Some Fourth Quarter Mojo

Wow. That game was excruciating. The Eagles looked absolutely awesome in the first half. They had 15 first half first downs. McNabb was way over 200 yards passing. Everything was right.

Everybody was getting excited about how explosive this team is. Before the game, my buddy Mike Lombardi told me he thinks the Birds are just like the Saints - explosive, but with a defense that's a bit shaky. And the Eagles looked just about that good into the third quarter.

And then.... nothing.

It was like they just shut down. Maybe Brian Dawkins said something on the Denver sideline. Maybe the notorisously streaky McNabb just hit a cold sttretch. Maybe they missed the injured Jamal Jackson a lot (this was definitely part of it).

Donovan completed just five of his last 16 passes. The Broncos made big play after big play. They killed the Birds on wide receiver screens. Tackling was sketchy again. Aye aye aye, this game was spiraling out of their grasp.

All of a sudden, everyone's nerves were frayed.

But this year's Eagles seem to have found some fourth quarter mojo. For the third time in their six game winning streak, they staged a fourth quarter game winning drive. When the Broncos had all the momentum, the Eagles rose up and and won the game. Jeremy Maclin made the huge sideline catch to put them in position for David Akers' game winner.

It isn't easy to have a whiplash-like momentum swing against you in the course of a game, recover and then turn it back around. That tells me something.

Hard to believe that two months ago everyone was talking about the Birds' inability to win close games. They've done it a bunch lately and it's another reason to get excited coming down the home stretch of the season.