Eagles take care of business, get important win.

Going into today, the Eagles were 3-6 in season openers under the Andy Reid era. After today, they looked like a confident football team that absolutely dominated a team that they were supposed to beat.

On Offense, Donovan McNabb surpassed Neal O'Donnell as for the least interceptions per pass attempt in NFL History. The big story was the young receiving corps, led by DeSean Jackson who played morel like a 3rd year vet, taking 6 receptions for 106 yards and averaging 12.0 yards per punt return. This was the first time since 1960 that the Eagles had 3 receivers go over 100 yards in the same game.

Quintin Demps was the standout on special teams, throwing a punt out of the endzone for Akeem Jordan to catch at the 1 1/2 yard line and later downing a punt at the 2. DeSean Jackson was oh so close to breaking it on punt returns, twice.

Defensively, it was much better than Eagles fans expected and it's hard to imagine that heading into next week, the Eagles don't have the no. 1 defense, holding the Rams to 86 net yards of offense. It was a day where new starting Strong Safety Quintin Mikell had a sack and a forced fumble.

The secondary was purely amazing, Asante Samuel dropped 2 INTs he should have caught, and defensed a total of 7 passes. The Linebacker corps spearheaded by first year starter Stewart Bradley, couldn't have played better, holding Steven Jackson to 40 yards rushing on 14 attempts... an average of just under 2.9 yards per carry.

Plays you didn't want to miss:
1st Quarter:

• DeSean Jackson's first NFL reception goes for 47 yards. (Torry Holt tacks on a 15 yard penalty for running into an official while on the sidelines)
• Jason Avant picks up a 31 yard gain on a 3rd and 8.
• Brian Westbrook barrels over O.J. Atogwe en route to an 18 yard run which puts the Eagles in position for a 5 yard L.J. Smith TD catch.

2nd Quarter:

• Donovan McNabb and Hank Baskett connect on a 90 yard TD, putting the Eagles up 21-0 with less than 2:00 to go in the first half.

3rd Quarter:

• Sheldon Brown puts perhaps the biggest hit I've ever seen a Cornerback get, on Steven Jackson, knocking him 180 degrees around in mid-air and knocking his helmet off.
• DeSean Jackson almost brings one to the house, returning a punt 60 yards.

4th Quarter:

• The big question a small faction of Eagles fans had was answered, yes, Kevin Kolb did replace Donovan McNabb in a game... after he went 21/33 for 361 yards and 3 Touchdowns in 51 minutes of regulation. Kolb went 5/6 for 53 yards and ran out the last 9 minutes of clock.

Aside from plays and stats, what this all came down to was the Eagles executing and blowing out a team that they were supposed to, the first real test is next week @ Dallas, where they are 7-2 in the Andy Reid era. Oh, what the critics will say when Dallas falls... it's only 8 days away.

-J.