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Eagles explode offensively to rout Lions

Sep 23, 2007 - 11:06 PM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- For one day, Donovan McNabb silenced his critics.

McNabb threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns and Brian Westbrook also enjoyed a huge game as the Philadelphia Eagles rolled to a 56-21 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

After struggling in first two games and saying in an HBO interview that black quarterbacks are held to a higher standard than their white counterparts, McNabb looked like his five-time Pro Bowl self.

"That wasn't even part of my mind-set," McNabb said. "With everything that happened with the whole HBO deal and the reaction to it, we've still got to play football.

"I think now people are getting to see the team that we all talked about and hopefully, we'll continue to feed off of this."

There were some boos when McNabb was introduced before the game.

"I didn't pay much attention to that," McNabb said. "The team heard it. The boos turned to cheers as the game continued on."

McNabb completed 14-of-15 passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, when the Eagles scored on their first five possessions to race to a huge lead. The Eagles had managed just one TD in their first two games.

"I felt the same way in the previous two games, it's just that things were a little off," McNabb said. "I saw everything in the previous two weeks that I saw today and it was just execution."

Detroit coach Rod Marinelli was familiar with McNabb from his days as a defensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"People wanted to question (McNabb), but I didn't," Marinelli said. " I've played him too many times while down in Tampa. He's a tremendous, tremendous athlete. He's a tremendous player and he's got the heart of a warrior. He proved that today."

McNabb's favorite target was Kevin Curtis, who tied an NFL record with 205 receiving yards in a first half. Curtis had TD catches of 68, 12 and 43 yards in the half.

"I think (Curtis) did a great job," McNabb said. "When a guy's hot like that, you stay with him. It was due to (Detroit's) coverage."

Curtis finished with 11 receptions for 221 yards.

Westbrook also showed few signs of a gimpy left knee. The speedy running back had TD runs of 25 and five yards to go along with a 43-yard scoring reception in the first half.

"There's no concern," Westbrook said. "I think the training staff has done a great job trying to get me back on the field. I had faith that I was going to play."

Westbrook rushed for 110 yards and had five catches for 111 yards before leaving in the third quarter with bruised ribs.

"They feel all right," Westbrook said. "Thankfully, they're not broken."

In the first half, the Eagles (1-2) rolled up 474 of their 536 total yards.

McNabb wasted no time on the Eagles' first possession as he led a four-play, 56-yard drive. Westbrook capped the march with his 25-yard run around the left side.

After Kevin Jones tied it for the Lions with a two-yard TD run, McNabb engineered a 10-play, 77-yard scoring drive with Westbrook again capping it with a five-yard TD.

Detroit (2-1) went three-and-out on its next possession and McNabb then struck quickly the next time he touched the ball.

McNabb hooked up with Curtis on a 68-yard TD pass deep down the middle on the first play from scrimmage that gave the Eagles a 21-7 advantage. McNabb went 8-of-9 for 159 yards in the opening quarter.

"It felt great just to come out and explode and go off like we did," Curtis said.

The McNabb-Curtis show continued in the second quarter. First, McNabb found Curtis for a 12-yard score, then a defensive breakdown down the left sideline led to a 43-yard score which made it 35-7.

"(Curtis) ran the routes well and Donovan connected with him well," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "(Detroit) was playing off coverage on a couple of those plays and on a couple of (other plays), they were trying to bang Curtis around and he was a bit quicker than they were."

Jon Kitna tried to mount a comeback for the Lions. He found Shaun McDonald for an 11-yard scoring strike, before Roy Williams turned a short completion into a 91-yard score, pulling the Lions within 35-21.

However, Westbrook took a short pass from McNabb and broke several tackles on his way to a 43-yard touchdown on the first play after the two-minute warning to give the Eagles a 42-21 halftime lead.

"Things worked out today the way we planned and when that happens, we are going to put up big points," Westbrook said. "We are an explosive offense."

Running backs Correll Buckhalter and Tony Hunt each scored 1-yard touchdown runs in the second half to increase the lead for the Eagles.

The 56 points by the Eagles were the most points they scored since October 25, 1953 in a 56-17 win against the Chicago Cardinals. They did score 58 points in a playoff game against Detroit in 1995.

"I think this ranks up there as one of the top team performances," McNabb said. "I think it was a great team performance for the situation that we were in, being 0-2 and a lot of people counting us out."

Defensive end Trent Cole had three of the Eagles' nine sacks.

Kitna completed 29-of-46 passes for 446 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Williams had nine receptions for 204 yards.

"The Eagles were able to throw everything at us today," Kitna said. "For the most part, we knew what kind of team they were, but we did not handle it well enough."