- 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.
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