Philly wins battle of the birds, grabs elusive NFC title

PHILADELPHIA – By Sunday night, the Philadelphia Eagles were desperate, not to mention cold. Their choice as urgent as it was stark – get to the Super Bowl, finally, or face searing criticism.

In a frigid test of will and purpose, the Eagles’ time came at last. A wind chill below zero could not stop them, nor could the ghosts of their futile past. Nor, certainly, could the Atlanta Falcons.

With a 27-10 victory Sunday night, the Eagles wiped away 24 years of waiting to get back to the Super Bowl.

“This is important to us as a team,” said tight end Chad Lewis. “And it’s important to us as a city.”

With two touchdown passes and one big play after another from Donovan McNabb, they healed the past three years of frustration.

“I think we answered a lot of questions. I think we answered a lot of critics,” he said. “It was a special game. It was history.”

With a show of force in front of 67,717 frenzied faithful, who refused to be kept away by the worst of winter, they made their three-game losing streak in the NFC Championship game a trivia note.

“It even makes it more worthwhile,” said coach Andy Reid, “that we had to do it four times.”

With a defense that surrounded Michael Vick and attacked him and held him to 26 harmless yards rushing, they left no doubt about the identity of the NFC’s premier team.

“This is a long, long, long thing we had to go through,” said safety Brian Dawkins.

With dominance nearly from the start, as the snow blew off the roof of Lincoln Financial Field, they turned doubt into a roar that will carry all the way to Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Fla.

“Their backs,” said Atlanta’s Warrick Dunn, “were against the wall.”

“About two minutes into the game,” said defensive tackle Sam Rayburn, “we started thinking about how warm it is in Jacksonville.”

On a miserable day to do anything outside, the Eagles had no turnovers. Brian Westbrook rushed for 96 yards. McNabb was 17 for 26, whether with the wind or against it, twice throwing to Lewis for touchdowns. He also outrushed Vick.

The Eagles led 14-10 at halftime and never looked back. The nerves, the pressure, the awful flashbacks to the past three years never appeared. Not once.

“He did a great job of dealing with the pressure that I’m sure that they felt,” Atlanta coach Jim Mora said of McNabb. “Even though they denied it.”

The Falcons were left with the debris of wind-blown defeat. The NFL’s top rushing team had only 99 yards on the ground. They had an eight-yard punt. Vick had only four carries.

He could run, but he could not hide. He could dance, but he could not find room. He could twist and spin, but he could not break loose. He was turned into a passer, and that was not good news for the Falcons. Vick was 11 for 24 for 136 yards, no TDs, an interception and was sacked four times.

“We wanted to make him beat us with his arm,” said linebacker Jeremiah Trotter. “He hasn’t shown all year he can beat anybody with his arm.”

“They were keeping good containment and were making sure I didn’t get outside the pocket,” Vick said. “They didn’t allow our receivers to get off blocks and get downfield. They just played a complete game. They deserve everything they get.”

The Eagles rarely blitzed, instead relying on their front four to stop the rushing game and Vick.

“We made a pact,” defensive end Jevon Kearse said of the linemen, “and we stuck to it.”

One important change defensive coordinator Jim Johnson did make was to move Kearse from the left side to the right, where he could use his quickness against Vick, who prefers rolling that direction since he is left handed. Vick said he felt Kearse’s presence most of the day.

“They wanted me to try to match up my speed with his,” Kearse said. “My speed is not similar to his. But tonight, it was good enough.”

The Eagles’ defense let it be known what kind of night it would be early in the second period, when Atlanta drove to a first down at the Philadelphia 2.

Three plays lost two yards. The Falcons had to settle for a field goal. The Eagles made a statement.

The quarterback noise came from McNabb, who had borne so much of the Eagle’s pain the past three years. He had been injured for some of those games. He had been ineffective. He had lost.

Sunday was different.

First period. After Westbrook broke loose for 36 yards, McNabb threw 21 to L.J. Smith, showing the passing game was open for business no matter what the weather. Dorsey Levens bulled over from the 4 for a 7-0 lead.

Second quarter. Facing third and 11, McNabb wiggled out of three would-be sackers and found a diving Freddie Mitchell for a first down. Next play, he threw a 45-yard pass to Greg Lewis into the teeth of the wind. Then a 3-yard touchdown to Chad Lewis, who just scraped his toe on the grass as he went out of bounds. That made it 14-3.

Fourth period. He was 4 for 4 in an 11-play march to a clinching a touchdown. The wait was over. For him, his team, his city.

“There’s no relief really for me,” he said. “I’ll have relief after the Super Bowl.”