Eagles in Driver’s Seat; Redskins Stall

The Washington Redskins’ eight possessions inside the Philadelphia 40 produced no touchdowns and a lot of agony.

When the Eagles weren’t stopping the Redskins, the Redskins were stopping themselves. They had eight dropped passes, two offbeat wide receiver penalties, two missed field goals and two interceptions near the end zone.

The Eagles had far fewer chances, but converted almost all of them--and that’s why they’re on the brink of winning the NFC East after Sunday’s 20-6 victory.

“Just keeping people out of the end zone--that’s our main thing,” said safety Brian Dawkins, who had both interceptions and made a touchdown-saving tackle on Rod Gardner. “Deep down, that’s hurting them inside because they know they figure they should have more points than that.”

The victory gave the Eagles (9-4) a 6-0 road record and a three-game lead over the Redskins (6-7) and New York Giants (6-7) with three games remaining. One more Eagle victory or one Giant loss will give Philadelphia its first NFC East crown since 1988.

“We can’t get comfortable with ourselves,” said running back Duce Staley, who had eight catches for 73 yards. “There’s still more fighting to do.”

The Redskins had drives reach Philadelphia’s 21, 20, seven, 35, 30, 20, 16 and one. All they had to show for it were field goals of 47 and 25 yards by Brett Conway. They outgained the Eagles, 362 yards to 287, little consolation for a team that has only faint wild-card hopes remaining.

“You can’t let a good team hang around like that,” Redskin Coach Marty Schottenheimer said. “They continued as they have throughout the season, they fought to the bitter end.

“And it indeed is a bitter end.”

Donovan McNabb overcame a career-high three interceptions to complete 16 of 34 passes for 235 yards and touchdowns to Freddie Mitchell and Todd Pinkston.

The big play was the 62-yard pass to Pinkston, which gave the Eagles a 17-6 lead midway through the third quarter. McNabb faked a reverse to James Thrash, then spotted Pinkston crossing wide open between cornerback Fred Smoot and safety David Terrell.

Two early Redskin drives were stalled by an interference call on Gardner and a late hit by Derrius Thompson. Conway hit an upright for the third time in two games. Michael Westbrook’s drop inside the 20 that negated a big gain was just one more example of the Redskins’ woes.

Even late in the fourth quarter, the Redskins failed to capitalize when Darrell Green extended his record with an interception in his 19th consecutive season, or when Bruce Smith stripped the ball from Staley--both inside the 35. The Eagles shut out the Redskins in the second half and are giving up a league-low four points a game after halftime.