Brian Westbrook ran for over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career this past season and he also caught more than 60 passes for third consecutive season.  Westbrook played in 15 games this season (14 starts) and he carried the ball 240 times for 1,217 yards (5.1 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  He also caught 77 passes for 699 yards (9.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  For his career, Westbrook has played in 70 games (49 starts) and he has carried the ball 736 times for 3,452 yards (4.7 ypc) with 20 TD runs.  He also has caught 257 passes for 2,436 yards (9.5 avg) with 18 TD catches.

Correll Buckhalter finally stayed healthy and he played well this season.  Buckhalter played in all 16 games this season and he carried the ball 83 times for 345 yards (4.2 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 24 passes for 256 yards (10.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  For his career, Buckhalter has played in 46 games (12 starts) and he’s carried the ball 338 times for 1,473 yards (4.4 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also has caught 47 passes for 519 yards (11.0 avg) with 2 TD catches.

Ryan Moats didn’t get too much playing time this year.  He played in only 8 games and carried the ball 22 times for 69 yards (3.1 ypc).  For his career, Moats has played in 15 games (1 start) and he’s carried the ball 77 times for 347 yards (4.5 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also has caught 4 passes for 7 yards (1.8 avg).

Reno Mahe did most of his work on special teams this year.  He played in 12 games this season and carried the ball 4 times for 18 yards (4.5 ypc).  He also caught 5 passes for 23 yards (4.6 avg).  For his career, Mahe has played in 40 games (1 start) and he’s carried the ball 47 times for 196 yards (4.2 ypc).  He also has caught 32 passes for 219 yards (6.8 avg).

Fullback Thomas Tapeh did most of the blocking for the halfbacks on the Eagles.  He only carried the ball 5 times for 9 yards (1.8 ypc) this season.  He also caught 16 passes for 85 yards (5.3 avg) with 1 TD catch.  For his career, Tapeh has played in 23 games (8 starts) and he’s carried the ball 17 times for 51 yards (3.0 ypc).  He’s has also caught 18 passes for 100 yards (5.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.

The offense played great for the Eagles when they had the ball which wasn’t often as the Saints held the ball for 35:24 of this football game.  Things were looking good for the Eagles in the 4th quarter when they recovered a Reggie Bush fumbles on their own 44 yard line, but the Eagles went backwards and wound up punting the ball…..they never got it back as the Saints pushed them around running the football to eat the rest of the clock.

Brian Westbrook had another fantastic football game as he was unstoppable last night!  Westbrook ran the ball 13 times for 116 yards (8.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Donte Stallworth got some revenge on the Saints as he caught 3 passes for 100 yards including a 75-yard TD reception.  Reggie Brown was also solid with 3 grabs for 76 yards.  Jeff Garcia was highly efficient as he completed 15 of 30 passes for 240 yards with a TD pass.

The defense didn’t play well for the Eagles as the Saints ran all over them.  The Saints ran the ball 37 times for 208 yards (5.6 ypc).  The Saints also completed 20 of 32 passes for 227 net yards passing.  A couple of the Eagles came to play on defense as DE Trent Cole had 9 tackles and a sack.  DT Darwin Walker also had a solid game with 5 tackles and 2 sacks. 

The Eagles should never have punted the ball at the end of the game, but if they would have played better on defense they would have won this game because the Eagles were hitting on all cylinders on offense.  They will have the whole off-season to think about it.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270113018

Andy Reid might have done his best job ever this season.  When Donovan McNabb went down, everyone thought the Eagles were toast….not so fast my friend.  Andy Reid switched a couple things around and went on a winning streak with Jeff Garcia to get to the playoffs.  The Eagles finished 10-6 and have already won a playoff game which is amazing.  For his career, Reid is 80-48 (62.5%) during the regular season and 8-5 in the post season.

This should be a great game to watch as both teams have great offenses and questionable defenses.  Both teams have great storylines as the Eagles got hot after Donovan McNabb got injured and Jeff Garcia took over.  The Saints have re-invigorated a city that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina before last season started. 

The Eagles will lean heavily on the running game with Brian Westbrook against a poor Saints run defense that is allowing 128.9 yards rushing per game this season which ranks #23 in the NFL.  Saints LBs Scott Shanle, Mark Simoneau and Scott Fujita will be under siege all day long as they try to contain Westbrook, both running and when he catches passes.  This is a huge mis-match that the Eagles are sure to exploit, early & often.  Jeff Garcia will attack the Saints safeties with LJ Smith over the middle.  This is another mis-match for the Eagles offense.  Donte’ Stallworth will be motivated to have a good game against the team that jettisoned him before the season started and he still has that big time speed to get deep. 

The Saints will also look to run the football with Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush.  The Saints running backs have too much speed for the Eagles linebacking corps to deal with.  The Eagles are scared of Reggie Bush coming out of the backfield on passing plays  against Dhani Jones and rookie Omar Gaither.  Look for the Saints to adjust their passing game to attack Roderick Hood who’s starting in place of Lito Sheppard who dislocated his elbow last week.  The strength of the Saints passing attack is that they will use anyone, including Terrance Copper and Devery Henderson as they will be matched up against the nickel and dime backs of the Eagles.  Rookie Marques Colston could also have a big game.  Drew Brees has to always know where Brian Dawkins is on the field as he’s the big playmaker on the Eagles defense.

If this game comes down to a big kick, the Eagles have a big advantage as the ancient John Carney might not be able to hit the long ones the way that David Akers can.

As well as Sean Payton has coached this is his first playoff game.  Andy Reid is a playoff veteran that has an 8-5 post season record.

I think the home crowd will give the Saints the lift they need to win this high scoring football game by a field goal.  I would not be surprised if the Eagles won this game either as they are pretty hot right now.

The Philadelphia Eagles have three starting caliber QBs on their roster and that paid off when Donovan McNabb went down.  McNabb was having an awesome season when he got hurt.  McNabb started the first 10 games of the season and he completed 180 of 316 passes (57%) for 2,647 yards with 18 TD passes and 6 interceptions (95.5 QB Rating).  He also ran the ball 32 times for 212 yards (6.6 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  For his career, McNabb has played in 104 games (98 starts) and he completed 1,898 of 3,259 passes (58.2%) for 22,080 yards with 152 TD passes and 72 interceptions (85.2 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 447 times for 2,726 yards (6.1 ypc) with 24 TD runs.

Jeff Garcia saved the Eagles season with his fine play.  Garcia played in 8 games (6 starts) and he completed 116 of 188 passes (61.7%) for 1,309 yards with 10 TD passes and 2 interceptions (95.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 25 times for 87 yards (3.5 ypc).  For his career, Garcia has played in 99 games (92 starts) and he’s completed 1,811 of 2,973 passes (60.9%) for 20,385 yards with 136 TD passes and 73 interceptions (86.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 395 times for 1,878 yards (4.8 ypc) with 24 TD runs.

A.J. Feeley returned to the Eagles and played well in his limited time on the field.  He appeared in 2 games this season and he completed 26 of 38 passes (68.4%) for 342 yards with 3 TD passes (122.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball once for 3 yards.  For his career, Feeley has played in 20 games (13 starts) and he’s completed 313 of 562 passes (55.7%) for 3,389 yards with 22 TD passes and 21 interceptions (71.1 QB Rating).  He’s also carried the ball 27 times for 22 yards (0.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.

The Eagles played a good game but some heroics were needed to win this game.  Most of them were performed by Brian Westbrook, but I’ll get into that later.  The Eagles were coasting through three quarters, but then the Giants had a 4th quarter drive that covered 80 yards on 13 plays and resulted in a TD that tied the score at 20-20.  Then Jeff Garcia and the gang answered with a 10 play, 46 yard drive that ended with David Akers hitting a game-winning 38 yard field goal as time expired.

Jeff Garcia didn’t have his greatest game, but he made big throws when he needed them.  He completed 17 of 31 passes for 153 yards with a TD pass.  Brian Westbrook was the star of the show on offense as he carried the ball 20 times for 141 yards (7.1 ypc) and a TD run.  Reggie Brown led the way for the Eagles with 7 grabs for 73 yards.  Donte’ Stallworth only caught 3 passes for 41 yards, but one of the catches was for a TD complete with a Heisman pose….which didn’t make much sense to me.

The Eagles played decent defense for three quarters, before allowing the Giants to tie the game with a long TD drive.  The Eagles also had big problems trying to stop Tiki Barber as he carried the ball 26 times for 137 yards (5.3 ypc).

The Eagles advance to play “America’s New Team” the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270107021