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CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Donovan McNabb passed for four touchdowns, two each to Torrance Small and Charles Johnson, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 35-24 victory over the Cleveland Browns and a spot in the playoffs for the first time in four years. "Donovan obviously had a great game. He was on right from the beginning," Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said. "There has been talk about him being most valuable player and today, I have a hard time believing that there is anybody better." The second-year quarterback completed 23-of-36 passes for a career-high 390 yards, helping the Eagles (10-5) record their first 10-win season since 1996, the last year they reached the playoffs. He has run up 3,167 yards and thrown for 20 touchdowns this season. "Today, we finally could say the playoff word because that is where we are headed," Reid said. "We do have one more game left (against Cincinnati) and we will not forget about it." Tight end Chad Lewis caught five passes for 100 yards for Philadelphia and Small had a season-high seven receptions for 92 yards. "We had a lot of opportunities to make plays out there," Small said. "We took advantage of what the defense gave us and the Browns left a lot of space out there. The Browns went to man-to-man coverage and tried to put pressure on us and we were able to get around it." The Browns (3-12) finally scored some points, but not enough to get a win. Cleveland lost its previous two games by a combined score of 92-7. "Our guys came out there and played hard," Browns coach Chris Palmer said. "Offensively, we were able to move the ball well against one of the better defenses in the league. Defensively, we were unable to slow them down for most of the game." Doug Pederson, who lost his starting job with the Eagles to McNabb last season and came to the Browns in the offseason, returned to the lineup for Cleveland, and helped the Browns take a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter, but the Eagles came right back. "It was fun going against the Eagles," Pederson said. "I felt I was practicing against them." McNabb hooked up with Small on a 24-yard scoring pass with 8:07 left in the half, capping a four-play, 66-yard drive highlighted by McNabb's 42-yard pass to Todd Pinkston that put the ball on the Browns 24. The Eagles then marched 80 yards in nine plays, finished off by McNabb's eight-yard pass to Small. The two also connected on an 18-yard pass and a 25-yarder in the drive, which put the Eagles ahead to stay, 24-14. In the third quarter it was Johnson's turn. He hauled in an 11-yard scoring strike just 2:47 into the third quarter, finishing off a seven-play, 68-yard drive in which he also caught a 30-yard pass that put the ball on the Cleveland 11. The Eagles put the game out of reach when McNabb found Johnson on a 38-yard pass with 4:03 left in the quarter. Pederson, one of three quarterbacks who took the field for the Browns, completed 29-of-40 passes for 309 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. "The team responded well in practice to the use of three quarterbacks," Pederson said. "The idea was multiple surprise. It helped loosen up the defense and kept them back on their heels." The only other Browns quarterback who threw a pass was Kevin Johnson, who was good on 1-of-3 for 23 yards. David Patten caught seven passes for 103 yards. "We thought we could surprise them with some of the things we did," Palmer said. "Our coaches utilized the talent we had available to give us the best chance to win." The Browns fell to 1-7 since second year quarterback Tim Couch broke his thumb. Cleveland has 12 players on injured reserve, including three quarterbacks.
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