Wow, what an extraordinary, high-intensity game. The Eagles of Philly and the Dallas Cow-girls went at it at the Linc for 60 minutes putting the big smack on each other. But in the end, the cream always rises to the top; the cream being Donovan McNabb who put up huge number as he led the Birds to victory over the hated ‘Boys from the Big “D”. The final score read, 38-24, but at times it looked both worse and very close. It was an epic game with the magnification of a playoff game. Is it January already? These two teams sure showed it late Sunday afternoon. The two biggest differences in victory were the numbers McNabb threw at Dallas and the defense that kept putting the hammer on the Cowboys QB Drew Bledsoe. The defense also held the big mouth “T.O.” to a paltry 3 catches and 45 yards, while Terry Glenn only managed 5 receptions and 61 yards. Neither receiver had a touchdown and Bledsoe hadn’t thrown one either. He did rush one in from 7-yards out. Anyway, Bledsoe completed only 18 of 38 passes for 233 yards and threw 3 INTs. The Cowboys only 2 offensive TDs came on two runs. The first was a Marian Barber 2-yd TD run in the first quarter. The other came with 3:33 left in the half, when Bledsoe escaped the pocket and dove in the endzone. The Cowboys main threat was RB Julius Jones, who rushed 26 times for 100 yards, but was basically a non-factor in the 4th quarter.

Donovan McNabb was a quarterback possessed as he now leads the NFL in almost every offensive category. He now has thrown 11 TDs and only 1 INT through 5 games. Yesterday, he completed 18 of 33 passes for 354 yards and 2 TDs. He also rushed for on a QB sneak from the 1-yd line. It was a game of huge plays for both teams. The game’s first big play came on a botched punt, when the snap went through the Cowboys punter Matt McBriar. The result gave the Eagles the ball on the Dallas 12-yard line. On second down, Westbrook tried to run up the middle, but was forced to the outside where he beat a number of Cowboy defenders to the right pylon. His 5-yd TD run gave the Eagles an early 7-0 lead. On the very next play for Dallas, Bledsoe was hit from behind by Darwin Walker and the ball popped loose. It was recovered by Trent Cole and 4 plays later, David Akers kicked a short FG to make it 10-0. Dallas did respond on their next possession with a nice 10-play 57-yard TD drive, keyed mostly by the rushing of Julius Jones. Then during the 2nd quarter, McNabb was himself hit from behind by Greg Ellis. The ball plopped up in the air right to the Cowboys DeMarcus Ware who ran it to paydirt for a 67-yard return. The Ware TD gave Dallas a short-lived 14-10 lead.

Donovan McNabb picked himself right up from that disaster and connected with LJ Smith, who rumbled 60 yards to the Dallas 2-yard line. McNabb scored the TD on a QB sneak. Back-and-forth they went. First the Eagles led, then Dallas and so on for three more times during this game. It was also a tough game to watch on TV, but I can’t even imagine what it was like being a fan at the Linc. Cheering one minute, shaking your head the next, it was agonizing until the final whistle blew. Well anyway, Dallas struck right back just before the half on a 75-yard TD drive that ate up almost 6 minutes. But, that’s how the half would end with the Cowboys leading 21-17. Both offenses looked sharp in the first half. One big huge point though, T.O. alias O.D. (a chant used by the fans much of the game) was held with a big fat zero, that is 0 catches and 0 yards in the first half.

The third quarter actually started out slowly for both clubs as neither team could surmise any offense. But at 7:28 of the third quarter, lightning struck as McNabb went back for a pass and moved forward in the pocket to avoid the oncoming rush. He then unleashed a long heave downfield and the rookie Hank Baskett caught the ball in stride down the left sidelines and he sidestepped a weak tackle attempt by the Cowboys Pat Watkins and he easily glided to the endzone. The result was his first career TD reception. And what a spectacular 87-yd touchdown it was and the timing between the two players were perfect. The pass also woke up an already raucous crowd and the feeding frenzy was on. The crowd helped the defense feed too as they started to get sacks on Bledsoe, not just hits and hurries. He would be sacked 7 times during the game. Early in the third quarter, the Cowboys would tie the game at 24-24 with a Vanderjagt FG. But McNabb came right back and then connected with Reggie Brown. The play was a 40yard flea-flicker pass that resulted in the go ahead touchdown, which would hold up in the end. Lito Sheppard later added 2 INTs, but his second INT ended with a record 102-yd TD return (by one player) with just 16 seconds left in the game. The win propelled the Eagles as kings of the NFC East with the rest of the teams chasing the 4-1 Birds.

You want more on McNabb, well how about these stats? Donovan McNabb is off to the greatest start of all-time in the history of the NFL after just 5 games. He has passed now for 1,602 yards (320.4 yds/game avg.), 11 TDs and 9.10 yds/attempt with only 1 INT. All are first in the NFL. He already has 3 300-yd passing games and just missed on two others (296 vs. 49ers and 288 vs. Packers). He is on pace to break Dan Marino’s record for passing yards in a season at 5,126 yards (record: 5,084 yards). He’s also on pace to break Rich Gannon’s season mark for most 300-yard passing games (10). Who misses T.O.? Not the Eagles and certainly not McNabb. Now the talk about T.O. is he is starting to blow up again as after the game was over it was claimed he blurted out in the locker room, “Why am I here?” Finally, it is starting to feel like 2004 all over again, when the Eagles finally climbed the mountain and won in the NFC Championship Game.