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EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |
PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The NFC's stingiest defense reigned supreme. And it wasn't the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Hugh Douglas turned around the game with a sack that resulted in a fumble and Donovan McNabb passed for two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a 21-3 victory over the Buccaneers in an NFC wild card game. The Eagles (12-5) will play the New York Giants in the divisional playoffs on January 7. Philadelphia lost both meetings this season with the NFC East champions. In his first playoff game, McNabb completed 24-of-33 passes for 161 yards with an interception and rushed for 32 yards on eight carries. "We love being the underdogs. We love when people say we can't go out and win," McNabb said. "I think we opened up some eyes again this week." The loss was a bitter disappointment for the Buccaneers (10-7), who again were left out in the cold, slipping to 0-20 when the temperature is below 40 degrees. It was 29 degrees at game time at Veterans Stadium. "It's always tough after a loss, especially when you finish the year like this," Bucs coach Tony Dungy said. "Philadelphia really outplayed us today. We said coming in that they were one of the best defenses we've seen. We played Buffalo and Miami, who both have outstanding defenses. I'd put them right up there with those two as the top defenses that we've seen this year." Last season, Tampa Bay advanced to the NFC championship game and acquired receiver Keyshawn Johnson with hopes of reaching Super Bowl XXXV on its home field. But the dream ended today, thanks to the Eagles defense and McNabb. Johnson caught six passes for 106 yards, but most of that came in the fourth quarter after the outcome had virtually been decided. He had just two receptions for 24 yards in the first half. "Hopefully in the offseason, we will take a long look at what we have gone through," Johnson said. "Hopefully, the coach will look at what we're doing offensively and see how we can get more productivity." The runner-up in NFL MVP voting, McNabb said he did not fear Tampa Bay's defense because he "faces the best defense in the league in practice every week." Those words turned out to be prophetic. Although Tampa Bay is known for its defensive prowess with Pro Bowlers Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch and Donnie Abraham, the Eagles allowed the fewest points in the NFC this season and bottled up the Buccaneers, holding them to 199 yards and 11 first downs. "All week long, all you heard about was their defense," said Eagles safety Brian Dawkins. "Don't get me wrong, they have a really good defense, but we think that we have a pretty good defense here, too. After a while, all that talk about their defense gets on your nerves." Tampa Bay scored its only points on a 29-yard field goal by Martin Gramatica early in the second quarter. With three Pro Bowlers of their own, the Eagles stuffed Tampa Bay leading rusher Warrick Dunn and hounded quarterback Shaun King. Dunn had one yard on eight carries while King threw for 171 yards and was sacked four times. "Compliments to our defense," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "Anytime you hold Dunn to one yard rushing, that's a great job. They all stepped up. Hugh Douglas, I've got to point him out, the way he rushed the passer." Douglas is one of Philadelphia's Pro Bowlers and he made the play that shifted the momentum. With Tampa Bay nursing a 3-0 lead, Douglas raced in from his right end position, shoved Dunn to the side and hit King from behind, jarring the ball loose. Fellow end Mike Mamula recovered the fumble at the Tampa Bay 15 with 4:20 left in the first half. "I think momentum shifted to our favor at that point, but I couldn't have done that if the secondary wasn't back there doing their job," Douglas said. "(King) patted the ball a few times before he let it go, so you have to take your hat off to our secondary and linebackers." "We ended up with a situation where we had Warrick Dunn blocking Hugh Douglas," Dungy said. "We had a screen play off that, and we really needed Mike Alstott in there at that time, but we didn't get that communicated. That was a breakdown that really gave them momentum." On the next play, McNabb raced around right end for a 10-yard gain before he was pushed out of bounds by linebacker Jamie Duncan at the Tampa Bay 5. Three plays later, McNabb scored on a five-yard quarterback draw to give Philadelphia a 7-3 lead with 3:21 left in the half. After Tampa Bay went three-and-out, McNabb engineered an eight-play, 69-yard drive in 91 seconds. His favorite target was running back Brian Mitchell, who caught four passes for 39 yards. "They just continue to drop in their zones and I continued to drop it down to Mitch and let him work," McNabb said. McNabb connected with Charles Johnson on a 25-yard pass before hitting Na Brown with a five-yard TD toss with 12 seconds left in the half, increasing the Eagles' lead to 14-3. "Anytime you can do that before halftime, that sticks the other team like a knife," Reid said. "It also gives you a little bit of momentum going in there at the break." Displaying his improvisational skills, McNabb rolled to his right and lofted a pass in the deep right corner of the end zone for Brown, who slipped behind Abraham. "The call was a slant corner, but I came out of the huddle and saw the DB was playing inside," Brown said. "The only thing I had to do was just come out and run a good route. He kind of bit on the first route when I went inside, then I cut outside." Philadelphia opened the second half with a 15-play, 59-yard drive that lasted more than 7 1/2 minutes before David Akers missed a 36-yard field goal attempt. "We wanted to come out with points, but just to hang on to the football for that duration of time I thought was a plus," Reid said. King was sacked by defensive tackle Henry Thomas and Douglas on the Bucs' first possession of the second half, forcing them to punt. Philadelphia proceeded to drive 57 yards in nine plays. McNabb rushed for 11 yards on 3rd-and-1 to the Tampa Bay 37. An 18-yard pass intereference penalty on Abraham kept alive the drive before McNabb hit tight end Jeff Thomason with a two-yard touchdown 47 seconds into the fourth quarter for a 21-3 lead. "I'm in on all the goal-line plays where you get a chance to get open," Thomason said. "I've seen guys like Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson do those kinds of things, and I'm pretty secure with that role." Tampa Bay again went three-and-out on its next possession, but the Bucs defense came through with a big play when Abraham intercepted a pass at the Philadelphia 47 with 11:44 left. But the Bucs could not take advantage and were forced to punt again after receiver Jacquez Green was called for offensive pass interference. Tampa Bay reached the Philadelphia 17 on its next possession, but King threw an incompletion on fourth down with under four minutes left. Chris Warren, a waiver pickup from Dallas earlier this month, rushed for 82 yards on 21 carries for the Eagles. "I thought I would be watching the playoffs today," Warren said. "It feels good to be on a team with a lot of energy and confidence along with a great coaching staff." Philadelphia lost fullback Stanley Pritchett with a sprained knee ligament in the first half and Pro Bowl tight end Chad Lewis suffered a neck stinger in the third quarter and did not return. |
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