Eagles soar to 7-3 for 1st in NFC East

Donovan Shines as Westbrook steals the show

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What a show.

Andy Reid Watch Reid spend most of the pre-season showing that he had nothing up his sleeve. And he fooled us all. Opening up the first game of the season with an on-sides kick is a thing of genius. You can't do this very often. But the fact that you're willing to do it raises the bar for you. And Staley wasn't really a significant part of the game plan in the pre-season either and boy he certainly earned that rest. I'd like to see the Wide Receivers in the game a little more. If you notice Donovan had a little trouble connecting with them. If they want to get to the playoffs. They will need the receivers. Kotite-esque Sub-Par Servicable PlayoffBound Excellence ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

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Here's the Breakdown:

Place	Opponent	Oppt's Record	Network
Lincoln Financial Field	New York Giants	4-5-0	FOX
TIME	DATE	Philly Coverage	Philly Radio
4:05 (EST)	Nov 16, 2003	Fox 29	94.1 WYSP
NFL Site	Web Action	Eagles Site	Opponents Site
NFL Site	Web Action	Eagles	Giants

?	1	2	3	4	F
New York	3	0	0	7	10
EAGLES	7	7	7	7	28

HOAGIES -- Stars of the Game

1. RB - Brian Westbrook -- Three touchdowns picked up another 22 yards receiving. As he once again is the leader in yards gained for this terrible offense.
2. QB - Donovan McNabb-- He is just getting better and better every game this year. It is amazing. I think we forgot what the real Donovan was like. He wasn't there for the playoffs last year. And he wasn't there early this season. But this is the Donovan of old.
3. SS - Brian Dawkins-- Sometimes, sometimes you forget how important a player is to the rest of the team. The energy BDawk brings to the field is unmatched. When you question where is the heart and fire on this team? It didn't leave when Hugh Douglas left. It NEVER left. It's just back on the field now!.

KRIMPETS -- Soft players of the Game.

1. P - Dirk Johnson -- 5 punts. Average 29.6 yards. Okay. So 4 of his 5 punts were inside the 20. Which means he was working with a short field all day. The longest punt of the day was 35 yards. That punt went to the Giants 39. Mitchell lost a yard on the retun. He netted 36 YARDS! Not good.

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Keep an Eye on'em:

Artis Hicks-- The Left Guard did well on Sunday. No penalties and really seemed to solidify the rest of the line.

Numerology-- Key Stats

1. 9 Receivers. I've never understood what the difference between Terrel Owens getting all of your catches versus 3 different receivers. But I guess because the offense is systemic, it needs to have the difference not focused on one particular man, rather focus on tendencies, which the offense then can exploit. I guess.
2. 100 % -- Red Zone efficiency. Scoring from inside the 20 is so important. The Giants on the other hand were 1 for 3 inside the red zone.
3. Donovan was 24 for 30. That's 80 per cent folks. Sounds pretty accurate to me. Hey Rush welcome back.

Cheesesteaks -- Key Plays

1. Mike Mamula's best hit of the day, unfortunately cost the Eagle's their starting Defensive End and sack leader from last year, Hugh Douglas, who went out with a sprain knee. Douglas already had a sack in the game. If this is a serious injury. This long year just got longer. You know I might be thinking Mamula was doing this on purpose to regain a starting spot? Hmmm....
2. Turner makes catch just before the botched field goal without a chance to get to the sidelines to stop the clock. Not really his fault... He's just catching the ball. But the receivers have to know to get over there.