Honestly, I think the score flattered the Eagles a bit... we probably weren't 2 TDs better than the Niners today. I have to give that San Fran team and their young QB a lot of credit. For a little over 3 quarters they did a great job... This was a gutty win from the Eagles on a day that felt like we were going to watch another Eagles second half collapse.

Not this time though.

Onto headlines

A game of runs

With :41 left in the first half the Cardinals kicked a FG that was the first of 20 unanswered points into the 4th quarter. With a little over 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Eagles ripped off 23 straight points to win it. Until today the Eagles hadn't scored a second half TD in 2 games.

Big game for Buck

No Brian Westbrook, no problem.

What a huge game from Correll Buckhalter today! He was three yards shy of a 100 on the ground, where he averaged over 5 yards a carry and scored a TD. He also caught 7 passes for 89 yards. The man with bionic knees finished the day with 186 total yards and a TD. It was a Westbrook like performance and one the Eagles really needed today. The Eagles run game looked better today than it has all year. We'll have to cehck the tape but did Klecko at FB really make that much of a difference? I would say Buck is the unquestioned player of the game if not for...

The sack artist formerly known as Thomas

New name for Juqua Parker and a new level of lay as well. Juqua got his team leading 4.5th sack, he had a huge tackle for a loss in the quarter where he read a TE screen perfectly, and of course he had the big INT return for a TD that iced the game. Really the whole defensive line really started to beat the Niners in the 4th quarter, but no one played bigger than Juqua.

The rest of the boys up front were pretty productive as well. Trent Cole had the big strip, Darren Howard had a sack, and Chris Clemons had a nice day with several pressures and a fumble recovery.

Record setting day for #5

Besides just having a pretty damn good game, Donovan McNabb pass Ron Jaworski to become the franchise leader in both pass attempts and yardage.

McNabb finished the day 23/36 for 279 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT(that was clearly in part on LJ Smith). Real nice day out of McNabb.

And hey, the fade pass! McNabb to Baskett for 6. I thought McNabb couldn't throw the fade...?

NFC East just got a lot more interesting

With Dallas and Washington losing both in big upsets today, the NFC East race looks a lot more interesting now than it did yesterday. The Giants are still rolling along undefeated, but in 2 weeks their schedule will get much tougher than it has been. However, Dallas and Washington have both dropped to 4-2 and the Eagles, even at 3-3 are just a game back of them. Considering that we still have to play both teams again, they're absolutely within striking distance. Plus, after hearing so much this year about the vaunted NFC East... Two NFC West teams got wins against the East today and another gave the Eagles everything they could handle. The NFC South looks pretty damn good as well.

Overall it was an incredible day in the NFL with 5 games decided in the last seconds. Days like this remind us of why we do this every Sunday.

Eagles up at the half 17 - 16

Location: Candlestick Park - San Francisco, PA

Time: 4:15 ET

TV: FOX

Radio: 94WYSP, 610 WIP, Sirius 123

For a 49er perspective check out Niners Nation.

Gut check time for the Eagles as they travel to the west coast to take on the 2-3 49ers in what can only be termed a "must win." A win today would put the birds back at .500 heading into the bye with a string of winnable games on the horizon. A loss would pretty much bury them.

Did you know?

With 12 pass attempts & 264 yards Donovan McNabb will become the all time franchise leader in both categories.

Despite practicing all week, WR Kevin Curtis is a no go this week as he is listed as inactive for today's game. With Reggie Brown also inactive today, that leaves Desean Jackson, Hank Baskett, Jason Avant, & Greg Lewis as the teams' WR corps. I'm also expecting Lorenzo Booker to see some snaps there as well.

Joe Mays will be active for the first time this year.

The 49ers inactives are...

cornerback Reggie Smith, cornerback Shawntae Spencer, linebacker Roderick Green, linebacker Ahmad Brooks, center Cody Wallace, offensive tackle Jonas Jennings, linebacker Manny Lawson and third quarterback Jamie Martin.

Yesterday we went 4 downs with the 49er offense, today Fooch from Niners Nation returns to go 4 with the Niner defense.

You can check out my 4 downs over there.

The defense seems to pretty solid against the pass, led by a solid pass rush, but the 49er run defense has struggled. Why?

First off, the pass rush is not quite as solid as you might think.  The 49ers did manage to sack Matt Cassel 5 times last week, but this was one time where sacks do not provide a sufficient measurement.  When Cassel wasn't getting sacked he had all day to find his open receivers and at times was able to pick apart the 49ers on short passes.  As for the run defense, the 49ers have gone with what they call a "Big Sub" defense.  The defense usually consists of 4 defensive linemen, 2 linebackers and 5 defensive backs.  It creates a bend but don't break style of defense to prevent the big play.  The problem is that running backs have eaten up the interior of the defense.  The per rush average is not huge, but they get big rushes when they need them.  The problem for the 49ers defense lately, aside from the rush defense is that big plays have in fact been happening, which sort of defeats the purpose of the entire defense.  I wouldn't be surprised if Desean Jackson got free deep for a big touchdown.

Mike Nolan is a defensive guy, so three years(4 seasons?) into his tenure as head coach how do you rate the overall progress of the defense since he took over?

The talent on the field has improved by leaps and bounds.  While the 49ers did shell out a ton of money for Justin Smith and Nate Clements, both have paid off rather nicely up until recently.  Smith has seen time at 6 of the 7 DL/LB positions and Clements has been a mostly very solid corner.  However, the pass rush has remained a weakness.  When Nolan came in his goal was to transition to a 3-4 defense eventually, once they had enough linebackers.  The problem is they don't use the 3-4 as they originally planned.  The Big Sub mentioned above has been used considerably but is clearly not doing the job against good offenses.  I expected the defense to be a strength, but the last few weeks have not been pretty.

How are our old Eagle pals Michael Lewis and Takeo Spikes faring in San Fran?

It took Spikes some time to learn the defense and you could see the early struggles.  However, the last couple of weeks he's been about as good as we could possibly expect.  Against the Patriots he finished with 14 total tackles and got his second interception in as many weeks.  Patrick Willis is the playmaker on defense, but Spikes has made some big tackles.

Michael Lewis has flown under the radar in his 1+ seasons with the 49ers, but he's done exactly what they need.  He may not be a great safety in the passing game, but his support in the run game has been solid.  Of course the fact that running backs are making it to the second level for him to get the tackle is not the best thing in the world.  Overall, I've been quite pleased with his performance to date.

The Niner defense actually has quite a few names most of us are familiar with... Willis, Clements, Lewis, Spikes... but who is a guy we don't know now but may know by the end of Sunday?

The guy on defense to keep an eye on is Dashon Goldson.  Goldson was great in training camp, pulling down an interception or two every practice.  He has been pushing Mark Roman for the starting free safety job but couldn't quite nail it down.  However, in using the Big Sub defense, Goldson gets on the field fairly often for a second year safety.  His production in camp has not translated to regular season action, but I think he's on the verge of busting through.

Thanks again to Fooch from Niners Nation

Not great news, but also not really unexpected either.

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid ruled three starting offensive players out for Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers: halfback Brian Westbrook (ribs), guard Shawn Andrews (back) and wide receiver Reggie Brown (groin).

Also ruled out was backup safety J.R. Reed. If that wasn't bad enough, Reid still has questions about the availability of wide receiver Kevin Curtis (sports hernia) and defensive end Juqua Parker (knee). They were listed as questionable.

The news that Reggie Brown will be out is somewhat surprising. Reggie left practice with a groin injury early this week and has not practiced since.

On the positive side, Kevin Curtis did complete full practices this week and is traveling with the team to San Fran. Victor Abiamiri also completed all practices this week and is listed as probable.

Juqua Parker is also with the team and expected to play.

As I'm writing this I see captain nodar beat me to the punch!

Warning, looking at a fellow player could be costly...

Desean Jackson and Quintin Demps were notified by the league this week that they would be fined $10k a piece for their "celebration" after Jackson's punt return TD against the Redskins.

Their celebration consisted of crossing their arms, looking at one another, and bobbing their heads up and down. Apparently, that crossed the line!

To the NFL, the act wasn't among the "natural, spontaneous expressions of exuberance and celebratory acts" which typically are not penalized or fined by NFL authorities.

Looking at the replays Jackson and Demps apparently violated the unsportsmanlike conduct rule when "two or more players engage in prolonged, excessive, premeditated or choreographed celebrations, particularly after scoring plays."

Both players will be appealing the fine. I've obtained a copy of their official appeal to the league...

Dear Mr Goodell,

Really? 10K for that? Really?

Yours Truly,

DJ & QD