hit rookie Freddie Mitchell for 15 yards to the Giants 44 yard line. Donovan then rushed himself up the middle for a quick 5 at the 2 minute warning. Thrash was the next recipient and was pushed out of bounds, but not before he caught the ball at the Giants 7 yard line. The next play went to Chad Lewis for his second touchdown of the game and a David Akers extra point knotted the score at 21-21.

The Giants started at their own 26, but had 1:49 left and all 3 timeouts. Four plays later on the punt, Brian Mitchell fair caught the ball at his own 30 yard line. Donovan had only 58 seconds and 2 timeouts left. More than enough time to try to win the game in regulation. He completed a 25 yard pass to James Thrash to the New York 46 yard line. Second timeout called with 45 seconds left. McNabb then hit Todd Pinkston for 9 yards, followed by a Donovan McNabb quarterback sneak for the first down at the Giants 33 yard line. But on the play, Michael Strahan held McNabb to the ground for an extra 5 seconds and was called for the Delay of Game penaly stopping the clock with 21 seconds left. Very foolish penalty to take considering the circumstances and what was at stake. On the next play, McNabb could not find any open receivers, so he took off and gained 11 yards, and called for timeout with 11 seconds left. It was left up to David Akers to win it from 35 yards out. He made two game winning field goals just like this in OT, both last year against the 2 forementioned teams listed above. In the words of Eagles radio announcer, Merrill Reese, "It's Goooooooooooooooooood!!!!!" All the Eagles had to do now was to squibb kick the ball down the field so some lineman had to handle the ball and run out the clock. But David Akers kicked it into the endzone, giving the Giants 1 more offensive play.

These two teams have a memorable history with several miracles still fresh in our minds. The first, I will never forget. Eagles were losing with 1:23 left and all the Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik had do was kneel down. On the first play, New York ran fullback Larry Csonka up the middle for a surprising 11-yard gain. Quarterback Joe Pisarcik took a knee on the next play, but Philadelphia linebacker Frank LeMaster bowled over center Jim Clack. With only 25 seconds left, the Giants broke the huddle and lined up, Edwards actually was talking to New York running back Doug Kotar, who said his team was just going to flop on the ball. Edwards' play of infamy was seconds away. It was a poor snap that Pisarcik failed to handle and it was Herm Edwards who scooped up the ball and ran it in for an improbable 19-17 win. The win also helped spark the way for a trip to the playoffs where they lost to the Atlanta Falcons, when the Eagles punter who replaced the injured Eagles kicker, botched a last second game winning field goal from like 30 yards out. Only 3 years ago, the tables were turned when the Giants came back from 14 points down late in the 4th quarter to tie and send the game into OT. In OT, Michael Strahan blocked a Ty Detner pass, ended up catching the pass and went the distance for the game winning touchdown. Now back to the present. You would of thought that the Giants would simply throw up the Hail Mary. But instead, Kerry Collins threw a short pass over the middle to Tiki Barber who ran until two Eagle defenders converged on him. At the last possible moment, he flipped the ball to Ron Dixon who proceeded down the left sideline and at the 5 yard line was tackled by Dameone Douglas, finally giving the Philadelphia Eagles their first Eastern Division crown since 1988.

The Eagles dominated the first half, but only led 7-0 going into halftime. The Giants chipped away in the 3rd quarter, taking 10-7 lead on a Morten Anderson 25 yard field goal. The wind had a lot to do with Donovan McNabb's accuracy in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. But right at the start of the 4th quarter and the wind at his back, he hit James Thrash in stride for a 57 yard touchdown. That gave the Birds a 14-10 lead. The Giants Anderson chipped in another 3 points with a 32 yard field goal. Then the Giants running game hit into 4th gear and steamed to a 21-14 lead. The rest is history. Donovan McNabb had his finest day against the team that had dominated him the most. McNabb completed 21 of 39 passes for 270 yards along with 3 TD's. Though the Eagles running game gained 113 yards, McNabb had 48 of them. And for once this year, it was not the defense which won the game for the Birds. It was the legs and arm of Donovan McNabb who helped the Eagles clinch the division over the New York Giants. Hopefully this will be only one chapter in a season marred mostly by poor offense and an awesome defense. Next up, is a meaningless road game in Tampa. Then the Eagles will face those same Bucaneers in Philadelphia the following weekend. It will be cold and probally windy, a recipe that has haunted the Bucs since their inception into the NFL in the mid 70's. They are now 0-20 when the temperature falls below 40 degrees. That should setup a date in Chicago the following week if Chicago does in fact win the Central Division. All they need is a win at home against the Jaguars or a Packers loss versus the Giants. The Rams should get the home field advantage throughout the playoffs as they finish the season hosting the Atlanta Falcons.