The Eagles got 2 of my goals...they played good defense on 3rd downs and they won the game. They almost got a 3rd goal. DeSean had 7 offensive touches. I wanted 8.
About not giving up any points in the last 2 minutes...how about 10? That was an awful end to the half. Even with the FG we were up 17-9 and I felt pretty good. I was glad to see the offense get into FG "range". I was hoping Akers would nail his long kick and he'd start to get some confidence back. Plus we'd have a 20-9 lead. What I didn't count on on was the disaster that ensued. It seemed like half of San Francisco got penetration on the play and that meant an easy block. The ball bounced perfectly and they ran it back for a TD.
I went from feeling pretty good to pretty awful. That was a sucker punch and then some. The more I thought about that the madder I got. Thank god halftime is only 12 minutes long.
I came unglued when the 49ers moved the ball so easily in the 3rd Qtr. Our season flashed before my eyes. I started thinking about who to fire and who to cut. I started thinking about another 8-8 type season. But then we held SF to a FG on their 2nd drive. That "only" put us down 9, 26-17. Our offense came on the field and moved the ball right down to the red zone. McNabb got picked off and I started to go into another emotional tailspin, but then I begged the defense to wake up and make a play. They forced a 3 & out. I immediately felt confident. SF hadn't really stopped our offense all day. We went right down the field and scored a TD to cut it to 26-24. The pressure was back on them. The defense forced another 3 & out. The offense moved down for a FG that gave us the lead. The D got the ball back on an INT by Q and we posted a FG to go up 30-26. This was suddenly getting fun. The defense got the ball back via a fumble and we got another FG. We now had a 33-26 advantage and SF was desperate.
Juqua picked off a pass from O'Sullivan and ran it back 55 yards for a TD. Game over at 40-26. That felt so, so good. What a glorious way to wrap up a glorious day. The Eagles won without Westy and the starting WRs. The Skins blew a game to the Rams. The Cowboys tried to steal a game from the Cardinals, but couldn't do it. Suddenly things don't look so dire. The Giants are sitting pretty, but have only played one division game. Dallas and Washington are now 4-2. We're 3-3, just a game back. We are back in the position of controlling our own destiny. We could still play mediocre football and miss the playoffs. This win over SF proves nothing in and of itself. It just put us in a position where we are back in the hunt. Thank god for that.
I went from punching a pizza box about 6pm to being on cloud 9 about 730pm. Amazing what a difference a little time makes. The Eagles woke up and took care of business, possibly saving the season. Let's hope that win turns out to be important. They can make it count by going out and winning games when we return from the bye. Don't rest on your laurels, boys. That win means nothing if you don't go build on it. That was the foundation, not the finishing touches.
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