Sep 8, 2008 12:52 am US/Eastern
McNabb Shines In Blowout Win Over Rams, 38-3
PHILADELPHIA (AP) ―
This is what a healthy Donovan McNabb looks like.
McNabb threw for 361
yards and three touchdowns, rookie DeSean Jackson had an impressive debut and
the Philadelphia Eagles routed the St. Louis Rams 38-3 on Sunday.
McNabb was 21-for-33,
including a 90-yard TD pass to Hank Baskett. Jackson, the first Eagles rookie wide
receiver to start the season opener in 18 years, had six catches for 106 yards
and returned a punt 60 yards to set up a field goal.
Coming off their second
last-place finish in three years, the Eagles played like a team that expects to
make a championship run. The offense
racked up 522 total yards and the defense was dominant.
The Rams, 3-13 last season,
were downright awful again.
Marc Bulger didn't have much
time to throw and Steven Jackson hardly had any room to run against Philadelphia's stifling
defense.
St. Louis
had 109 total yards through three quarters.
McNabb, the five-time
Pro Bowl quarterback, is starting a season healthier than he's been in years.
He picked apart the Rams' secondary, spreading the ball around to a group of
receivers that didn't seem to miss injured starters Kevin Curtis (sports
hernia) and Reggie Brown (hamstring).
Greg Lewis had five
receptions for 104 yards, Baskett caught two passes for 102 yards and each of
the four wideouts had a catch longer than 30 yards. McNabb also tossed TD
passes of 5 yards to L.J. Smith and 1 yard to Brian Westbrook.
McNabb hasn't played an
injury-free season since leading the Eagles to the Super Bowl in 2004. He
missed the final seven games in '05 because of a sports hernia and sat out the
last six games in '06 with a knee injury. McNabb started slow last season after
returning quickly following surgery to repair a torn knee ligament. But he finished strong after ankle and thumb
injuries cost him two games late in the season.
Right from the start,
this was vintage McNabb minus the scrambling. He had plenty of zip on his
passes and threw with pinpoint accuracy.
McNabb connected with Jackson for 47 yards down
the right sideline on the second play from scrimmage. Jackson, generously listed at 5 feet 10, was
perfectly covered by Tye Hill, but made a leaping catch to the Rams' 33. An
unsportsmanlike penalty on St. Louis'
sideline moved the ball to the 18.
Three plays later,
Westbrook scored on a shovel pass for a 7-0 lead.
McNabb hit a wide-open
Jason Avant for 31 yards to the St.
Louis 31 on third-and-12 to keep the next drive going.
Smith caught his TD pass in the back of the end zone to make it 14-0.
Pinned at their own 8
with less than two minutes left in the first half, the Eagles seemed content to
run out the clock as Westbrook ran twice for only 2 yards. Then McNabb found
Baskett streaking down the left side on third down. Baskett caught the ball in
stride near the 40 and ran untouched the rest of the way to make it 21-0.
The Rams didn't pass midfield until late in the second
quarter. Even that play didn't end well.
Steven Jackson took a crushing hit from Sheldon Brown after a 24-yard catch to
the Eagles' 47. Brown knocked Jackson's
helmet off with the hard blow to the head. But Jackson got right up and swung his dreadlocks
around to show he was fine.
First Quarter
Phi--Westbrook 1 pass from McNabb (Akers kick), 12:16.
Phi--L.Smith 5 pass from McNabb (Akers kick), 1:53.
Second Quarter
Phi--Baskett 90 pass from McNabb (Akers kick), :47.
Third Quarter
Phi--Hunt 1 run (Akers kick), 5:45.
Phi--FG Akers 23, 2:29.
Fourth Quarter
Phi--Westbrook 6 run (Akers kick), 12:06.
StL--FG J.Brown 46, 9:00.
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StL Phi
First downs 8 28
Total Net Yards 166 522
Rushes-yards 15-36 32-108
Passing 130 414
Punt Returns 1-(-2) 9-97
Kickoff Returns 5-90 1-15
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 14-26-0 26-39-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 4-28 0-0
Punts 10-48.5 4-41.5
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 9-66 4-41
Time of Possession 24:50 35:10
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--St. Louis, Jackson 14-40, D.Hall 1-(minus 4).
Philadelphia, Westbrook 19-91, Booker 5-9, Buckhalter 2-5, Hunt
2-3, McNabb 1-3, Kolb 3-(minus 3).
PASSING--St. Louis, Bulger 14-26-0-158. Philadelphia, McNabb
21-33-0-361, Kolb 5-6-0-53.
RECEIVING--St. Louis, McMichael 5-77, Jackson 3-34, D.Hall 3-13,
Looker 1-21, Holt 1-9, Bennett 1-4. Philadelphia, D.Jackson 6-106,
Lewis 5-104, L.Smith 5-39, Avant 3-45, Baskett 2-102, Celek 2-15,
Westbrook 2-1, Hunt 1-2.
MISSED FIELD GOALS--None.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
