Oct 13, 2008 2:28 pm US/Eastern
McNabb Sets Marks As Eagles D Dominates 49ers
Eagles 40, 49ers 26
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―
Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia defense wouldn't allow a bizarre
blocked field goal to ruin an otherwise dominant day.
McNabb passed for 280
yards and two touchdowns without his top two receivers and his best running
back, and the Eagles' aggressive defenders forced three turnovers during a
23-point fourth quarter in Philadelphia's 40-26 victory over the San Francisco
49ers on Sunday.
Donald Strickland
returned a blocked field goal 41 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the
first half for the 49ers (2-4), who went ahead 26-17 in the third quarter. They
couldn't sustain that momentum in their third straight loss against a Philadelphia defense that
repeatedly made stunning plays in the final minutes.
After David Akers'
38-yard field goal put Philadelphia (3-3) ahead
with 7:46 to play, Quintin Mikell's interception return to the San Francisco 7 set up another short field
goal. Trent Cole then swatted the ball out of J.T. O'Sullivan's hands, and
Chris Clemons recovered to set up another field goal with 1:10 left.
San Francisco got past midfield with one last
drive, but O'Sullivan threw a pass directly to Juqua Parker, who returned it 55
yards for a score with 38 seconds left.
Correll Buckhalter
rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown while filling in for injured All-Pro Brian
Westbrook. The Eagles also played without injured receivers Kevin Curtis and
Reggie Brown.
McNabb barely seemed
affected while going 23-for-36, easily racking up the 12 pass attempts and 264
yards passing he needed to pass Ron Jaworski atop the Eagles' career list in
both categories.
DeSean Jackson, the
electric Eagles rookie who starred at Cal
across the Bay last fall, had six catches for 98 yards. Hank Baskett and L.J.
Smith caught TD passes as the Eagles avoided falling further out of the race in
the tough NFC East.
O'Sullivan passed for
199 yards and Frank Gore rushed for 101 and a score for the 49ers, who fell to
1-3 at home in another mistake-filled performance that included 10 penalties.
Joe Nedney kicked four field goals when the offense repeatedly stalled -- until
the fourth quarter, when it completely fell apart.
Philadelphia added three sacks to its
league-leading total, while holding the Niners to just one offensive touchdown.
Eagles coach Andy Reid
won his 99th career game, but he also added another incident to his long
history of debatable game management. He elected to try a 54-yard field goal 1
second before halftime. Ray McDonald went unblocked through the line and
swatted down the attempt by Akers, who hasn't made a kick longer than 44 yards
in his last 10 attempts since Sept. 30, 2007.
Strickland easily
returned it for a score, sending San
Francisco to the locker room trailing just 17-16. The
momentum shift extended into the second half, when the 49ers quickly drove 78
yards for Gore's 6-yard TD run.
Smith caught a 2-yard
TD pass from McNabb with 11:38 to play, and Akers added a field goal moments
later to put the Eagles ahead 27-26. Egged on by his players, 49ers coach Mike
Nolan challenged the call, thinking the kick missed, but replays showed nothing
remotely conclusive on a kick that sailed higher than the goalposts.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
