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NFL
Supporting Eagles pass opening test
NFC-- Eagles 27, Vikings 14: Brian Westbrook, Freddie Mitchell and the defense lead Philadelphia to its fourth straight title game.
By ROGER MILLS
Published January 17, 2005
PHILADELPHIA - With star receiver Terrell Owens sitting in a luxury suite and his team having not played a meaningful game since Dec.19, the Eagles were supposed to be a little bit rusty and very much outmanned.
They turned out to be neither.
Behind key plays from receiver Freddie Mitchell and running back Brian Westbrook, a dose of stingy defense and Vikings blundering, the Eagles pasted Minnesota 27-14 before 67,722 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.
The beating, which included another Randy Moss moment, should have established once and for all the Eagles deserved to be the top seed in the NFC.
They host the Falcons at 3 p.m. Sunday in their fourth straight appearance in the NFC title game.
"I was proud of the guys coming back off of their rest period and really seeming to have a lot of energy and (getting) after it pretty good," said coach Andy Reid, whose team lost its last two regular-season games by a combined 58-17.
"I thought the defense did a heck of a job. That's a very, very explosive offense, probably the best offense in the NFL right now. And we came out and took it to them."
While they weren't prepared to admit it, the Eagles entered the game knowing that with Owens in a fur coat, the passing game would have to prove its value and then some.
Mitchell and Westbrook jumped at the chance.
Mitchell, a Lakeland native, finished with five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. He also recovered a fumble in the end zone for another touchdown.
"We really didn't need any extra motivation," Mitchell said. "We knew what was going to happen. We stayed together as a team and stayed together on the offense and played ball. We really didn't harp on (Owens' absence). We focused and made plays."
Westbrook, second on the team with 73 regular-season catches, had an impact early as he routinely won the matchups with linebackers. He contributed 69 yards from scrimmage on nine touches in the first half and finished with 117 yards of offense.
"I think, basically, throughout the whole season I've been matched up against a lot of linebackers and safeties, and as a team, you have to score on those matchups," said Westbrook, whose 7-yard touchdown reception made it 14-0 44 seconds into the second quarter. "You have to take advantage of that."
And no Eagles win would be possible without the services of quarterback Donovan McNabb. Protected well throughout the game, McNabb was 21-of-33 for 286 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked once and did not commit a turnover.
"I try to run the offense and do it the right way," McNabb said. "Whether we have (Owens) or not, we have to continue to run our offense. And I think what we showed was that the team that went 12-4 last year and went to the NFC Championship Game and 12-4 the year before) is a team that continues to battle.
"This thing is obviously moving in the right direction, and we want to take full advantage of the opportunity."
While the Eagles did that, the Vikings found ways to sabotage their chances of victory.
They committed seven penalties for 108 yards, added two turnovers, failed to get Moss going (three catches, 51 yards), dropped three possible interceptions and did not take advantage when the Eagles offense stalled.
"It was the (same) case, offensively, since the Chicago game (a 24-14 loss Dec.5). A mistake or a penalty at the wrong time would take some points off the board," Vikings coach Mike Tice said. "We'd stop a drive; have a nice play called back. We shot ourselves in the foot on some drives and had a couple of inopportune penalties on defense in the first half that kept some (Eagles) drives going."
And they blew a chance to steal momentum just before the half when they mismanaged a fake field goal. On a 20-yard field goal with 4:40 left, holder Gus Frerotte was supposed to throw a pass to Moss. But Moss left the field because there were already 11 players on the field, and Frerotte threw the ball out of the end zone.
"That hurt us," Tice said. "We left some points there that I thought we could have had."
Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper went 24-of-46 for 316 yards and a score, but he was bothered by the Eagles' blitz, Tice said.
"Not as crisp as he had been," Tice said. "I think some of their blitzes gave us some fits and took some rhythm away from us."
Min Phi First downs 21 23
Total Net Yards 385 395
Rushes-yards 21-97 25-109
Passing 288 286
Punt Returns 2-7 2-7
Kickoff Returns 4-111 2-74
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 2-38
Comp-Att-Int 24-47-2 21-33-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 3-28 1-0
Punts 4-34.8 3-37.3
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-1
Penalties-Yards 7-108 4-20
Time of Possession 32:25 27:35
[Last modified January 17, 2005, 05:20:03]
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