Thanks to the Atlanta Falcons (the only team left in the NFC that had any realistic shot of catching the Eagles), the Philadelphia Eagles now have clinched at least a first-round bye to start the playoffs. The rest of the NFC pretenders will have to fight it out for the Wild Card. A win over the Cowboys next week or Falcons loss and the Eagles will have the home-field advantage for the third straight year. It may not mean a lot to the team, but it means a lot to all the fans in the Delaware Valley. It should be two more home games. The Eagles have now improved to 12-1, their best ever start and they could realistically finish 15-1. The only problem now is how healthy will the Birds be come the middle of January when the real games start. We especially the starring players to stay healthy, namely: Donovan McNabb, T.O., Brian Westbrook, The Freak and Dawkins. Last night, the Eagles lost Corey Simon, Hollis Thomas and Jason Short to injuries during the game. Short is finished for the season with a broken leg, Hollis has a dislocated elbow (just like Koy Detmer two seasons ago) and Simon just had back spasms and will be all right. It was later revealed that Thomas would miss from 3-6 weeks.

Most people thought that after last week, the Eagles would have a cakewalk game against the Redskins this week. The Redskins came out on a rampage and gave the Eagles a run for their money. On the opening kickoff, Ladell Betts returned the ball for 70 yards down to the Eagles 14-yard line. A face-masking penalty moved the ball down to the 7-yard line. Two plays later, Clinton Portis waltzed into the end zone untouched as Mark Simoneau over pursued on the play. Washington had an early lead in the first 46 seconds, not minutes. The Eagles struck right back, thanks in part to a 47-yard pass interference penalty on Terrell Owens, which put the ball on the 2-yard line. McNabb hit LJ Smith for the TD pass and the game was tied at 7-7. 2 touchdowns in under 3 minutes and it looked like we were off to the races. Wrong! That’s the way the score read entering the third quarter. Four plays and 2 scores and that is it until after halftime. The game quickly turned into a street brawl as both defenses but a hurting on the offenses. Michael Lewis put a huge hit on Laveranues Coles, which almost put him into tomorrow. It was amazing that he held onto the ball for a first down too. Coles had a big game, catching 12 passes for 100 yards.

Late in the first quarter, McNabb hit Todd Pinkston on a long bomb that ended as an 80-yard play. It was McNabb’s longest pass of his career. After Todd caught the pass, he lost his balance and was eventually tackled on the 4-yard line. Then Owens took a short pass and was immediately hit and he fumbled for the first time all season. Then another freak of nature event struck the Eagles late in the second quarter. The very dependable David Akers missed a 48-yard FG. It was not wide left or right, but it was short by about 12 inches. It was his first miss since Oct. 3 when he missed two 40+ FG’s in very windy conditions. Well, Philadelphia took the second half kick and drove the field 45 yards on 78 plays. A nice 26-yard pass to Westbrook setup the Eagles on the Redskin 35-yard line. The Washington defense stiffened and Akers ended kicking a 38-yard FG for the 10-7 lead.

As the third quarter wound down, Donovan McNabb engineered his best drive of the game. First he completed 2 passes to Owens for 22 yards. Then he completed another big pass for a 20-yardgain to Westbrook. Lastly, he threw a crossing pass to Greg Lewis, who ran down and was tackled on the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Dorsey Levens fell into the end zone and the Eagles lead was now 17-7. Levens only had 3 carries all game and gained zero yards, but he did have the one touchdown run. His counterpart in Brian Westbrook finished the day with 108 total yards, but only had 18 touches. He normally was getting around 25. It sure seemed as though the Eagles were on cruise control, until he threw up an ill-advised pass, which was tipped and intercepted by Shawn Springs. Four plays and 51 yards later, Clinton Portis scored his second TD from 2 yards out. This cut the lead to 17-14 and set up an exciting climax to the game. Late in the fourth quarter, Redskins QB Patrick Ramsey had moved the team down for a potentially go ahead lead, but he too tried to force the issue. He threw a pass in the corner of the end zone, which was caught by Brian Dawkins for his 4th INT of the season and third in consecutive games. After 3 plays and out, the Eagles were forced to punt from deep in their own territory. It was Dirk Johnson’s great 51-punt and no return by James Thrash that put the ball on the Redskins own 25-yard line. Then Darwin Walker iced the game with a big sack for a 10-yard loss. The Eagles won a close hard fought game, which will serve them well as this was their tightest victory since the OT win in Cleveland. But a win is a win and the Eagles have their best record ever at 12-1 and cruising towards that ultimate goal of making the Super Bowl.