IS TAKING DOC TO SEE THE DOC
Here are our grades for the Eagles' wild-card victory over Minnesota:
RUSHING OFFENSE
The Vikings’ run defense was as good as advertised and held the Eagles to 2.9 yards per carry, Brian Westbrook to 1.9. But to Andy Reid’s credit, he stuck with the run enough to at least keep the Vikings honest. Grade: C-minus
PASSING OFFENSE
Donovan Mc Nabb’s protection was shaky much of the night and he turned the ball over twice. But he completed 12 of 15 attempts in the second half, including that beautifully executed screen to Westbrook for a 71-yard TD. Grade: B-plus
RUN DEFENSE
Eagles gave up that 40-yard second-quarter TD run to Adrian Peterson, but held him to 43 yards on his other 19 carries. Fourteen of Peterson’s 20 carries went for yards or less. Grade: B-plus
PASS DEFENSE
For the third time in the last 5 games, the Eagles held the opposing quarterback to a completion rate under 50 percent. Asante Samuel’s 44-yard interception return for a TD gave the Eagles a 16-7 lead. Grade: A
SPECIAL TEAMS
David Akers booted four field goals, including three from 40-plus yards. DeSean Jackson gashed the Vikings porous punt coverage unit. His 62-yard return in the first quarter set up Akers’ first field goal. Sav Rocca had a 44.0 net average and put all 4 of his attempts inside the 20. Grade: A-plus
OVERALL
For the fifth straight game, Jim Johnson’s defense held the opposition to 14 points or less. Donovan McNabb turned the ball over twice, but turned in a poised performance. And Andy Reid stayed with the run enough to keep the Vikings honest. Grade: B-plus
*
Our earlier reports:
* Westbrook tough to stop, and more postgame from Andy Reid
* Wowzers, Les Bowen's rundown of the game as it happened
Les
Bowen has covered the Eagles for the Daily News
since 2002.
Before that, he spent nearly 13 years covering the Flyers. It took Les
only a few seasons after the switch to figure out that there was no
penalty box at the Linc, and that the time really wasn't his, despite
what Andy Reid kept saying. Les came to Philadelphia and the Daily News
from Charlotte in 1983. In the intervening years, he has pretty much
lost track of NASCAR, and his accent. He, his wife Barbara, and their
two sons live in Haddon Township, New Jersey.
E-mail Les at bowenl@phillynews.com
and follow
him on Twitter.
Paul
Domowitch has been with the Daily News since 1982.
He has spent most of his nearly 3 decades with the paper covering the
Eagles and pro football. For the last 10 years, he’s been a
selector for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A native of Wilkes-Barre
and a graduate of Wilkes University, Domo started his career in Texas,
working first for the Midland Reporter-Telegram (1976-78), and then for
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he covered some god-awful Texas
Ranger baseball teams. His first beat at the Daily News actually was
boxing, which he covered just long enough to lose 2 sports coats to
blood spatter before moving on to football. Domo and his wife Shelley,
a University of Oklahoma grad who still hasn’t gotten over
that Fiesta Bowl loss to Boise State 5 years ago, have 2 terrific
daughters -- Allison, 28, who is an attorney in South Jersey, and Amy,
25, who works in administration for a professional baseball team.
E-mail Domo at PDomo@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter.
Download our iPhone/Android app for even more Birds coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here for iPhone or here for Android.
 | Join on Facebook |
