Pederson Outplays McNown

Cade McNown made his first NFL start at home against a team that hadn’t won on the road in 20 games, but afterward it was Doug Pederson getting most of the attention.

Pederson had career highs in completions (16), yards passing (207) and longest pass (57 yards) by halftime Sunday, and the Eagles hung on for the 20-16 victory over the Chicago Bears.

It was only two weeks ago that Pederson was in danger of losing his job.

“Sometimes you’ve got to put yourself in a tough situation,” said Pederson, 2-0 since getting benched at the end of a loss to the New York Giants.

“Having a half like that is tremendous, and it’s great for my confidence,” he said. “The only thing I can say is we’ve got to do that in the second half.”

The Eagles gained only 88 yards in the second half, and never got beyond the Bear 29.

McNown, playing in place of the injured Shane Matthews, completed 17 of 33 passes for 255 yards, with 80 of those coming on one touchdown play.

But the Bears (3-3) came up empty in two trips to the Eagle 31.

“I wasn’t nervous,” McNown said. “I just didn’t get a feel for the game until a couple of series.”

The victory gives the Eagles (2-4), who beat Dallas last week, a winning streak for the first time since November 1997. It also is the Eagles’ first victory at Soldier Field, and only their second win over Chicago since 1980.

Philadelphia came into the game 0-18-1 on the road since beating the New York Jets, 21-20, on Dec. 14, 1996.

McNown appeared uncertain in the first half but looked sharper in the second, passing to Marcus Robinson for the 80-yard score on his second play of the third quarter.