Jackson Shines as Eagles roll the Rams.

     Coming into opening day, there were some mixed feelings about how the birds would fare this season. But those feelings all disappeared today as the Eagles dominated the St.Louis Rams in their home opener. Both the offense and defense were outstanding today as the Eagles get off to a 1-0 start for only the fourth time in the Andy Ried era. For the Rams, it is a disappointing start to a season in which they are trying to regain the NFC title.

     From the first snap, the Eagles were dominant and pounded the Rams throughout the game. DeSean Jackson got the action started as he hauled in a 47 yard completion from Donovan Mcnabb to set up the Eagles first score. 4 Plays later, Brian Westbrook took a shovel pass from Mcnabb and ran it into the end zone to get the scoring started. Westbrook had a quiet but strong game today as he scored two touchdowns (1 rushing, 1 receiving) and ran for 91 yards on 18 carries. Donovan Mcnabb was phenomenal through the air as he embarrassed the Rams secondary for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns. Coming into this game there were many questions surrounding the Eagles receivers as they were without Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis. But those questions were answered today as the Eagles had three receivers go for 100+ yards. Desean Jackson was the leader of the group with 6 catches for 106 yards, Hank Baskett hauled in a 90 yard touchdown from Mcnabb at the end of the first half and had two grabs for 102 yards, Greg Lewis was a stellar day catching 5 balls for 104 yards. The offensive line was extremely dominant today as they man-handled the St.Louis front seven giving Mcnabblots of time to find open receivers and opening holes for Brian Westbrook. Yes, this is the Rams they played today and yes, they were one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2007. But with the injuries they suffered, there was really no chance for success for them. But they had a lot to prove coming into this game, plus they had the advantage of being the more healthy team and we all know just how crucial those early season injuries can prove to be. But Donovan and company picked them apart piece by piece.

     On defense the Eagles were completely stifling and blew up the Ram front line on just about every play. Stewart Bradley was the head of the class today as he recorded 8 solo tackles along with a sack. Mike Patterson and Darren Howard combined for a sack on Bulger in the first quarter as the Eagles front seven was totally unstoppable throughout the afternoon. The defense held the responsibility of stopping the Rams bull Steven Jackson. Jackson was held in check all afternoon as he carried the ball 14 times for only 40 yards and could never really get into a rythm. Asante Samuel made his Eagles debut today and was impressive. Late in the third quarter, Samuel nearly had his first pick 6 as an Eagle as he perfectly read a Marc Bulger pass out to the flats, but dropped the ball as he moved in for the interception. Samuel had two more opportunities today to force turnovers but in dropped both of those passes. The Eagles secondary kept Bulger's weapons under wraps for the better part of the game and kept future Hall of Famer Torry Holt to only 1 catch for 5 yards. The secondary's play was highlighted by a monster hit by Sheldon Brown. Steven Jackson broke down field in the second quarter, he made the catch and was immidiatley hammered by Brown, separating Jackson from his helmet. Jackson showed his toughness and got up to show he was ok and celebrating, but was removed from the field for the next 3 plays. The defense only allowed the Rams across the 50 twice during the game and kept them out of the Red Zone. This was the kind of start the Eagles were looking for on defense and they look to continue this dominance next week in Dallas.

     Now that week 1 is over it's time for the Eagles to focus in on their next opponent, a much tougher opponent, a much more hated opponent. Yes folks, it's those Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Both the Eagles and Cowboys are coming off of dominating wins in week 1 and that adds more drama as the two will collide again next monday. The Rams on the other hand, will head home and look to forget about their pitiful start to the 2008 season. They will head home to face the Super Bowl champion New york Giants.