This game ended as one of the NFL’s biggest comebacks of the season and one the Eagles biggest ever. I remember 2 directly. The last big comeback was back in 1993 that Eagles won 35-30 after trailing 21-0 against the New York Jets. The other was back in 1991 with Jim McMahon doing the honors as the Birds fell behind the Browns 23-0 in Cleveland. The Eagles won that game 32-30. In this game, the Kansas City Chiefs rolled out to a 17-0 and 24-6 lead with just 4:27 left in the second quarter. The Chiefs centered their game plan on defense to stop Brian Westbrook. They held him to only 48 combined yards. But the men in red forgot about #81. Terrell Owens caught 11 passes for 171 yards and 1 TD. Also, Eagles TE LJ Smith racked up another 67 yards on 9 receptions and 1 TD.

As Kansas City took that huge lead, they also outgained the Eagles 166-30. Priest Holmes already had 60 yards and was on his way to a possible 200+ game. Everything KC did, worked. It was the Eagles cornerback in Sheldon Brown who intercepted a Trent Green pass and returned it for a 40-yard TD return to cut the lead to 17-6. But once again, special teams failed to help as first the Chiefs blocked the extra point. Then the dynamic kick returner in Dante Hall took the ensuing kickoff back 96 yards for a TD and a 24-6 lead. It felt like Kansas City would keep scoring as the Eagles would score just to keep up. With just 4 ½ minutes left in the half, McNabb took over the game. At the same time the Eagles defense stiffened and refused to allow any more points until the last minute of the game. After the Chiefs took a 17-0 lead, Brian Dawkins had seen enough. He started screaming as he said, “I just told them, this is not Eagles defense that we’re playing.” He continued, “Whatever you have to do for us to turn this thing around, you do it and I said they weren’t going to score again.”

Well anyway, McNabb drove the team right back down the field on 5 plays and 50 yards in just 1:14. This time, Todd France finally converted on the extra point. It was a 28-yard pass to Owens that cut the lead to 24-13. Then the Eagles stormed out of the locker room to start the second half and scored 24 more straight points, which included FG’s of 37 and 26 to give the Birds a 37-24 lead with just 3:22 left in the game. The Eagles defense went into relax mode playing a soft zone defense allowing Trent Green to drive the Chiefs on a bunch of quick short passes which eventually led to a 75-yard TD drive. Dante Hall added his second TD of the game with a 15-yard pass from Green to cut the Eagles lead to 37-31.

The Chiefs only had 1:24 left with no timeouts, so they attempted the onside kick. Reno Mahe caught the bouncy ball in midair and ran it out of bounds. Three kneel downs and the Eagles escaped Arrowhead Stadium with a well-earned victory. With all the injuries, McNabb finished the game 33-for-48 with 369 yards, 3 touchdowns and only 1 INT. That’s three straight games of over 300 yards passing through the air. McNabb also had a 103.6 QB rating. Now the Eagles own the NFL’s #1 offense, while the defense ranks #9. This was a tough, exciting game to watch. But the comeback made it all worth the while in perhaps the NFL’s loudest stadium to play in. This Eagles team can never be considered out of any game unless the score is 30-0. Next up are those Dallas Cowboys who lost 13-7 to the Oakland Raiders. The Eagles can’t let up on the gas pedal and must get ready for the ‘Boys from Texas.