Pro Sports Blogging

His performance was not one for the ages as his 60.2 passer rating was the lowest in the last three years. There passes in the flat to open receivers that landed as two hop ground balls. He tried to force passes into tight coverage and kept the Eagles in the game with an interception and several others that should have been picked. McNabb had a critical 18 yard run to pick up a key first down late in the fourth quarter that would have sealed the game but he stepped out of bounds which stopped the clock preserving at least a minute which kept the Eagles on life support.

There was not a better script that could have been written for the burgundy and gold faithful though. Both of McNabb’s protégé’s were pressed into action and the Eagles explosive offense was rendered into a pedestrian state by a defense that played physical all day. Michael Vick was sandwiched by crushing hits from DeAngelo Hall and Kareem Moore at the goal line and would not return. Kevin Kolb, who left McNabb expendable, was contained and had to settle for check down passes underneath while his outside receivers – DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin – combined for just four catches and 35 yards.

Despite McNabb’s performance the Redskins got back to basics and ran the football more effective than they had this season. They remained committed and pounded the Eagles into submission. The tandem of Clinton Portis and Ryan Torain rushed 29 times for 125 yards and a touchdown which may be a sign of things to come for an evolving offense despite a dearth of talent in key areas. Their five third down conversions on 14 attempts were just one shy of their total in the previous three games.

Even with that the Eagles were a dropped Jason Avant pass – which was intercepted by Hall – away from falling to 1-3. That too could have been avoided if Carlos Rogers could have intercepted early on Philadelphia last drive. So the Redskins are now a player in the mediocre NFC East after this emotional victory.