The nightmare is almost over, maybe? The Eagles lost their finale at the Linc 31-20 against their bitter rivals from DC. The Redskins out-played for most of the game took advantage of too many costly turnovers to turn what normally should have been a lose into a win. The win enabled Washington to earn a berth to this year’s playoffs. They will play at Tampa Bay next week in the wild-card round. The team in green earned honors as the first team in NFL history to win all their division games one year and then lose them all the next season. This bad dream will not end until the Eagles right the ship with adequate replacements for the parts that has gone wrong; including wide receiver and back-up QB. Yes, Philly had way too many injuries to count on both hands. And when you lose your two star players in Donovan McNabb (to injury) and Terrell Owens (to suspension and permanment exile), then your chances dwindle rather quickly. Two career back-up QB’s, both were terrible and basically gave games away like Christmas presents. McMahon and Detmer will hopefully be both gone by draft day. The Eagles got to bring in an experienced reliable quarterback to play for McNabb when he gets hurt again in the future.

The Eagles in this last disastrous game jumped out to a 17-7 lead in the first half. David Akers opened the scoring with a long 49-yard FG. It finally looks like Akers is back from his early struggles and injuries. But then Mark Brunnell connected with Mike Sellers for a 4-yard TD pass. Eagles QB Mike McMahon then looked surprisingly sharp early on as he threw 2 TD passes of 33 yards and 8 yards, both to rookie WR Reggie Brown. John Hall added a 25-yard FG just before the half after a long sustained 11-play drive that stalled after 70 yards. Eagles did lead, 17-10 at halftime. The second half follies would begin soon enough.

The Eagles kicker kicked a 35-yard FG after the Redskins tied the game. The actually gave the Birds a 20-17 going into the fourth quarter. It would be the beginning of one bad play followed by another. The Eagles still looked like might just ruin the Redskins chances of making the playoffs, until McMahon threw a poor pass, which was intercepted by Lemar Marshall at the Eagles 22-yard line. Next play: Clinton Portis danced into the end zone for a Redskins 22-yard touchdown and a 24-20 lead. The McMahon fumbled the ball away on their next possession. The Eagles held, but on the Eagles next possession, Koy Detmer, who also fumbled after Phillip Daniels hit him, replaced McMahon. Sean Taylor returned the fumble for a 39-yard TD return and an almost 31-20 insurmountable lead. It was one mistake after another, as the season’s end would come to a crashing thud. It’s been a complete nightmare for both players and fans alike. And it may get worse, depending on how management handles the off-season.