McNabb Worse than Mediocre as Eagles Survive Skins 27-25

espn.com ^ | Oct. 5, 2003 | ESPN.com

[litany_of_lies]

Eagles 27, Skins 25

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Philadelphia Eagles wouldn't let the Washington Redskins pull out another close victory.

Patrick Ramsey overthrew Laveranues Coles on a 2-point conversion with 13 seconds left, and the Eagles beat the Redskins 27-25 on Sunday.

Ramsey rallied Washington from an 11-point deficit in the final 3:10, connecting with Darnerien McCants on a 32-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds.

But under pressure from Brandon Whiting, Ramsey hurried his throw to Coles in the corner of the end zone and the ball sailed over Coles' head.

After John Hall's fourth field goal, a 53-yarder, cut it to 27-19, the Redskins' Bryan Johnson recovered an onside kick at Washington's 43 with 1:13 left. Ramsey then drove the Redskins 57 yards in five plays.

Defensive end N.D. Kalu returned an interception 15 yards for a go-ahead TD and Brian Westbrook had a 19-yard TD run for the Eagles.

The Eagles (2-2) won for the first time at Lincoln Financial Field after opening the season with consecutive losses at their new stadium.

Washington (3-2) fell to 1-7 against NFC East teams under Steve Spurrier. All the Redskins' games have been decided by three points or less.

Playing without three Pro Bowl players in their secondary, the Eagles held Coles and Rod Gardner to just five catches combined in the first 57 minutes. Free safety Brian Dawkins (foot) and cornerback Bobby Taylor (foot) missed their third straight games. And cornerback Troy Vincent sat out with a hamstring injury.

Donovan McNabb completed 16 of 30 passes for 157 yards and his first TD of the season. He was intercepted twice. Ramsey finished 25-of-50 for 271 yards, one TD, two interceptions and one TD rushing.

This was McNabb's first game since conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh made comments about him that ignited a weeklong firestorm. Limbaugh said on last week's ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" that McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.

McNabb said he did not mind criticism of his performance but was upset that Limbaugh made race an issue. The remarks forced Limbaugh to resign from the show.

Kalu, a former Redskin, broke a 13-all tie with his first career interception and TD late in the third quarter.

On a second-and-9, Ramsey's arm was hit by Eagles tackle Darwin Walker as he threw and the ball sailed up in the air. Kalu caught it at the 15, eluded an offensive lineman and rumbled untouched into the end zone.

Westbrook then put Eagles ahead by 11 with his TD run with 3:10 left. The Eagles drove 70 yards, holding the ball for 5:39. McNabb ran 6 yards on third-and-5 to keep the drive alive.

McNabb connected with fullback Jon Ritchie on a 4-yard TD pass for a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. Roderick Hood intercepted a pass from Ramsey and returned it to Washington's 18, setting up the score.

Ramsey's 1-yard TD run made it 10-7 with 5:56 left in the first half. Former Eagle Jeremiah Trotter set up the score, intercepting McNabb and returning it 21 yards to the 1. On third down, Ramsey leaped over the top for the TD.

David Akers' 36-yard field goal late in the first half gave the Eagles a 13-7 lead. Akers gave the Eagles a 3-0 lead on a 52-yard FG in the first quarter.

Hall's 48-yard FG late in the first half cut Philadelphia's lead to 13-10. Hall hit a 45-yarder midway through the third to tie it at 13. His 37-yarder cut it to 20-16 in the fourth.

McNabb had just 19 yards rushing. He scrambled 54 yards to Washington's 10 on the Eagles' first possession, but a holding penalty on tight end Chad Lewis negated the play.

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[lavrenti]

McNabb is a good quarterback with a lousy offense.

Obviously, I must be the only Freeper who saw him play both college and pro.

[iranger]

McNabb is a wonderful athlete that happens to be a poor passer. As such, he tends to rely on his legs to help him be effective. Steve Grogan and Rich Gannon were both the same type of QB early in their career.

[subterfuge]

"I was referring to the posts yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, referring to the Eagles score and taking obvious delight in McNabb's stats (which again were certainly not spectacular). Some of the posters obviously wanted him to fail,"

I can understand that Akira. I think most FReepers who delighted in McNabb's percieved failure were ticked off that McNabb beleived Rush WAS attacking him and not the media, fwiw. Happy FReeping!!