The Philadelphia Eagles won their third straight game and 5 out of 6. They defeated the lowly Atlanta Falcons 23-16, Sunday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The Falcons are now 1-7, losing their seventh in a row after beating the Cowboys in the opener. Atlanta coach, Dan Reeves still has 199 career wins. The game itself was a tale of two halves, though the Eagles did get off to a fast start scoring the games' first 10 points. On the opening kickoff, ex-Eagle Allen Rossum fumbled the kick and Sean Morey recovered it at the Falcons 21-yard line. David Akers kicked a 21-yard FG after the offense bogged again in the red zone. The Falcons proceeded to then drive the length of the field only to have Lito Sheppard intercept a Kurt Kittner pass at the 2-yard line. He returned the ball out to the Philadelphia 36-yard line. Nine plays and 64 yards later, McNabb and the Eagles had a 10-0 lead. The TD catch was thrown to Freddie Mitchell, alias "First Down Freddie", snagged a short pass a ran it in from 37 yards out. It was also the first Eagles TD reception by a wideout all year long. The previous 7 games, the receiver corps had zero TD catches to show for themselves. The rest of the half produced nothing as the 1-6 Falcons scored 13 straight points to take a 13-10 halftime lead. They also outgained the Eagles 163 yards to 127, while recording 16 first downs in the process.

At the half, it was rumored that Andy Reid said more than the usual in the locker room. In the meantime, some of the players also spoke out in response to the poor play. Defensive end Corey Simon in particular spoke out at the defense as they allowed the lowly Atlanta Falcons to rush for 111 yards alone in the first half. The Eagles came out very flat and if not for a great play by Ike Reese as he tripped up Allen Rossum inside the 5-yard line, Atlanta probably would be leading 17-10. The Eagles defense came out on fire in the second half, holding the hapless Falcons to only 20 yards rushing the rest of the way. N.D. Kalu said, "We came out in the second half with a different attitude. We just all decided we were not going to go home losers." After the kickoff, the Eagles drove the ball downfield, but stalled in the red zone. Akers tied the game from 25 yards out. Later on though, Akers had a FG blocked by Ed Jasper. The Eagles defense kept stifling the Atlanta offense time after time. Finally, coach Reeves replace Kittner at QB, who finished the game 11-of-18 and 78 yards with Doug Johnson. Johnson did not fare any better as he completed 5 of 10 passes for 86 yards. The Falcons counterpart in Donovan McNabb had a great game, completing 21-of-33 passes, a 64% completion rate. He also threw for 312 yards with 1 TD an no INT's. McNabb finished with a 104.6 passer rating, his highest this season. It was also his first 300-yard passing game since Sept. 9, 2001.

Even against the NFL's worst pass defense and a secondary that was being benched for the game, McNabb looked comfortable for the first time all year long. He connected with rookie tight end L.J. Smith 6 times for 97 yards, including a pair of catches for 64 yards on the game-winning TD drive in the fourth quarter. If he continues to improve like this, Philadelphia could go a long way through the playoffs as McNabb has done so in the past. With Brian Westbrook still injured from the last game, Correll Buckhalter once again proved his worth rushing for 92 yards on 23 carries, with 78 of them coming in the second half. Duce Staley added 22 yards and finished the last TD drive with a 4-yard TD run. David Akers and Jay Feely traded field goals to complete the scoring. The Eagles won 23-16 going away, but it was sloppy. But in today's NFL, a win is a win no matter how you look. Donovan McNabb looked like his old self and if the defense can healthy, this team could be a team to reckon with come December and January.