I Screamed "Screen" All Game...

...and thankfully they finally ran on it. I've already received calls to become the next Lions head coach.

The Eagles offense seemed bottled up with pressure from the Minnesota Vikings front seven all game, but they finally, finally, finally called the play that would fool the pressure. Westbrook took a screen pass to the right for 71 yards and a touchdown. Screaming at the television does work and I think you need to do it approximately 15 times for the coach to hear you. The screen play put the Eagles ahead 23-14 and the entire city of Philadelphia let out a big sigh of relief. Akers later added his fourth field goal of the day for the 26-14 final.

The defense played stellar through most of the game, but was just absolutely ridiculous in the second half. Their speed on defense was all over the field and they forced Tavaris Jackson to make plays and he couldn't. Defensive end Trent Cole had 13 tackles, including 7 solo tackles. That is just crazy for a defensive end. Trent Cole was able to get some pressure, but he did an even better job of sealing the edge and forcing Peterson to try and dance around to found yardage. Sure, Peterson ran for 83 yards on 20 carries, but 40 came on a blown tackle on a zone blitz for a touch down.

Asante Samuel returned another interception for a touchdown in the postseason, setting a NFL record with four in his career. Tavaris Jackson was not up to the task completing only 15 of 35 passes for 164 yards.

McNabb was 11-19 with an interception in the first half. He finished the game going 23 of 34 for 300 yards. His 12-15 second half helped the Eagles get out of some poor field position and kept 4th quarter drives alive. The offense struggled with the run, but that was expected against the best run defense in football. I would have liked to see Buckhalter get a few more carries with his burst through the hole, but the coaches felt differently.

DeSean Jackson only made one catch for 34 yards in the passing game, but he was great at punt returns, including a 62 yarder that set up the Eagles first field goal. He returned 4 other punts for an average of 11.8 yards.

Jason Avant and Brent Celek stepped up for the offense, and Kevin Curtis came on late in the game, but Avant and Celek caught a combined 11 passes for 105 yards. Avant is truly developing into a nice slot receiver with the ability to make the catch over the middle and come up with some big third down conversions.

The talk yesterday was all about Chargers punter Mike Scifres 6 punts inside the 20. Well today, Sav Rocca was 4-4 with punts inside the 20, including a 58 yarder that put field position back in the Eagles favor after the first drive. Eagles kicker David Akers appears to be back after hitting field goals of 51, 43, 31, and 45 yards. He has probably been the Eagles truest comeback player of the year. Including the postseason, Akers is now 37 for 44 on the season.

Stat of the day... Trent Cole's 13 tackles (7 solo)
Offensive play of the day... Brian Westbrook's 71 TD reception
Defensive play of the day... Asante Samuel's "pick 6"

Check back in later this week for discussion on the upcoming game with the Giants. Starting Wednesday, we will discuss each facet of the Eagles team all the way up through Sunday.

Gametime next week is set for 1pm.