2004 season, Game 7: Eagles stay unbeaten

TEN YEARS ago, the Eagles were in the middle of one of the best seasons in team history, a year that ended in a Super Bowl appearance. Each Tuesday, the Daily News will look back at the 2004 season.

GAME 7

Date: Oct. 31, 2004

Opponent: Baltimore Ravens

Site: Lincoln Financial Field

Score: Eagles won, 15-10

Vegas Vic's lines: Eagles -7 1/2, O/U 38

Eagles' record: 7-0

Ravens' record: 4-3

The history: Not much. This was Baltimore's first visit to Philadelphia since relocating from Cleveland in 1996. The more notable meeting since the Ravens became the Ravens is the 2008 game in Baltimore in which Donovan McNabb was unceremoniously benched for the first time in his career.

The setup: One of the subplots was that Eagles star wide receiver Terrell Owens was nearly a Raven in the spring of 2004 after a clerical screwup muddled his status as a free agent. Owens did not want to play in Baltimore, so the players' union filed a grievance and an arbitrator ruled him property of the Eagles. The Eagles were required to send a fifth-round pick to the Ravens as compensation. That pick eventually was dealt to the Dolphins, who selected Arkansas linebacker Tony Bua, who played seven games in his NFL career.

Game stuff: The teams combined for just three field goals in the first three quarters as both defenses stood tall . . . Eagles linebacker Ike Reese afterward compared the battle to the gritty 1974 movie "The Longest Yard." . . The Eagles' only two third-down conversions came on their fourth-quarter touchdown drive. Otherwise, they were 0-for-9 . . . Birds running back Brian Westbrook missed the game with a rib injury . . . Owens set a team record with his fifth consecutive game of at least 100 receiving yards. Owens scored the Birds' only touchdown, his league-leading ninth of the season. Naturally, he celebrated.

Let's dance: After his touchdown, Owens performed a herky-jerky dance similar to the one often performed by Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis. Many in the Baltimore clubhouse saw it as disrespectful. "His dance made me sick," Ravens defensive end Anthony Weaver said. "But that is karma; it will come back to him. I do have to say one thing about the dance, and that is I would not want to mess with Ray Lewis."

Big win: The victory improved the Eagles to 7-0 for the first time in franchise history. The Eagles also were the last undefeated team in the NFL in 2004 - something that would change the following week in Pittsburgh.

Stat leaders: McNabb threw for 219 yards and one score. He completed just 54.5 percent of his passes (18-for-33) and said afterward he was probably too amped up going against Baltimore's defense . . . Owens had eight catches for 101 yards . . . Chester Taylor ran for 78 yards for Baltimore, but had a fumble forced by Eagles safety Brian Dawkins.

Boo who: It was the Eagles' first win on Halloween since 1976, though they had only played twice on the holiday in the interim. The Eagles are 5-4 all-time on Oct. 31, and might not play on the holiday for quite a while. Next year, Halloween is on a Saturday. In 2019, it's on a Thursday. Halloween does not fall on a Sunday again until 2021. This completes the obscure Halloween report.

Half a hunny: The win was McNabb's 50th in the regular season as the Eagles' starting quarterback. He had 92 in his Birds career and nine more in the playoffs.

Also in the news: The presidential election between incumbent George W. Bush and John Kerry was held 2 days later . . . The sci-fi horror flick "The Grudge" was No. 1 at the box office that weekend. Can't say I remember the movie . . . Vijay Singh won the weekend's PGA event to become the first player to eclipse $10 million in 1 year. Rory McIlroy was the 2014 leader at $8.2 mil . . . Charlie Manuel was hired to be the Phillies manager 4 days later

Quote of the day: "I felt like trying to get us out of our game, trying to roughhouse us," Reese said after the game. "I just felt they weren't playing football, they just wanted to come out, get us out of our game mentally, and really, basically, try to take our heart. We didn't back down at all. We got physical players on this side of the ball; we know how to hit. I'm pretty sure they know that, going home today."

- Ed Barkowitz