Eagles make it look easy

By Bob Brookover

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

When it was over, Jon Runyan didn't really think he needed to say anything.

"It speaks for itself," the Eagles offensive tackle said.

And it did.

Sometimes you can just look at the numbers and have a clear idea of exactly what happened. This was one of those times.

From the final score - 38-3 - to the starting quarterback's day - 21-for-33 for 361 yards and three touchdowns – to the three wide receivers – DeSean Jackson, Hank Baskett and Greg Lewis – with 100-yard games, this was a thorough opening-day beating of the hapless St. Louis Rams.

In fact, it was the most lopsided opening-day victory in franchise history.

"It was a good way to start the season," coach Andy Reid said after his team won its season opener for just the fourth time in his 10 seasons. "There were some good things. It looked like all three phases were doing OK. I would have liked to have seen them not score a field goal at the end . . ."

Now, that's nitpicking.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb had one of the best openers of his career and that would have been true even if he had sat out the entire second half. He completed 16 of 24 passes for 297 yards and three touchdowns in the opening 30 minutes. Ninety of those yards came on a touchdown pass to Baskett that made it 21-0 just before halftime.

With 1 minute, 41 seconds left until halftime, the Eagles seemed to have lulled the Rams into thinking they were trying to run out the first-half clock with a pair of 1-yard runs by Brian Westbrook on first and second down.

On third-and-eight from the 10, however, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg decided it was time to take a shot down the field. Baskett put a double move on safety Corey Chavous, who bit on the first move then helplessly watched as the third-year wide receiver made his way down the sideline and into the end zone.

"The DB bit on it and Donovan put the ball in there perfectly," Baskett said.

That play ripped away any life the listless Rams had left on this cloudless afternoon.

"You give Donovan time and he's going to rip you apart," Runyan said. "You can only cover for so long. If the pass rush isn't getting there, you're going to have big plays."

McNabb was not sacked the entire game and his receivers were open early and often.

"It's always big when you don't get touched too much," McNabb said. "But I think a lot of it is getting the ball out and letting the guys outside work. They did a great job creating a little bit of separation where I could just put the ball out and let them compete."

Even when the receivers didn't get great separation, they still made great plays with the rookie Jackson setting the tone early when he pulled in a 47-yard catch by out leaping cornerback Tye Hill.

Jackson finished his NFL debut with a game-high six catches for 106 yards.

Praise for the rookie, however, remained cautious.

"It's just one game," McNabb said. "I mean he played well . . . don't discredit that. But I've seen a lot of rookies play well throughout the season in one game."

And this from Reid on the rookie: "Everybody enjoys watching him do his thing. This is the first game of a long season and he's going to have another big challenge this next week on Monday night [against Dallas]. He has to prepare himself for that. When you do good, it sets a little challenge out there for the other team. You did good this week and you have to do better next week."

By the time the Rams got their three meaningless points in the final quarter, the Eagles were practically in preseason mode with most of their starters resting comfortably on the sideline.

The defense was every bit as dominating as the offense, allowing just 166 total yards and eight first downs while forcing 10 punts on St. Louis' first 10 possessions. Add in the four sacks and the Rams' failure to convert any of their 11 third downs into first downs and you get a good idea of what transpired at Lincoln Financial Field.

"Whenever you can hold an NFL team to three points, it's good," cornerback Asante Samuel said after his first game with his new team. "But there's a lot of room to improve and there's a lot of work we still have to do. We have to keep chopping at the wood."

Samuel may be the only Eagles player who doesn't enjoy reviewing the film of this game because he squandered three chances for interceptions, including one that would have led to a touchdown in the second half.

"Man, I should I have had that one," Samuel said. "If I did, you all would be loving me right now."

As convincing as this win was, the Eagles seemed to know that they didn't convince anybody of anything.

That can't happen in a game against the St. Louis Rams. It can when they play the Dallas Cowboys a week from tonight at Texas Stadium.

"They're a confident bunch," McNabb said of the Cowboys, who opened with a 28-10 road win in Cleveland. "There's a reason why they won 13 games or whatever last year. So we know it's going to be a battle."

Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com.

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