CAN HEAR CLEARWATER CALLING
What we're talking about after the Giants' win over Seattle:
1. The Giants are coming. The Giants are coming. After notching their third straight double-digit victory over a much-less-talented opponent, the 5-3 Eagles will find out a lot about themselves Sunday night when they face the 7-1 Giants.
2. Up-and-down Donovan. McNabb opened the game by completing just 3 of his first 13 passes. Also threw a he-should-know-better interception in the red zone. But he completed 25 of his last 30 passes and notched just his third multiple-TD game of the season.
3. How ‘bout that tight end? With L.J. Smith out with a concussion, Brent Celek stepped in and set a franchise record with 131 receiving yards on 6 catches. Those 131 yards were just 58 fewer than Eagles tight ends collectively racked up in the previous 7 games.
4. Is David Akers out of the woods? Akers had 4 field goals against the Seahawks, including a 42-yarder. He’s now made his last 9 attempts and is 19-for-23 overall. The 42-yarder was only his 4th in his last 16 attempts from 40-plus yards.
5. Jim Johnson’s faith in defensive end Darren Howard continues to pay off. Howard had 2 more sacks yesterday, giving him a team-high 6 ½. He also had 4 hurries and 2 tackles for losses. Eagles now have 27 sacks in 8 games.
Some other notes ...
* After giving up a 90-yard touchdown reception on the first defensive play of the game, the Eagles limited the Seahawks to just 143 yards of total offense on 54 plays (2.6 yards per play) throughout the remainder of the game. The Eagles forced the Seahawks to punt on their next 11 possessions, including seven three-and-outs. It was the second time this season the Eagles forced their opponent to punt on 10-or-more straight possessions (10 on 9/7 vs. St Louis).
* After starting the game 3-13, QB Donovan McNabb completed 13 straight passes (10 to finish the second quarter, three to start the third quarter), tying for the fifth-longest streak in team history. McNabb finished the game completing 25 of his last 30 passes, connecting with 10 different receivers, which tied his career high (12/30/07 vs. Buffalo). His 349 yards was the second-highest mark of the season for McNabb
* Tight end Brent Celek caught a career-high 6 passes and 131 yards, including a career-long 44-yarder. His 131 yards were the most ever by an Eagles tight end in the regular season. Keith Jackson had 7 receptions for 142 yards on 12/31/88 at Chicago in the Fog Bowl. The previous regular season high for a tight end was 126 yards by Jackson on 9/17/89 at Redskins
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.
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