After getting smoked last week by Dallas, you’d thought the Eagles were going down to Washington to lose. It was in the cards. Everyone in Philly had just about given the Eagles up for dead. In fact, it was 12-7 at the half, but should have been 14-7 and already seemed hopeless. The Redskins did miss two extra points. Then Washington later held a 22-13 lead with just 12:36 left in the game. Then a funny thing happened. The Eagles offense woke up and scored 20 points to win 33-25. That fourth quarter by Donovan McNabb may have just saved the season and his career with the Eagles. He finished the game 20-of-28 for 251 passing yards and 4 TD’s. But in the end, Brian Westbrook, who put the Eagles ahead for good with two touchdowns in the last 3 minutes, provided most of the magic. The Eagles improved to 4-5, while the Redskins fell to 5-4. Philadelphia is still in last place, but host the winless Miami Dolphins next week and so should reach the .500 on Sunday.

The Eagles took the opening kickoff and marched straight down the field and took the early 7-0 lead just 6:44 left in the first quarter. The Eagles TD drive took 8:16 off the clock, that’s over half the quarter on 11 plays. Two penalties helped the drive gain momentum to start and then some runs mixed with a few passes to Brian Westbrook did the rest. On play 11, Westbrook caught a 4-yd pass from McNabb for the TD. Then the Philadelphia offense disappeared till the end of the third quarter. In the meantime, the Redskins moved the ball up and down the field. Washington entered the game without a single TD catch by a wide receiver this season until the second quarter. It was ex-Eagle James Thrash, who caught two TD passes before the half and also had 78 passing yards receiving. Thrash then got hurt just before the half, but the Redskins still held a 12-7 lead. After halftime, Washington added a FG to make it 15-7. Later in the third quarter, McNabb led the troops back a little with a 12-play, 70-yard drive, which ended with an 8-yard pass to LJ Smith for the TD. Smith had a decent game for once; he had 4 catches with 49 yards and the one TD catch.

With the score 15-13, the Redskins decided to run the no-huddle offense and drove the field. Redskins QB Jason Campbell had a good game himself, completing 23 of 34 passes for 215 yards. But he also had 3 TD passes. The third TD was to the old veteran Keenan McCardell for a 6-yd catch and that gave the Redskins a 22-13 lead. Donovan McNabb then found Reggie Brown on a deep pass. Brown made a great adjustment to catch the ball and easily scored the TD. The play went officially for 45 yards and cut the lead down to 22-20. On the Redskins next possession, Ladell Betts fumbled the ball away after the Redskins had moved the ball into Eagles territory. But one play later, McNabb was sacked and he too fumbled the ball. The Redskins had the ball at the Eagles 24-yd line. Three plays later, it was 1st-and-goal at the 7. The Eagles defense came up big and appeared to have stopped them on third down. A defensive holding penalty gave Washington a first down at the three. With time running out, Joe Gibbs ran Clinton Portis twice forcing Andy Reid to call time on both plays. After a Redskins’ false start on third down, the Eagles finally put an end to the Redskins TD drive, forcing a FG. Washington held a 25-20 lead with 4:15 left in the game.

The Philadelphia goal line stand was bigger than one would think. It kept the season alive. On that third down play, everyone thought Campbell would throw the ball into the endzone. They tried the draw play to Portis, who had already rushed for 137 yards on 29 carries. Eagles linebacker Takeo Spikes read carry number 30 and he tackled the running back at the 3-yard line, forcing fourth down. That tackle setup the game for the Eagles to come back and win. Lightning struck the Redskins as Brian Westbrook caught a short screen pass and he ran it for paydirt. Westbrook was magnificent, cutting left, cutting back right following his blockers all the way for a 57-yards and a 26-25 lead. Thunder also struck on that play as Jon Runyan found Cornelius Griffin and knocked him into tomorrow. Westbrook would add another TD after the Eagles defense came up big when Juqua Thomas sacked Jason Campbell causing him to fumble, which was recovered by Trent Cole. Westbrook’s 10-td TD run on the very next play sealed the Eagles victory at 33-25.