Did anyone remember And Reid’s record after a bye-week? Playoffs or regular season! Well, how about his record in the NFC Divisional playoff round? As for the latter, he is now 4-1 with the only loss coming during the 2000 playoffs against the Giants. The Eagles now have beaten the Bears, Falcons, Packers and Vikings in that order (2001 to 2005 seasons). As for his record after the bye-week, he is now 9-0, an all-time NFL record! The Eagles defeated an over-whelmed Minnesota Vikings team 27-14 at Lincoln Financial Field in front of 67,722 crazed Eagles fans. It was really never in doubt even as Philly only out-gained the Vikes in total yards: 395 to 385. Minnesota won the time of possession again as they did in the Monday night game, but this game was not ever close. The score at the half read 21-7 and it felt as though the Eagles were playing the “kill the clock” game in the second half. The score could have been more like 38-17, if not for some untimely mistakes by the offense.

Right from the start, the Philadelphia Eagles seemed on the right track towards victory over the men in purple. The defense stepped up and forced the Vikings to punt after 3 plays. Though the Eagles did not get going on their first possession, you could see that McNabb did have much rust as he threw three straight times to open the game. The second time the Eagles got the ball, McNabb completed 4 of 6 passes and drove the team on a 4:34 TD drive which ended with a short touchdown pass as he rolled out to his right and threw the pass to Freddie Mitchell. The next drive only took 3:57 to raise the score to 14-0. He completed passes to Freddie and Westbrook before he heaved a long bomb downfield. The pass was caught by Greg Lewis for a huge 52-yard gain. Two plays later, McNabb connected with Westbrook again over the middle for a 7-yard TD reception. It all started looking too easy as the fans were singing “Fly Eagles, Fly” even louder than the first touchdown.

Early in the second quarter, Daunte Culpepper willed the Minnesota offense down the field 51 yards on the Eagles 7-yard line. On third-and-1, Culpepper was forced from the pocket by Jevon Kearse and beat the linebacker around the corner and he plunged into the end zone for a touchdown. That would be the only meaningful Vikings TD on the afternoon. On the ensuing kickoff, J.R. Reed returned the ball 48 yards to the Minnesota 46-yard line. After 2 pass interference calls, perhaps the weirdest play in Eagles playoff history took place. McNabb completed a short pass over the middle to LJ Smith and it looked like the tight end had a clear alley to the end zone. At the 4-yard line, Antoine Winfield dove at Smith causing him to tumble and he fumbled the ball forward up in the air. The ball somehow landed in the waiting arms of Freddie Mitchell for a touchdown. The Eagles now led 21-7 and it sure looked like the football gods were smiling upon the Eagles.

The two teams traded bumbled FG attempts to end the half. First it was the Minnesota Vikings, who moved the ball down to the Eagles 3-yard line before the drive stalled forcing 4th down. The Vikings had a fake on, but Randy Moss could not get on the field due to the fact that he would be the twelfth man. When the ball was hiked, Gus Ferrotte was stuck with the ball and nowhere to pass as Derrick Burgess rushed him. Ferrotte was forced to throw the ball away and the Vikings came away empty handed. Then it was the Eagles turn. Philadelphia drove the field 71 yards on 12 plays and should of kicked the FG on play number 13. Instead, Reid elected to pass one more time. McNabb completed a pass to Dorsey Levens who was tackled well short of the goal line and the clock ticked to zero. Time ran out! In the second half, David Akers would add 2 field goals; 21 and 23 yards respectively and both in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 27-7. The Vikings added a late TD at the 2-minute warning completing the score at 27-14. But it was already way too late and the Eagles will move on to its 4th straight NFC Title game, third in a row at home.

The story of the second half was the Eagles defense. It started with Jeremiah Trotter and Jevon Kearse. Trotter intercepted a Culpepper pass and returned it 35 yards late in the third quarter to help setup a potential TD. On the first play, McNabb hit Mitchell again down the left sidelines for a 31-yard completion. On the play, Freddie was fighting to get into the end zone and the ball was knocked from his out-stretched and went out-of-bounds for a Minnesota touchback. The Eagles defense forced 2 INT’s, had 3 sacks and caused general havoc on Culpepper pass efficiency. Kearse was on the Vikings QB like a shark in blood-infested waters causing numerous incompletions and hurries. On the other side of the ball, McNabb was touched just once and forced from the pocket twice. He was sacked just once as he ran out-of-bounds on one scurry for no gain. That was it! The Eagles offensive line dominated the Vikings almost to totality. They will have to protect McNabb even more next week when they face an even more ferocious rush from the Falcons defensive front led by Patrick Kerney. The Atlanta Falcons are the only thing in the way between a season that will be considered a success or another major disappointment!