Eagles Will Be Staying Home for the Holidays

The Philadelphia Eagles capped a superb turnaround by clinching a home playoff game. Now, they can’t wait to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Donovan McNabb completed 23 of 40 passes for 198 yards and one touchdown as the Eagles beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 16-7, Sunday. When Green Bay beat Tampa Bay, it assured that next week’s wild-card game with the Buccaneers would be in Philadelphia.

“It’s definitely to our advantage, playing here against a warm-weather team,” said Pro Bowl middle linebacker Jeremiah Trotter. “This is a tough place to play. We got the crazy fans and the turf.”

Tampa Bay has not won in 19 games when the temperature at kickoff was 40 or below.

After winning just eight games combined over the last two seasons, the Eagles went 11-5 despite losing leading rusher Duce Staley in Week 5. It will be Philadelphia’s first playoff appearance in four years.

But the team isn’t satisfied with just making the playoffs.

“You won’t see guys jumping around the locker room just because we have a playoff berth or we won 11 games, because that’s something we feel should have been expected,” McNabb said.

One play after Bobby Taylor recovered a fumble by Danny Farmer, McNabb connected with Charles Johnson on a 39-yard touchdown pass for a 10-0 second-quarter lead. David Akers made it 13-0 on a 45-yard field goal with 1:06 left in the first half. He missed a 41-yard attempt wide right late in the fourth, ending a streak of successful kicks at 11.

The Eagles were hurt by four turnovers, including two fumbles by Chris Warren, who started at running back in his first game. Warren, signed Dec. 7 after being waived by Dallas, had 42 yards rushing in 15 carries.

Cincinnati cut its deficit to 13-7 on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Scott Mitchell to Peter Warrick with 3:12 left. But the Eagles recovered an onside kick, and Akers kicked a 33-yard field goal to ice it with 1:48 left.

Cincinnati (4-12) completed its 10th consecutive losing season, and has the NFL’s worst record in that span, 47-113. But Coach Dick LeBeau, who took over Sept. 25 after Bruce Coslet quit, received a new contract earlier in the week.

“I’ve learned these players are fighters,” LeBeau said. “They’ll keep fighting and that’s something to build on. We know we have a lot of work to do.”

Leading rusher Corey Dillon might not return next year, however. Dillon, who finished with a team-record 1,435 yards rushing, is a free agent. He had 39 yards in 16 carries against the Eagles.