What was the Monday night marquee match up? Was it Randy Moss vs. Terrell Owens? Or was it Daunte Culpepper vs. Donovan McNabb? If you guessed either of the first choices, I would say that you were wrong. I would say that the marquee match up was between the Minnesota Vikings team and the Philadelphia Eagles team. The team in green is declared the winner by a score of 27-16. Both superstar wide receivers caught their TD pass, but on a whole, both were rather quiet. But the two superstar QB’s were great. Culpepper threw more passes, hence won the statistical battle. The overall battle goes to number 5 in a big way. Culpepper completed 78.7% of his passes, throwing 37 for 47 and 343 yards. His counterpart in McNabb 19 of 28 for 245 yards and a completion rate of 70%. Unbelievable on both QB’s. Both were phenomenal. The difference is basically the most important stat when it comes to the QB rating. McNabb threw for 2 TD’s and no INT’s. Culpepper only threw 1 TD pass, but also threw an interception and fumbled three times, giving the ball away at the most inopportune time. McNabb also scored another touchdown on his 20-yard gallop early in the third quarter, which just about put away the Vikings. Daunte Culpepper’s fumble occurred right before the half as he was fighting to get into the end zone on a QB draw. The fumble probably sealed the Vikings fate for the evening. Minnesota never really challenged the Eagles in the second half. Who was responsible for the most of the mayhem on the Eagles defense, but no other than Jevon Kearse? Kearse was everywhere including playing the QB spy on Culpepper the whole second quarter. He was even credited with his first Eagle sack when he forced Culpepper out of bounds for no gain on a play in the 2nd quarter. Jevon Kearse was also the choice for player of the game by ABC’s John Madden. His picture was put on the horse wagon.

The Minnesota Vikings and Culpepper took the game’s opening kickoff and drove the field for 50 yards on 8 plays. The Eagles defense stiffened and stopped the Vikings from getting into the end zone. It was Kearse who hit Culpepper on third down causing the incompletion. The ageless Morten Anderson came and kicked a 42-yard FG. Can you believe, the 45-year old kicker tied George Blanda’s NFL record with 340 games played? The Eagles on the other hand, took their first possession and drove the field 72 yards on 11 plays. McNabb hit LJ Smith for his second TD of the season. The Vikings took the ensuing kickoff and drove straight down the field again. But with first and goal, the Eagles defense stopped the Vikes three straight times. They first stuffed RB Onterrio Smith twice and on third down, Brian Dawkins tripped up Culpepper on the 2-yard line, forcing Minnesota to kick another FG. Anderson was good again from 19 yards. Then it was the Eagles turn to follow suit. The Eagles ended up settling for a 37-yard Akers FG to make the score 10-6. Four possessions and four scores to open the floodgates. Well, almost. The game settled down a little as nobody else scored in the first half. Daunte Culpepper had another chance to give Minnesota the lead though, but had the ball ripped from his arms by Nate Wayne just before the half ended. The ball was recovered by Brian Dawkins on the 3-year yard. That play possibly cost the Vikings any chance of winning this one.

Philly came out of second half on fire. McNabb to Ritchie for 11 yards. McNabb to LJ Smith for 5 more yards. Westbrook up the middle for 6 and another first down. Then, it was a lateral to Freddie Mitchell who was supposed to pass it downfield. He held and ran to his right flipping the ball forward to McNabb for an apparent first down. It was ruled an illegal pass due to the QB lining up directly under center, making McNabb an ineligible receiver. Two plays later, it was McNabb with another brilliant run for a 20-yard TD run and he celebrated with a Moon Dance. 17-6 Eagles. This drive was all set up with a great kickoff return of 46 yards by rookie J.R. Reed. In between his next big return, T.O. and Moss traded touchdown receptions. Though, Owens TD catch was debatable. After Culpepper’s only TD pass of the game to make the score 24-16, Reed returned another kickoff for 43 yards to the Minnesota 47-yard line .A little maneuvering and 2:21 later, David Akers successfully kicked a 47-yard FG to increase the Eagles lead to 11 points. Most people would consider a FG at this juncture of the game a gamble. Not Andy Reid. Especially when you one of the game’s best money kickers in Akers. That put the lead at 27-16 with only 1:11 left in the game. Two plays later, Ike Reese ended any comeback with his first career interception. The Eagles are now 2-0 and on the right path to success. Their one and only goal is to play in Jacksonville in early February.