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Eagles drub Browns to keep playoff hopes alive

Dec 16, 2008 - 6:54 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Eagles sputtered in the red zone, but fortunately they were playing an opponent with a woeful offense.

Donovan McNabb completed 26 of 25 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns, while Asante Samuel returned an interception 50 yards for another TD as the Eagles eventually coasted to a 30-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Monday night.

David Akers added three field goals for Philadelphia (8-5-1), which posted its third straight win.

"We're excited about where we are at," McNabb said. "We'll enjoy this win and we just need to move on to the next game,"

Cleveland (4-10) lost for the fourth consecutive time and managed just a 27-yard field goal by Phil Dawson for its only points on offense. Brandon McDonald returned a Kevin Kolb interception 24 yards in the fourth quarter for the Browns only touchdown.

"Our guys tried, but I don't think we have enough ammunition to match up with (Philadelphia)," Browns coach Romeo Crennel said. "Offensively, we tried to be competitive, but we couldn't score any points and that had a major impact in the game."

The Browns have gone 16 quarters without an offensive touchdown.

The Eagles had no problem marching down the field on their opening possession, going 64 yards in eight plays which McNabb capped with a 14-yard TD pass to Kevin Curtis and a quick 7-0 lead.

After Dawson answered with his field goal, McNabb again drove Philadelphia deep into Cleveland territory, but the drive stalled at the 6 and Akers came on to make it, 10-3, with a 24-yard FG.

On their next trip into the red zone, the Eagles tried a gimmick play which backfired as DeSean Jackson took a direct snap but his pass attempt was intercepted in end zone by Sean Jones.

But the Browns returned the favor as Samuel intercepted a pass from Ken Dorsey at midfield and returned it all the way to increase Philadelphia's margin to 17-3.

"I play with a lot of confidence and I just try to go out there and use my instincts," Samuel said. "I kind of read it, went for the ball and I turned around. The ball was there and I got it and took it to the house."

"I can't tell you exactly what happened," Dorsey said. "I threw it, he picked it. That's something that cannot happen."

The Eagles wasted one more chance before halftime and were fortunate not to get burned. McNabb underthrew a fade to Hank Baskett and was intercepted in the end zone by McDonald, who returned it 98 yards to the Philadelphia 7 on the final play of the first half.

Basically, (the Eagles) had a fade route that they tried to throw and I knew it was coming," McDonald said. "I was able to get in good position to make a play. I just didn't have enough gas in the tank to get into the end zone."

It did not affect anything but the final score as Akers kicked two field goals and McNabb threw a 10-yard TD pass to Greg Lewis to make it 30-3.

"We do have some things we obviously can work on, in particular, in the red zone," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "You can't have the mistakes that we had there consistently. We've been doing pretty good there and tonight, we didn't do very well."

With the win, the Eagles remain very much in the NFC wildcard hunt. With a game at Washington and a home contest against Dallas remaining to close out the regular season, Philadelphia needs two more wins and a little help to return to the postseason.

Dallas, Atlanta and Tampa Bay are all 9-5 and also in the thick of the playoff chase.

"They understand what's at stake and you saw that in their effort

tonight," Reid said of his team. "They played a very aggressive game on both sides of the football and on special teams, too."

Dorsey finished an anemic 11-of-28 passing for 156 yards and two interceptions.

Philadelphia outgained Cleveland by a whopping 418-196 margin.