Well, we can say that we got some sort of redemption or revenge from last season’s opening night “Monday Night Football Fiasco” in Atlanta. Last year as you recall, it was Jeremiah Trotter, who got ejected even before the game began in a pregame scuffle. Then the Falcons defense roughed up Donovan McNabb and ultimately caused his sports hernia, which he never really recovered from. Michael Vick ran somewhat rampant early on in the game, putting the Falcons up 14-0 quickly, before the defense got their sea legs back. This time, the Eagles defense punished Michael Vick, sacking him three times; forcing him to throw 2 intentionally grounding penalties and forcing numerous other pass incompletions. His passing statistics were not good either, though he did not turn the ball over. Vick completed just 8-of-14 passes for 81 yards and 1 TD. The Eagles defense also held Michael Vick to a measly 17 rushing yards on 3 carries.

On the Eagles side of the ball, Jeff Garcia only threw for 29 yards and Brian Westbrook rushed for just 3 yards, but did gain another 29 yards on a short pass setting up an early David Akers field goal of 27 yards. Right after that, the Eagles PA announcer officially announced that the Lions defeated the Cowboys 39-31 in Dallas. That loss by the Cowboys, clinched the NFC East and the #3 seed for the Eagles, no matter the result with the Falcons. Out came Garcia, Westbrook and 75% of the starters and in came the subs. You had Hank Baskett and Jason Avant at the wide receiver position, Matt Schobel became the only tight end, Ryan Moats and Reno Mahe shared the running responsibilities and your new quarterback, the one and only, AJ Feely. Andy Reid also gutted the defense. It didn’t matter as the 2nd and 3rd string players led the way to a 24-17 win over the Falcons. And AJ Feely was fabulous, completing 22 of 33 passes for 321 yards and 3 touchdowns. He finished the game with a QB rating of 128.5. Not bad for a QB, who hasn’t played in over a year?

After Akers gave the Eagles that early 3-0 lead, Michael Vick drove the Falcons immediately downfield on a quick 6-play, 77-yard TD drive. The drive was helped considerably by a 35-yd pass interference play by the Eagles Roderick Hood on Roddy White. Then a short 7-yard pass to Warrick Dunn gave the Falcons a 7-3 lead. It would be the only lead Atlanta had all game. On the proceeding drive with AJ Feely at the helm, he drove the Eagles on an impressive 79-yard, 9-play drive, which ended with Feely completing a short pass over the middle to Matt Schobel. That made it 10-7, Eagles. The Falcons did later tie the game on a FG, mainly due to 2 personal foul penalties. The Eagles defense late in the second quarter setup the Eagles next TD as the Falcons started from their own 2-yard line. On second down, Vick completed a 22-yard pass to Alge Crumpier out to the 25-yard line. On the next play, though, Crumpier was called for pass interfernce. Dunn gained nothing on the next play and then Omar Gaither and Quintin Mikell forced Michael Vick to take an intentionally grounding penalty at his 1-yard line setting up 3rd-and-34. Dunn tried and failed to give his punter some breathing room and after the punt, the Eagles were in business at the Falcons 28-yd line. Six plays later, Feely found rookie Jason Avant on a 5-yd reception and his first career NFL TD. That gave the Eagles a 17-10 lead, which they held till the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Vick’s backup in Matt Schaub took Atlanta on an extended drive that ate up 7:34. Fourteen plays and 80 yards later, the Falcons tied the game at 17-17 after Alge Crumpier a 9-yd TD. Schaub came in on the second play of the third quarter after Juqua Thomas knocked out Michael Vick as he sacked him for the second time in the game. On the play, Vick hurt his ankle and never returned. It took the Eagles just one play to retake the lead. Feely completed a short pass to Hank Baskett, who escaped and ran it all the way for an 89-yd TD. It was a good win for the team and AJ Feely, who showed everybody that he is still a very reliable quarterback in the West Coast offense system. He was very comfortable back in 2003 and he looked comfortable yesterday. With the win, the Eagles finished at 10-6, a 4-game turnaround from last year’s disastrous 6-10 team. They also finished 5-1 in the division after not even winning a division game last year. Next up, are those New York Giants, many thanks to Tiki Barber’s 234 rushing yards against the Redskins. The Eagles have never beaten the Giants in the playoffs, losing a wild card game in 1981, 27-21 at the Vet and losing a divisional playoff game at Giants Stadium, 20-10 in 2000.