Sports: Comebacks put strut in Eagles

Comebacks put strut in Eagles

Dear Steelers and Cowboys:

By ERNEST HOOPER

Thanks. For nothing.

* * *

Bucs fans might send that letter to Dallas and Pittsburgh this week. The Steelers and Cowboys were in place to derail the playoff hopes of the Philadelphia Eagles these past two weeks, but both lost. In overtime.

Now the Eagles remain in contention and the Bucs remain, as Derrick Brooks said after the Bucs' 20-15 win over the Packers, on the bottom looking up. Brooks and company are right; they just need to keep winning. But in the playoff chase, a little help can be more than a playground courtesy. It could be a life saver.

For all the excitement about Tampa Bay's three-game winning streak, it must be noted that if the playoffs started today, they would not include the Bucs.

The Vikings and Rams would get byes, the Giants would host the Redskins and the Saints would host the Eagles.

So with so many teams in front of them, why should Bucs fans address their anger toward Pittsburgh and Dallas? Well, not only did they lose to Philadelphia, but the dramatic fashion of each has fueled the Eagles' confidence.

"There are no Roberto Durans or Andrew Golatas in here. There are no people who are going to quit," veteran Eagles running back Brian Mitchell said. "When I came here, I knew this was a young team. I'm sitting here and watching this team grow right in front of my eyes. It's like somebody put Miracle-Gro on us."

The seed for the Eagles is second-year quarterback Donovan McNabb. When Duce Staley went down with a season-ending injury against Atlanta in Week 5, Philadelphia was written off as a team with no running game. The Eagles have stuck to that form, with Sunday's 88 yards on 22 carries a prime example.

But McNabb is making things happen with quick passes to receivers and running backs. In essence, those are running plays, and Eagles backs combined for 110 yards on 13 catches against the Steelers.

McNabb also is making things happen at the right time. He struggled against Pittsburgh for most of the afternoon, but once his team fell behind 23-13 with 3:42 left, McNabb engineered three scoring drives by connecting on 11 of 14 passes for 102 yards.

The Eagles scored 10 points to send the game into overtime, and McNabb's third drive put David Akers in position for the winning field goal. For McNabb, it was two fourth-quarter comebacks in as many weeks.

"He matured to another level (Sunday), to a level I've never seen before," receiver Charles Johnson said. "To be as young as he is and for our offense to be struggling as much as it was for 31/2 quarters, and then to have the poise to go out there and do what he did at the end; that's amazing."

The question is whether McNabb can keep it up. Philadelphia has five games left and will be favored in at least three: Arizona this week, at Cleveland on Dec. 10 and Cincinnati on Dec. 24. If it goes 3-2 and finishes 10-6, it has a good shot of making it.

OTHER CONTENDERS: While Philadelphia's prospects are on the upswing, New Orleans certainly is on the downside even though it has won seven in a row. The loss of Ricky Williams comes at a critical time, with the team's next three games being Oakland, at St. Louis and Denver.

Like Tampa Bay, Detroit also would miss the playoffs if they began today. But the Lions' 13-10 struggle against Atlanta created a lot of optimism for new coach Gary Moeller, if not a lot of points.

"It's fun when you win, isn't it?" Moeller told the media. "You guys are beautiful today."

Said defensive end Robert Porcher, who doubled his sack total to four against Atlanta: "Bobby (Ross) retired. This is Mo-town now."

The Giants also appear to be in jeopardy after losing to the Rams. The G-Men have Detroit this week and consecutive road games at Arizona and Washington. If the disappointment of losing to St. Louis lingers, they could be in trouble.

"This was a signature game," Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn said. "That's a bad signature we left out there for everybody else to look at. It was our opportunity to say that we match up with the top teams.

"Now we're right back to the middle."

And they are not alone. Washington is a game back at 6-4 and may be at 6-5 unless its vaunted secondary can find a way to derail the Rams on Monday night.

-Information from other news organizations was used in this report.