Eagles prevail over Vikings in tight wild-card battle
January 5 Philadelphia Daily News
"This one counts.In the coming days, the Eagles' doubters, the can't-win-a-close-game-in-a-tough-spot chorus, will try to find ways to say that it really shouldn't. You'll hear that the Minnesota Vikings weren't very good, and it was only a wild-card playoff game, after all, and, hey, the final score of 26-14 wasn't even all that close.But everyone sitting under the aluminum-foil-colored artificial sky at the Metrodome last evening felt the truth: that this test was tight, and tough, and very real. Two very good defenses were pitching second-half shutouts as the fourth quarter trudged along. Two offenses, their primary weapons stifled, struggled for traction.When push finally came to shove, the Eagles were the shovers, not the shovees. Donovan McNabb stepped up, as did his offensive teammates, most notably Brian Westbrook. It wasn't a last-minute comeback to win, but it was a fourth-quarter playoff gut check in a loud, hostile setting, and the Eagles passed.Their reward after a taut, bruising victory over a physical team is a date at the Meadowlands next week with the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, who needed to exert themselves yesterday only to press the button on the remote to change channels after David Akers' fourth field goal set the final score with a minute and 55 seconds remaining. But there will be plenty of time to fret about all that. For now, think about how unlikely it seemed 2 weeks ago that the Eagles would be one of the final eight teams playing in the NFL postseason."In this game, we found a way to finish," Westbrook said after scampering 71 yards with a screen pass to give the Birds some breathing room, taking the score from 16-14 to 23-14, with 6:37 left. The unanimous verdict in both locker rooms was that this was the play of the game. "We found a way to score, our defense found a way to make big stops. That's what you needed from our defense, that's what you need from your offense, to win in the playoffs.""We lost some tough games early on in the season," said Westbrook, whose definition of "early on" might differ from that of some Eagles fans. "We didn't continue to fight throughout those football games . . . we did fight today, and we won."Eagles coach Andy Reid said that it was "good to see the character of our football team in the fourth quarter . . . I didn't see any panic, or reservation, not to play aggressive football."McNabb, hit both really hard and really often, unable to close the deal on some promising drives, did not give in to frustration."In a game like this, you have to be patient," said McNabb, who finished 23-for-34 for 300 yards and a 92.8 passer rating. "That's what the playoffs is all about, it's about patience and being able to take what the defense gives you, try not to turn the ball over, continue to keep yourself in the game. You do that, things like that screen play will happen."I thought today our team played well together, played with a lot of confidence, never put their head doLink
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