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The blocked field goal and resulting 49ers touchdown at the end of the first half had been a wicked punch to the head that the Eagles were slow to recover from.
The Niners came out for the second half and drove 78 yards on six plays to score the go-ahead touchdown. Then they put together an 11-play, 77-yard drive for another score that put the Eagles in a nine-point hole. What the hell had happened to Jim Johnson's once-proud defense?
"The adversity we had before the half, everybody in the locker room said, 'Never again,' '' cornerback Sheldon Brown said. "Then they came out and drove it right down our throats."
They had to find a way to stop them from driving it down their throats, and they had to find it quick.
"We just said, 'Do your effing job. Do your effing job. And then we'll figure it out from there.' That's what happened. Everybody started doing their own job."
If this season turns into anything special, which still is a very big if, the defense's performance in the fourth quarter of yesterday's 40-26 come-from-behind win over the 49ers will be remembered as one of the keys. One of the very big keys.
After giving up 389 yards and 20 first downs to the Niners in the first three quarters, Brown and the defense decided enough was enough. They gave up just one first down and held the Niners to minus-6 net yards in the fourth quarter. Most importantly, they forced three turnovers in a 6-minute span that saved the game.
"We were panicking," Brown said. "This is a team that's supposed to get turnovers and we weren't getting any. We're saying, 'What's going on?' Then they started to come. That's what happens."
Niners' offensive coordinator Mike Martz had kept the Eagles off balance with a heavy dose of screens to the tight end and running backs, and quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan using three-step drops to thwart their pass rush.
"Mike Martz, he's a pretty smart guy when it comes to trying to decipher what he's doing," Brown said. "But once we get up, he doesn't have time on the clock to really play around. That helped us out a little bit in the fourth quarter.
"After we got the lead, they had to go to five-step drops and that's when we started to get to [O'Sullivan]. That's the way we've always been built. We get up and force teams to play catchup. The three-step drops don't work when you've got to play catrchup."
The Eagles forced nine turnovers in their first four games, but came up empty in last week's loss to the Redskins and came up empty for 53 minutes yesterday.
Then safety Quintin Mikell stepped in front of a pass at midfield for Niners' wide receiver Isaac Bruce and returned it 41 yards to the San Francisco 7-yard line. That set up a 25-yard David Akers field goal that gave the Eagles a 30-26 lead.
Then defensive end Trent Cole beat Niners' left tackle Joe Staley on an outside rush and forced an O'Sullivan fumble that set up another Akers field goal. Then defensive end Juqua Parker intercepted an O'Sullivan pass for Arnez Battle and returned it 55 yards for a game-clinching touchdown with 38 seconds left.
"It wasn't looking good for a while," said Cole. "We knew we had to rally up and get on the ball. We knew we had to find a way to shut them down, and that's what we did."
-- The Eagles put up 23 second-half points, which was two more than they scored in the second halves of their last four games.
-- In the last 19 quarters, Eagles' tight ends have just eight receptions and three first downs.l
-- The Eagles, who had converted just 3 of 9 red-zone opportunities into touchdowns in their previous three games, converted 3 of 7 against the Niners. They scored touchdowns on their first two red-zone trips, then were 1-for-5 the rest of the game.
-- Donovan McNabb's third-quarter interception from the San Francisco 15 was just the eighth red-zone interception of his career.
-- Niners tight end Vernon Davis had 6 receptions against the Eagles. Three went for negative yards.
--Donovan McNabb moved past Ron Jaworski to become the Eagles' career leader in pass attempts and passing yards.
-- The poor punt by Sav Rocca that set up Allen Rossum's 45-yard first-quarter return. The punt traveled 41 yards, but had just a 3.53-second hang time, allowing Rossum to beat the Eagles' coverage to the outside.
-- The nice block by right guard Max Jean-Gilles on the 25-yard screen pass to Correll Buckhalter on the Eagles' second scoring drive.
-- The Eagles finally used the fade pass to Hank Baskett that they practiced so much during training camp. Baskett caught a 2-yard fade for a touchdown over Niners' cornerback Walt Harris early in the second quarter.
-- Jim Johnson lined up Stewart Bradley and Omar Gaither in the A gaps twice on the Niners' first possession of the third quarter. The first time, O'Sullivan hit Arnaz Battle on a quick slant that gained 26 yards. The second time, Frank Gore ran right up the gut for a 25-yard gain to set up his 6-yard touchdown run.
-- None of the Eagles' receivers came back to Donovan McNabb on the first possession of the second half when he was flushed out of the pocket and had to scramble.
To Niners coach Mike Nolan for his gutsy decision to go for it on fourth-and-one at the Philadelphia 18 in the third quarter with a six-point lead. Frank Gore picked up three yards on the play. The Niners ended up having to settle for a Nedney field goal. But Nolan's go-for-the-throat attitude was nice to see from a head coach.
To tight end L.J. Smith for being responsible for McNabb's third-quarter interception. Can't anybody on this team run a proper slant route? Smith cut inside and collided with linebacker Takeo Spikes, whom he apparently never saw. Smith bounced off the ex-Eagle and Spikes was right there to pick off the pass. Later, he got knocked on his butt by Niners defensive end Justin Smith on a run play.
How the Eagles managed to get the timeout called just before Ray McDonald blocked David Akers' 54-yard field goal attempt. The Eagles snapped the ball with 9 seconds left, McNabb stepped up to avoid a rush, then threw a shovel pass to Buckhalter, who took it 14 yards to the San Francisco 36. It appeared as if there was just 1 second left when Buckhalter's knee hit the ground. At home, maybe you get the guy working the clock to stop it in time. On the road? One time out of a hundred.
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