Monday, November 23, 2009

Delivering a 'must win'

The Eagles proved several things last night.

They proved they can win on Sunday night. If you hadn’t noticed, they had been a less than scintillating 0-7 in prime time affairs on Sunday night going into last night’s game against the Bears.

They also seemed to get a handle on their red-zone struggles. The Birds managed to punch the ball into the end zone on a couple of occasions.

They also gave a hint of how they might handle those pesky third-and-short situations. Last night they brought in Michael Vick, who promptly reeled off a 34-yard jaunt.

And maybe more important, they served notice that they can indeed come from behind to win a game in the fourth quarter.

After taking an early lead, the Eagles took a nap in the second and third quarters. In the process, the Bears erased an early 10-0 Eagles lead and actually took a lead of their own, 20-17, heading into the fourth quarter.

Donovan McNabb twice marched the Eagles down the lead to overcome deficits in the second half, the most important being capped by a 10-yard jaunt by rookie LeSean McCoy to put the Birds back in the lead for good with 5:31 left.

It was a good night for McNabb, who backed up his talk about this being a “must win” for the Birds. Also shining was wideout DeSean Jackson and McCoy, who rushed for 99 yards on 20 carries filling in ably for injured Brian Westbrook.

The win lifted the Birds to 6-4 and kept them one game behind the Cowboys, who somehow managed to go three and a half quarters without scoring a touchdown before putting up all of 7 points to take a 7-6 win over the Redskins. That comes after they were shut out the week before.

With the Eagles now at 6-5, look for something to happen on that much-talked-about contract extension for Andy Reid this week.

The Eagles could drop it late Wednesday and then shut down for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The mood this morning seems less than enthralled. Yes, the Eagles won.
Hey, we’ll take it. Beats a loss anytime.

But will the fans be enamored enough to accept an extension for Reid.

The Eagles might be about to find out.

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