Oct 17, 2006, 19:55 GMT
- A muffed punt and a 12-men on the field penalty killed the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday's 27-24 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Backup running back Ryan Moats and return man Dexter Wynn were involved in the first costly blunder, which eventually pinned the Eagles down, 17-3, at halftime. Saints wideout Terrance Copper recovered a loose football when Moats was pushed into Wynn, who was focused on making a return but missed the ball. The football popped out and Copper made the huge recovery at the Philadelphia 19, just before Drew Brees hit Marques Colston for a seven-yard TD and 14- point cushion.
Eagles defensive end Trent Cole is third in the league with six sacks, and would have notched his seventh if it wasn't for the costly penalty with less than four minutes to go in the game. Cole came around the right end and sacked Brees to make it 3rd-and-10, but did so on a play in which rookie linebacker Omar Gaither was supposed to be on the sideline. The Eagles were penalized eight times for 67 yards on the day.
After the penalty the Saints got a first down and ran down the clock for kicker John Carney, whose 31-yard field goal as time expired ended Philadelphia's three-game winning streak.
'The New Orleans Saints did a heck of a job,' said Reid. 'We started way too slow against a good football team and we didn't finish strong enough. We'll go back and look at it, evaluate it and do what we need to get done.
Philadelphia, which saw a team erase a fourth-quarter lead to win for the second time this season, now owns a 4-2 record, with Dallas and New York right behind at 3-2 in the NFC East standings.
The loss overshadowed another strong effort from Eagles star quarterback Donovan McNabb, who came alive in the second half and helped Philly to a 24-17 lead with three consecutive touchdowns. Second-year wide receiver Reggie Brown proved worthy of No. 1 status while Donte Stallworth nurses a sore hamstring, and scored twice during the barrage.
Tight end L.J. Smith chipped in with a four-yard TD pass which tied the game for the Eagles in the third. However, a breakdown in the secondary and the aforementioned costly penalty handcuffed the Eagles.
Saints wideout Joe Horn burned Philadelphia safety Michael Lewis for a touchdown for the second time, this one coming from 48 yards out. The big play ignited the Superdome crowd and tied the score at 24. Lewis was benched in favor of Sean Considine for the final drive of the game. Lewis' play was emblematic of the work of the entire defense, which was picked apart by Brees all day on Sunday.
Brees, rookie Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister are three valuable weapons for Sean Payton's Saints, and their 5-1 record is proof of that fact. They gave Philadelphia a hard time on Sunday and will keep doing so for the rest of the NFL.
'We just didn't come out to play the first couple quarters,' said Eagles running back Brian Westbrook, who had 72 yards on 16 rushes and just three yards on three receptions. Westbrook was taken out of his game thanks to a tough New Orleans defense composed of two former Eagles in linebacker Mark Simoneau and defensive tackle Hollis Thomas.
Simoneau and Thomas are very familiar with what the Eagles have to offer on the offensive side of the ball, and their knowledge was handy in a game that saw Philadelphia amass just 99 yards on the ground.
It was a valiant effort, though, for McNabb and the offense to wake up and claim the lead, and Brown was a big reason for the resuscitation. Brown has stepped in big time for Stallworth, and recorded six receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown while adding a 15-yard run for a go-ahead score in the eventual loss.
Big questions encircled Philadelphia's wideout corps in the offseason but the addition of Stallworth, the emergence of Brown and the big play capability of rookie Hank Baskett have temporarily silenced the critics.
Brown has a pair of 100-yard receiving games this season, with 21 catches for 412 yards and four touchdowns. The former University of Georgia star will try to keep his strong pace going this week against Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium.
MCNABB HAS 'OFF' WEEK
Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is still an early favorite for league MVP honors, but hit a small bump in the road down in the Big Easy.
McNabb completed 19 of his 32 pass attempts for 247 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. He was also sacked three times and has now been taken to the turf 13 times over the past four weeks.
'Everyone understands the mistakes that we made and the opportunities that we've missed,' said McNabb, who had thrown 187 straight passes without an interception. 'We've been able to erase that and turn that into something positive in the second half, knowing what we're seeing and being on the same page as far as the receivers and the running backs are concerned. We've been able to put up points. We just didn't put up enough today.'
He is right. The second half was a different story than the first, and it seemed McNabb and the offense figured out the New Orleans defense. Brown emerged as McNabb's go-to guy, and should remain so this week in Tampa.
So far this season McNabb has thrown for an NFL-high 1,849 yards with a league-best 13 TD passes and a pair of interceptions for a 104.8 QB rating.
SOME NOTES FROM THE SUPERDOME
-The Eagles did not sack Drew Brees on Sunday after posting 23 in the first five games of the season. Brees torched Philly's defense for 275 yards and three TDs.
-Eagles linebackers Matt McCoy and Shawn Barber both left the game with injuries. McCoy exited the game with a hip pointer, while Barber suffered a neck injury. Both are expected to play against the Buccaneers.
-Rookie wide receiver Jason Avant started for the second-straight week and recorded his first NFL catch, a seven-yard strike in the second quarter.
-Defensive tackle Sam Rayburn played in his first game of the season on Sunday and replaced rookie tackle Lajuan Ramsey in the rotation.
UP NEXT: SEARCHIN' FOR A WIN IN TAMPA
Philadelphia will try to shake off this past loss by taking the show to Tampa for a battle with the Bucs.
Tampa Bay is led by head coach and former Eagles assistant Jon Gruden, whose team earned its first win of the season on Sunday with an upset over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Buccaneers have a strong defense led by veteran linebacker Derrick Brooks and Pro Bowl cornerback Ronde Barber, whose interception return for a touchdown in an NFC Championship triumph against Philadelphia still haunts Eagles fans.
Philadelphia has lost the last two meetings with Tampa Bay, including a 27-10 loss in the NFC title game on January 19, 2003. Before the two-game slide, the Eagles had won the previous four meetings. In the last matchup on September 8, 2003 Tampa Bay posted a 17-0 win in the first regular-season game at Lincoln Financial Field.
© 2006 The Sports Network
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