Eagles Clinch a Playoff Spot : NFC: A 31-0 victory over Green Bay guarantees Philadelphia its third consecutive postseason appearance.

The Philadelphia Eagles have not played well consistently this season, but the result, nevertheless, is another playoff appearance.

The Eagles assured themselves of a third consecutive postseason berth Sunday with a 31-0 victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Randall Cunningham passed for one touchdown and ran for another and Keith Byars passed for a touchdown and caught a pass for another as the Eagles (8-6) recorded their first shutout in 19 games.

Eagle Coach Buddy Ryan had predicted his team would make the playoffs even when they were 1-3, but not every player thought that way.

“When we were 1-3, we were wondering what the heck was going on,” defensive tackle Mike Golic said. “We thought that we were a better team than that but we weren’t making the big plays. Now that were at the dance, we just have to stay there for 60 minutes and not leave early.”

The loss left the Packers (6-8) as one of four teams with eight losses chasing Dallas for the last wild-card spot with two weeks left. San Francisco, Chicago and the New York Giants have already clinched the NFC’s three division titles and Washington clinched a wild-card spot on Saturday.

“Until someone from the league office calls us and says we’re out of it, we’ll keep on trying,” said Packer Coach Lindy Infante, whose team was 10-6 last season and would have been in the playoffs then under the six-team format that went into effect this year.

“We got beaten badly by a good football team.”

Cunningham completed 13 of 27 passes for 241 yards to become the first Philadelphia quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards in three consecutive years. He also rushed for 56 yards, including a 17-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

Rookie Fred Barnett caught five passes for 108 yards, all in the first half when the Eagles took a 17-0 lead. Overall, the Eagles outgained Green Bay 422-158.

The defensive effort was led by Clyde Simmons and Reggie White, who pressured Packer quarterbacks Anthony Dilweg and Blair Kiel throughout the game, limited them to short drops and short passes and shut down the Packers’ running game.

The Eagles had five sacks with White and Simmons getting 1 1/2 sacks each. Green Bay never got closer than the Eagles’ 29.

“Today was the best defensive domination by our team all year,” White said.

Dilweg, replacing the injured Don Majkowski, was knocked out of the game with 5:17 left with a sprained arch after a hit by White. Dilweg, who completed six of 15 passes for 74 yards, was the fourth quarterback knocked out of a game by the Philadelphia defense this season.