Fourth Quarter Gut Check for the Eagles

For three quarters Eagles fans were restless, unhappy, and worried that the season was about to
slip away, and then it all turned around. Just like that. "We knew it was the fourth quarter and we had 15 minutes to play ball. Fifteen hard minutes," said defensive end Juqua Parker, who had five tackles a sack, and an interception that he returned 55 yards for a touchdown, "We had to go after it. We needed to win this game. It was huge. It was very important. It felt great. We huddled up at the start of that fourth quarter and pumped each other up, got each other rowdy." The Eagles jumped out to a 17-6 lead and seemed to have the game under control until late in the second quarter when, once again, they let a lead slip away. First, the 49ers drove 10 plays and 37 yards and scored on a Joe Nedney 53-yard field goal. Then the Eagles went into attack mode with 29 seconds remaining in the half, driving from their 20 to the San Francisco 36-yard line and then they lined up for a David Akers 54-yard field goal try, but the 49ers broke through on the right side of the Eagles' protection wall and spiked Akers' kick. The ball bounced right into the hands of 49ers defensive back Donald Strickland, who returned it 41 yards for a touchdown and, suddenly, the Eagles were ahead only 17-16 at halftime. San Francisco definitely had the momentum, and continued with a touchdown drive of 78 yards to open the second half. On their second possession they moved the ball 77 more yards for another Nedney field goal and a nine-point lead. After Takeo Spikes intercepted a Donovan McNabb pass intended for tight end L.J. Smith, it looked mighty bleak for our favorite team. But then the defense rose up and forced their first three-and-out series since the Chicago game and, yeah baby, the rout was on.
"Great win for us," said quarterback Donovan McNabb, who completed 23 of 36 passes for 280 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. "Nobody hung their heads. We all stayed together and stayed focused and got it done. It was a very big win, a big game." McNabb and wide receiver Hank Baskett (4 catches, 38 yards) executed a fade pass for a touchdown. The fade pass is something the Eagles don't use very often. "Donovan made a great throw and I just went up and got it," said Baskett, who leaped and made a sensational catch in the right corner of the end zone. "We had a good look and made it work." Smith and McNabb appeared to have some confusion on the Spikes interception, but Smith came back to make a huge touchdown catch. McNabb threaded a pass low in the end zone and Smith made the catch. "Great spot by by Donovan. He threw it in the only place I could get it," said Smith. DeSean Jackson gained a total of 127 yards (98 receiving, one rushing and 28 in the return game) on nine touches in his return to where he played collegiately. "I had a lot of people here and there were a lot of Eagles fans and it was great," said Jackson. "I just wanted to win. That's all I cared about."
The Eagles are 3-3 now after Sunday's win and had been a disappointing team after five games. They can climb out of the hole, yes, and this win (coupled with the losses by the Cowboys and Redskins) is a good start but it will take the course of many weeks to climb back in the NFC East picture. The Eagles entered the fourth quarter down by nine points and their season on the brink of collapse. Then Jim Johnson's defense forced three turnovers in a 6-minute span, the offense scored on three consecutive possessions and the Eagles head into the bye week 3-3 rather than 2-4, is exactly what I wanted to see. The Eagles still have problems that need addressing during the bye, like The ongoing special-teams struggles: David Akers converted 4 of 5 field-goal attempts, but one of them was a too-close-for-comfort 38-yarder that may or may not have
been good. And his 54-yarder at the end of the first half not only was blocked, but returned for a
touchdown. And did I mention that they gave up a 45-yard punt return to Allen Rossum? I guess we will just have to wait and see which team (the one that came back in the fourth quarter Sunday or the one that gave the game away to the Redskins) shows up after the bye. I don't know abut you but I'm hoping for the one I saw Sunday.