|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- It was a tale of two halves, but it ended up being the worst of times for the Washington Redskins. Eric Bieniemy's 11-yard touchdown run with 3:17 left in the fourth quarter lifted the Philadelphia Eagles past the mistake-prone Washington Redskins, 35-28, in an NFC East matchup. Washington committed its sixth turnover of the game and fourth of the second half when wide receiver Albert Connell reeled in a catch, but defensive back Al Harris stripped the ball with 5:49 left in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia capitalized on the turnover to take a 35-28 lead on Bieniemy's scoring run. Rookie Donovan McNabb, making his first NFL start, connected with tight end Jed Weaver on the conversion pass. "I never have in my mind that we're going to lose any game," McNabb said. "We definitely can feed off it and hopefully take it to another level the second half of the season." Washington got the ball back on its own 36 and drove the ball to the Philadelphia 45, where it faced 4th-and-10. But Brad Johnson kept the drive alive with an 11-yard pass to tight end Stephen Alexander. Johnson completed a six-yard pass to Michael Westbrook on 2nd-and-10 with 1:53 left. After an incompletion forced 4th-and-4, Johnson was sacked by blitzing linebacker Mike Caldwell. "This was not a pretty win, but we'll certainly take it," Philadelphia coach Andy Reid said. "Our defense was able to come up with six takeaways and our secondary was really flying around out there." McNabb, the second pick in the draft, completed only 8-of-21 passes for 60 yards and had nine carries for 49 yards. Duce Staley had 28 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown and Allen Rossum added an 89-yard kickoff return for a score. The Eagles (3-7) snapped a three-game losing streak. Johnson was 18-for-33 for 313 yards and two touchdowns, but threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles. "We did some positive things, but it was the turnovers that really hurt us in the end," Johnson said. "That just can't happen." Despite the loss, Washington (5-4) remained tied for first place in the NFC East with the New York Giants, who lost to the Indianapolis Colts. The Redskins host the Giants next week. Leading 21-13 at the intermission, the Redskins' error-filled second half began on their first possession. Johnson was sacked by end Mike Mamula, causing a fumble which defensive tackle Hollis Thomas recovered and returned to the Washington 8. Four plays later, Norm Johnson kicked a 20-yard field goal to cut Washington's lead to 21-16. Washington gave the ball right back on its next drive. After going from their own 21 to the Philadelphia 43, Connell fumbled after catching a first-down pass and Mamula recovered it. The Eagles failed to capitalize on the miscue and were forced to punt. Philadelphia took the lead on its next possession as McNabb engineered a six-play, 60-yard drive, helped by his 12-yard scamper to the Washington 33. Three plays later, Staley ran off right end for a 20-yard touchdown run with eight seconds remaining in the third quarter. McNabb ran it in for the conversion to give the Eagles a 24-21 lead. Washington got the ball back on its own 37, but Johnson's pass on first down was picked off by Caldwell and returned to the Washington 29. The mistake led to Johnson's fourth field goal of the game from 30 yards out and a 27-21 lead for Philadelphia. "I don't believe that we're snake-bitten," Washington coach Norv Turner said. "You make your own breaks. When it's going good, it's because you're making plays. We just turned the football over. It was a lot of poor play on our part." But the Redskins struck right back on two long completions from Johnson to Michael Westbrook. Johnson connected with Westbrook for 48 yards on first down and Westbrook beat defensive back Tim Hauck on the next play for a 43-yard touchdown to give Washington a 28-27 lead. Stephon Davis, who entered today's game third in the NFC in rushing, had touchdown runs of two yards and one yard in the first half. He finished with 122 yards on 25 carries. Westbrook had four catches for 152 yards on the day. Connell caught six passes for 88 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. The Redskins entered the game with the NFL's worst defense and held Philadelphia to 236 total yards, despite missing 17 tackles. Johnson's 13 points moved past Jan Stenerud into sole possesion of fifth place on the NFL's all-time scoring list with 1,712 points.
|
