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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The artificial turf at Veterans Stadium
struck again.
Donovan McNabb threw for 207 yards and one touchdown Sunday as
the Philadelphia Eagles held on to beat the Chicago Bears 13-9
after Cade McNown separated his throwing shoulder.
|  | | Kicker David Akers converted two key field goals of 51 and 29 yards for the Eagles. |
Jim Miller's desperation pass fell incomplete as time expired,
and Chicago fell to 1-7, its worst start since 1997.
McNown injured his left shoulder when he was driven hard into
the turf by Mike Caldwell on a 1-yard scramble early in the second
quarter and did not return. McNown was 6-of-9 for 49 yards, and was
sacked twice.
"There's not a lot of give out there," said McNown, who'll be
re-evaluated Monday. "The only thing that gave was my shoulder."
The infamous Vet turf has been particularly tough on Chicago. In
Oct. 1993, Bears wide receiver Wendell Davis blew out both knees on
the same play while running a pass route on this turf.
"The whole league knows about the Vet turf," said McNabb, who
finished 22-of-35 and had 25 yards rushing. "There's two things
you can get hit by: our defenders or our stadium. They're both hard
hits."
Philadelphia (5-3) matched last year's win total in half the
season. The Eagles won just eight games over the last two years,
and hadn't been two games over .500 since 1996.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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The Eagles avoided a letdown today after a big win last week (33-14 over the
Cards) and in the process matched their win total from last season.
Eagles quarterback Donovan
McNabb (22-of-35, 207 yards, one TD) continues to progress. But
Philadelphia was not as effective this week with the rushing game (less than
100 yards).
The Bears had to play most of this game without quarterback Cade McNown, who separated his
throwing shoulder.
Running back James Allen had a
productive day for the Bears, but Chicago's inability to hit passes
consistently cost them the victory. The Eagles' defense played well in
holding the Bears to just three fourth-quarter field goals.
The biggest problem for the Bears this year has been inconsistent play at
quarterback. They've also been hurt by the loss (to injury) of wide receiver
Bobby Engram, who is out for the season.
Having a reliable veteran to throw to can't be underestimated, and the
Bears' passing game would certainly be better with Engram in the lineup.
For the Eagles, the rapid development of McNabb has been a pleasant
surprise. Most people thought that with their defense and a strong running
game they would have a good team, but McNabb was the unknown.
But it remains to be seen how the loss of running back Duce Staley will affect the
Eagles the rest of the year -- it seemed to affect them more today than last
week.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director
of football operations.
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"It's a good feeling to be 5-3," defensive tackle Hollis
Thomas said. "Our aspirations are high. You should never
short-change yourself."
Miller replaced McNown and was 14-of-34 for 128 yards. He led
Chicago to three field goals in the fourth quarter, but couldn't
get in the end zone.
"It's a tough situation to come into. I haven't had any reps
since training camp, but that's what I'm paid to do," Miller said.
"Obviously, I had to get the rust off and I missed some throws in
the red zone."
After Paul Edinger's 33-yard FG cut it to 13-6 with 4:41 left,
the Bears got the ball at the Eagles 22 on Tony Parrish's
interception. But Miller threw three straight incompletions, and
Edinger kicked a 40-yarder to make it 13-9.
"Good defenses show up in those situations," Eagles cornerback
Troy Vincent said.
McNabb gave the Eagles a 10-0 lead on a 3-yard TD pass to Jeff
Thomason with 46 seconds left in the first half.
Philadelphia kept the drive going by converting a fourth-and-7
on Chicago's 35 when McNabb hit Darnell Autry for 7 yards. A
25-yard pass to Charles Johnson set up the TD pass to Thomason,
which capped a nine-play, 77-yard drive.
Philadelphia took a 3-0 lead on a 51-yard field goal by David
Akers with three seconds left in the first quarter as Eagles coach
Andy Reid pulled more trickery from his playbook.
Two plays before the field goal, McNabb lined up at wide
receiver and Koy Detmer came in to play quarterback. McNabb went in
motion, came around for a fake reverse and Detmer scrambled 8 yards
on the play.
"They were a little confused when I lined up wide," McNabb
said. "They went to a base defense, and took away the deep pass.
Koy was able to make positive yardage."
Reid used the shotgun five times in the first half. The Eagles
had abandoned the shotgun formation since switching to the West
Coast offense in 1995.
Last week, Philadelphia ran a fake field goal and a
halfback-option pass to McNabb on consecutive plays.
"It's fun to get involved in the game, and feel a lot more part
of it," said Detmer, who made a no-look, over-the-shoulder flip as
the holder on last week's fake field goal.
Akers made it 13-0 on a 29-yard FG in the third period. It was
his 13th consecutive field goal, a team record.
Edinger's 25-yarder made it 13-3 early in the fourth.
James Allen ran for 87 yards in 21 carries to lead Chicago. The
Bears had just 274 yards of total offense.
Autry ran 14 times for 37 yards, and fumbled once. He caught
five passes for 70 yards. The Eagles had 298 total yards.
Game notes
Philadelphia hasn't allowed more than 17 points in six
straight games. The last time the Eagles did that was in 1981. ...
Eagles DE Hugh Douglas had 1 1-2 sacks to give him 11 for the
season. His career high is 12. ... Edinger was 3-for-7 on field
goals from 30 to 49 yards before going 2-for-2 from that range
Sunday.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
Chicago Clubhouse
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Titans RB George, Bears QB McNown both sidelined
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