During the third quarter on Sunday, Philadelphia safety Quintin Mikell detected a way to awaken a somnolent game against San Diego.
He had spotted a weakness in the Chargers' blocking scheme on field goals. The line seemed to pay too much attention to the Eagles' interior rush, leaving a gap between the tight end and the wingback.
"I think I can get it on the right side," Mikell told John Harbaugh, coach of Philadelphia's much-criticized special teams.
This kind of chatter occurs all the time during games. Coaches often learn to ignore such bravado. But Mikell was not reckless with his confidence.
"You can trust him," Harbaugh said.
So with 2 minutes 37 seconds remaining and Philadelphia trailing Harbaugh sent Mikell crashing off the right edge of the Eagles' rush. Nate Kaeding had been perfect on 11 field-goal attempts for San Diego before this 40-yard kick, but Mikell raced in untouched and swatted it away.
The ball bounced more like an Australian Rules football than an American football, straight into the arms of Philadelphia cornerback Matt Ware, who returned it 65 yards for a touchdown.
Ware reached the end zone with 2:25 left, giving the Eagles a 20-17 victory that restored the reputation of Philadelphia's foundering special teams, bailed out a moribund Eagles offense and ratified the effort of a newly invigorated defense.
Never before had Philadelphia returned a blocked field-goal attempt for a touchdown.
In this unlikely manner, Philadelphia improved to 4-2 and won for the seventh consecutive time after a bye week under coach Andy Reid. This is when the Eagles have been at their best in recent seasons, revived and refreshed after a week off and front-running down the stretch in the National Football Conference.
It is impossible to know whether that will happen again. Philadelphia's ambitious offense has become unbalanced and uncertain, scoring only one touchdown in the past two games. The running game, which delivered 24 yards on 14 carries Sunday, has grown unreliable, ignored, invisible.
Quarterback Donovan McNabb is playing with a sports hernia and throwing erratically. On its lone touchdown drive Sunday, which culminated with a 4-yard pass to Terrell Owens and a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, Philadelphia grew so disorganized with play selection that it used all three timeouts allotted for the half.
That left the Eagles unable to stop the clock and inexcusably throwing the ball in the middle of the field instead of to the sideline or the end zone as the second quarter expired at the San Diego 4-yard line.
"I blew it," Reid said.
Yet Philadelphia won again, no matter how inelegantly, and remains the team to beat in the NFC East, which it has won four consecutive seasons.
"We'll take 'em any way we can get 'em," middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter said.
Trotter made nine tackles Sunday as Philadelphia restricted the outside rushing of San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson. The Eagles forced Tomlinson, perhaps the NFL's top running back, toward the middle, where he managed a career-low 7 yards on 17 carries. He failed to score a rushing touchdown for the first time in 19 games.
"He's got great vision," said Jim Johnson, Philadelphia's defensive coordinator. "If he can get outside, he can take it all the way. That's what we were worried about."
After playing porously and leaving the Eagles trailing by 17-0 in the previous two games, Philadelphia's defense regained its familiar unassailability. San Diego (3-3) had first-and-goal on the Philadelphia 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter but managed only a field goal and a tenuous 17-10 lead after a holding penalty and a sack.
Once Philadelphia moved ahead with its blocked kick, San Diego reached the Eagles' 19-yard line on a pass to receiver Reche Caldwell, only to have the ball stripped by cornerback Sheldon Brown. Defensive tackle Darwin Walker recovered for Philadelphia.
The game's decisive play, though, was provided by Philadelphia's special teams, which have struggled to return kicks and have too often provided opponents with inviting field position.
"It was time for us to make a play," Ware said.
On Kaeding's 40-yard attempt, Philadelphia cornerback Rod Hood overpowered the wingback on the right side and defensive end Juqua Thomas accordioned the tight end. That left Mikell to storm untouched through the crease.
"Like the Red Sea opening up," Mikell said.
Ware fielded the swatted ball like a shortstop and sprinted down the left sideline, running toward the crowd noise in the end zone.
"I had to go all the way," Ware said.
He did, and bitter defeat for Philadelphia became improbable victory.
Seahawks 13, Cowboys 10
In Seattle, Jordan Babineaux intercepted Drew Bledsoe's sideline pass with 5 seconds left and Josh Brown kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Seahawks over Dallas.
The Seahawks tied it with 40 seconds left on Matt Hasselbeck's 1-yard TD pass to tight end Ryan Hannam. Seattle (5-2) then won on Brown's long kick after Babineaux intercepted the pass intended for Terry Glenn and returned it 25 yards.
Giants 24, Broncos 23
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Eli Manning threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer with 5 seconds left to lift New York past Denver.
Manning finished 23-of-42 for 214 yards and two touchdowns for the Giants (4-2), who trailed from midway through the second quarter until the final drive. Manning also connected with Plaxico Burress on a first-quarter scoring play.
Vikings 23, Packers 20
In Minneapolis, Paul Edinger kicked a career-long 56-yard field goal as time ran out, lifting Minnesota past Green Bay.
After losing their last two games by a combined 58-13 score and allegations of sexual misconduct by several players on a boat party emerging, the Vikings (2-4) trailed 17-0 in the third quarter and appeared headed for another defeat.
But Daunte Culpepper, who went 23-for-31 for 280 yards and two TDs with no interceptions, rallied Minnesota.
Green Bay's Ryan Longwell tied it at 20 with 24 seconds remaining on a 39-yard kick. After the kickoff, Culpepper threw a 14-yard pass to Mewelde Moore and a 12-yard pass to Marcus Robinson _ who stepped out and stopped the clock with 2 seconds left.
Colts 38, Texans 20
In Houston, Peyton Manning was 21-of-27 for 237 yards and two touchdowns, and Edgerrin James ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns to held Indianapolis improve to 7-0 for the first time in franchise history.
Colts head coach Tony Dungy became the 34th NFL coach to win 100 games, while the Colts won for the 70th time since 1999, tops in the league.
Redskins 52, 49ers 17
In Landover, Maryland, Mark Brunell completed 13 of 20 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns and Washington (4-2) piled up 448 yards and scored on seven of its first nine possessions to snap a two-game losing streak.
Clinton Portis ran 19 times for 101 yards and three touchdowns, Mike Sellers caught scoring passes of 2 and 19 yards, and Santana Moss had a 32-yard TD reception and finished with five catches for 112 yards, his fourth 100-yard game in five weeks.
Rams 28, Saints 17
In St. Louis, Steven Jackson had a pair of short scoring runs and Kevin Curtis scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 5-yard reverse with 5:58 to go for the Rams (3-4).
A pair of failed gadget plays came back to haunt the Saints (2-5), who squandered a 14-point first-quarter lead and have lost three in a row. A quarterback sneak on a fake field goal on fourth-and-1 was stopped for no gain near the end of the third quarter and Donte' Stallworth's fumble on a fourth-quarter reverse led to the go-ahead score.
Lions 13, Browns 10
In Cleveland, Jeff Garcia, dropped by the Browns after one tumultuous season, ran for a touchdown and Jason Hanson kicked two field goals to lead Detroit (3-3).
Garcia, making his first start this season in place of Joey Harrington, was 22-of-34 for 210 yards and didn't turn the ball over. Garcia missed Detroit's first five games with a broken left leg.
Bears 10, Ravens 6
In Chicago, Kyle Orton threw a first-quarter touchdown pass to Marc Edwards, and Thomas Jones ran for 83 of his 139 yards in the final period for Chicago (3-3).
Tank Johnson helped seal the victory in rainy conditions with two fourth-quarter sacks of Ravens quarterback Anthony Wright on third-down plays.
Raiders 38, Bills 17
In Oakland, California, LaMont Jordan ran for 122 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, and Randy Moss added a 22-yard TD catch after being listed as doubtful to play for the Raiders.
Kerry Collins, sacked on Oakland's opening drive and jeered afterward, completed nine of 10 passes on consecutive touchdown drives late in the second quarter and early in the third for the Raiders (2-4). He finished 19-for-27 for 261 yards to help Oakland scored more than 20 points for the first time all season.
Cardinals 20, Titans 10
In Tempe, Arizona, Josh McCown threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald with 5:20 remaining to help Phoenix beat Tennessee.
David Macklin returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown and Arizona turned three Tennessee turnovers into 17 points.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
RSS