Buckhalter and Juqua Save the Day

If not for those two players, who made massive play after massive play, this season would be a lost cause. The Eagles played 29 minutes and 59 seconds worth of excellent football in the first half, only to see a field goal blocked by the Niners and returned for a touchdown. San Fran then came out and put 10 unanswered points on the board in the 3rd quarter to head into the 4th with a 26-17 lead. I don't know about you, but I thought the game was over.

It's usually not so easy to point to a couple of players in football and say they won the game, but today it was obviously Parker and Buckhalter. Juqua sealed the game with a 55-yard INT return for a touchdown, but he also had a sack, a huge tackle for a loss on an end-around, and he along with Cole absolutely worked over the Niners line for the final 15 minutes. Jim Johnson didn't have to blitz because the line was getting pressure rushing 4 and even 3 sometimes. The defense was more than stout down the stretch.

On offense, Correll Buckhalter simply would not go down. His final stat line was Westbrookian: 18 carries for 93 yards and a TD, 7 catches for 85 yards. He gave the Eagles the extra fight they needed and really carried the offense in the second half, when they couldn't go anywhere else with the ball. McNabb's stat line was good, DeSean saw plenty of action and made the most of it. Hank Baskett and L.J. Smith, two forgotten men, even caught TD's, but it was Buckhalter picking up Westbrook's slack on offense that kept the chains moving and powered this offense.

It truly was not only an amazing fourth quarter, but a critical one. The Cowboys just lost on a blocked punt in overtime, the Skins lost to the Rams earlier today (isn't that the funniest thing you've heard in a while?), so the Eagles pick up a game on two of the teams they're chasing in the NFC East. The Giants play tomorrow night.

Still, some questionable calls from Andy, although while I knew Akers wasn't going to make that 50+ yard attempt before the half, I certainly didn't think it would get blocked and returned for a TD, it was a bad call either way you look at it.

3-3 heading into the bye is much better than 2-4, so let's take it, lick our wounds and get everyone healthy.

Offensive Player Of The Game: Buck
Defensive Player Of The Game: Juqua
Special Teams Player of The Game: Demps (63-yard return)