High-Flying Eagles Send McNown to a Hard Fall

The artificial turf at Veterans Stadium struck again.

Donovan McNabb threw for 207 yards and one touchdown Sunday as the Philadelphia Eagles held on to beat Chicago, 13-9, after the Bears’ Cade McNown separated his throwing shoulder.

Jim Miller’s desperation pass fell incomplete as time expired as Chicago fell to 1-7, its worst start since 1997.

McNown injured his left shoulder when he was driven hard into the turf by Mike Caldwell on a one-yard scramble early in the second quarter and did not return. McNown was six for nine for 49 yards, and was sacked twice.

The infamous Vet turf has been particularly tough on Chicago. In Oct. 1993, Bear wide receiver Wendell Davis blew out both knees on the same play while running a pass route on this turf.

“The whole league knows about the Vet turf,” said McNabb, who finished 22 of 35 and rushed for 25 yards. “There’s two things you can get hit by: our defenders or our stadium. They’re both hard hits.”

Philadelphia (5-3) matched last year’s victory total in half the season. The Eagles won only eight games over the last two years, and hadn’t been two games over .500 since 1996.

“It’s a good feeling to be 5-3,” defensive tackle Hollis Thomas said. “Our aspirations are high.”

Miller replaced McNown and was 14 of 34 for 128 yards. He led Chicago to three field goals in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a tough situation to come into. I haven’t had any reps since training camp, but that’s what I’m paid to do,” Miller said. “Obviously, I had to get the rust off and I missed some throws in the red zone.”

After Paul Edinger’s 33-yard field goal cut the lead to 13-6 with 4:41 left, the Bears got the ball at the Philadelphia 22 on Tony Parrish’s interception. But Miller threw three straight incompletions, and Edinger kicked a 40-yarder to make it 13-9.

“Good defenses show up in those situations,” Eagle cornerback Troy Vincent said.

McNabb gave the Eagles a 10-0 lead on a three-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Thomason with 46 seconds left in the first half.

Philadelphia kept the drive going by converting a fourth-and-seven play on Chicago’s 35 when McNabb hit Darnell Autry for seven yards. A 25-yard pass to Charles Johnson set up the touchdown pass to Thomason, which capped a nine-play, 77-yard drive.

Philadelphia took a 3-0 lead on a 51-yard field goal by David Akers in the first quarter.