ATLANTA - Donovan McNabb needed a lift, a little something to get his season going.
Hello, Falcons.
McNabb took advantage of an entirely revamped Atlanta secondary to throw for a season-high 312 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown to Freddie Mitchell, and the Eagles won 23-16 Sunday for their fifth win in six games.
"I've been saying things will turn out positive," said McNabb, the league's lowest-rated passer coming in. "Nobody would believe me. We can't change what happened in the past. The only thing we can change is what's going to happen."
The Falcons are stuck in a nightmare, a season of promise that has gone horribly wrong. They have seven consecutive losses.
"It's tough to be positive when you lose," linebacker Keith Brooking said. "It's pretty simple. There are key moments in the game when you need to make a play. We're just not making them."
Embattled Atlanta coach Dan Reeves tried to shake things up by starting four new defensive backs, but it didn't slow McNabb. He completed 21-of-33 to pass for more than 300 yards for the fourth time in his five-year career. His highest total this season was 186 yards in Week 2. He also played with a sore back after taking a big hit from Ed Jasper in the first half.
Philadelphia had a field goal blocked, went 2-of-11 on third down and was penalized 11 times but did enough to win.
The Falcons pulled starting quarterback Kurt Kittner, inserting Doug Johnson early in the fourth quarter. Johnson directed Atlanta to a field goal that made it 23-16, but went three and out on his last chance to tie it. Philadelphia ran out all but the final 14 seconds.
Kittner was 11-of-18 for 78 yards and also squandered two scoring chances on Atlanta's first possession. First he overthrew Brian Finneran running alone down the sideline. Then, Kittner badly underthrew Peerless Price in the end zone, the ball fluttering right into the arms of cornerback Lito Sheppard.
