By ROB MAADDI
AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Donovan McNabb tossed an 11-yard touchdown
pass to Brent Celek, helping the Philadelphia Eagles take a
13-10 lead over the Dallas Cowboys after three quarters on
Sunday night in the 100th meeting between the division rivals.
Gerald Sensabaugh set up the Cowboys’ first scoring drive by
intercepting McNabb on a well-thrown pass that bounced out of
rookie receiver Jeremy Maclin’s hands.
David Akers kicked a pair of field goals for the Eagles in the
second quarter.
The winner will have sole possession of first place in the NFC
East. Both teams entered at 5-2.
Coming off a convincing 40-17 win over the New York Giants, the
Eagles are seeking their third consecutive win against a
division opponent.
The Cowboys entered on a three-game winning streak.
In their last meeting on the final day of the 2008 regular
season, the Eagles dominated Dallas 44-6 in a do-or-die game for
both teams. The Eagles earned a wild-card berth with that
victory, won two playoff contests on the road and advanced to
the NFC championship game, losing at Arizona.
Trailing 10-6, the Eagles seemingly went ahead when Ellis Hobbs
returned the second-half kickoff 96 yards for a score. But a
holding call on Moise Fokou nullified the TD.
No matter. McNabb drove the Eagles 77 yards for the go-ahead
score.
LeSean McCoy turned a short pass into a 45-yard gain. One play
later, McNabb escaped the rush and found Celek in the corner of
the end zone to put Philadelphia ahead 13-10.
On Dallas’ ensuing possession, Sheldon Brown intercepted Tony
Romo’s off-target pass to Jason Witten and returned it 54 yards.
An illegal block by Fokou negated the return to the Cowboys 35,
and the Eagles’ drive stalled near midfield after starting at
their 12.
Sensabaugh’s interception on Philadelphia’s first possession
ended McNabb’s streak of 118 straight passes without a pick.
McNabb’s pass on third-and-5 to a wide-open Maclin hit him in
the hands and bounced to Sensabaugh.
Six plays later, Choice ran in from the 2 after taking a shotgun
snap with Romo lined up wide to the right. Romo completed two
third-down passes to keep the drive going, including a 21-yard
gain to Kevin Ogletree on third-and-9.
Romo tossed a 64-yard catch-and-run pass to Patrick Crayton late
in the second quarter to set up Nick Folk’s 22-yard field goal
that made it 10-6. Tracy White made a diving, TD-saving tackle
to trip up Crayton.
On third-and-14, Romo hit Ogletree for 17 yards on a screen pass
to the Eagles 4. But Romo misfired on three straight passes,
including two intended for Roy Williams in the end zone, and the
Cowboys settled for 3 points.
Akers kicked a 45-yard field goal early in the second quarter to
put the Eagles on the board. McNabb was sacked for a 10-yard
loss – the third time he went down – before the kick.
Akers nailed a 48-yarder late in the quarter to cut it to 7-6.
McNabb completed an 8-yard pass to Celek on third-and-8 from the
Eagles 31 to extend the drive.
The Eagles were missing star running back Brian Westbrook for
the second straight game because of a concussion and strongside
linebacker Chris Gocong sat out with hamstring and quad
injuries. Fokou, a seventh-round pick, made his first start in
Gocong’s place.
Westbrook was expected to play, but he started experiencing
symptoms of a mild headache on Friday. Westbrook then underwent
more tests and the Eagles held him out as a precaution. McCoy
started for Westbrook.
The Cowboys held receiver DeSean Jackson to just one catch
through three quarters. Jackson has six TDs this season, all for
50-plus yards. He has four TD catches and he’s scored on a run
and a punt return.
Michael Vick ran for 2 yards and handed off on his only two
plays. McNabb went to the sideline when Vick entered.
The Cowboys lead the series 55-44.
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete