It was unofficially a day that should now be called, “Flag Day”. The Eagles and Saints combined for 26 for 272 total penalty yards. The 272 yards were the most ever involving a game with the Eagles. The preveious record of 262 yards had stood for almost 51 years. “It got to the point where it got ridiculous,” linebacker Carlos Emmons said. “We were like, ‘man, is there a flag on every play?’’ Maybe they saw something we didn’t see.” Excessive flag throwing against both teams ruined the game. Do you think these refs will get to call any post-season games? NOT! Linebacker Ike Reese added, “Every time you looked around, a flag was thrown. They just kept throwing. Their arms ought to be tired.” The Philadelphia Eagles won 33-20 despite all the penalties and being outgained once again, 466 to 448 yards. They won the game even though they allowed Deuce McAllister to rush for 183 yards on only 19 carries. They won because they did not turn the ball over once, while the defense caused 3 fumbles to be lost. The Eagles scored points on 5 of their first 6 possessions. On the other hand, the Saints; fumbled 3 times, gave the ball up on downs and scored only 1 TD on their first 6 possessions. The Eagles, though giving up large chucks of yards throughout the afternoon were still in total control of the game. You never felt as though the New Orleans Saints would ever come back to win this game.

After giving up all those yards, you wonder how could these Eagles be tied for the best NFC record with the Cowboys, Panthers and Rams? There is only one obvious reason. Donovan McNabb! After a poor start to the season, McNabb has come back with a vengeance. He completed passes to 10 different passes for 259 passing yards. He completed 16 of his 25 passes and added 54 rushing yards, threw 1 TD pass to Jon Ritchie and had no INT’s. His QB rating over the last 4 games is averaging 107.5. Donovan McNabb is getting plenty support from what is now being called the “3-Headed Monster”. A trio of running backs: Duce Staley, Correll Buckhalter and Brian Westbrook combined for 250 total yards. The Eagles as a team out-rushed the Saints 201 to 199 yards. Duce Staley had a fabulous game, rushing 8 times for 77 yards and added another 36 yards on 2 catches. Brian Westbrook led all receivers with 3 catches and 47 yards with 1 rushing TD. But even with all the penalties and yardage, the Eagles still overcame all these negatives with their sixth straight win. The defense did however force 4 total fumbles, recovering 3 of them. In the end, the Eagles were really the better team as they did not turnover the ball once. In most games, the team that wins the turnover ratio wins the game.

The Eagles were not to be denied on this afternoon as Donovan McNabb drove the Birds 67 yards on 8 plays to setup David Akers for an easy chip shot. He made the 36-yard FG and the Eagles led 3-0. New Orleans proceeded on a long drive of their own, driving 83 yards before Aaron Brooks fumbled the handoff and the Eagles Troy Vincent recovered the ball. McNabb engineered another drive with Brian Westbrook scoring on a nice 15-yard run, increasing the lead to 10-0. The Saints made way too many mistakes to keep up with the high-octane offense led by Donovan McNabb. He led another TD drive with only 2:38 left in the half to give Philly a 20-7 lead. The Eagles came out of the second half moving the ball relentlessly downfield setting up another easy Akers’ FG. After another fumble by the Saints, McNabb drove the team on one more TD drive, increasing the lead to 20 points when he hit Ritchie on a short rollout pass in the end zone. Ritchie still does not have 1 carry, but has 2 TD’s on passes. The Eagles travel to Carolina next week, which this week lost to the Cowboys in Dallas 20-17. This figures to have home field advantage implications as both teams enter the game at 8-3. The 8-3 Cowboys will host the Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day. Then on December 7, the Cowboys and Eagles will meet in a much-anticipated rematch at Lincoln Financial Field. It will be showdown time the next 2 weeks, but the Eagles will take it only 1 game at a time. If they can win in Carolina, then the rest of the NFC better be beware of the Eagles as they are on target to reaching the NFC Championship Game three times in a row. Hopefully, thereafter they will travel to Houston!