McNabb Runs Giants Ragged

Donovan McNabb dropped back to pass, quickly noticed his receivers were covered, took off and ran 38 yards.

It was just the fourth play of the game, but it set the tone for the Philadelphia Eagles.

McNabb ran for 111 yards and one touchdown, Duce Staley had 126 yards in 24 carries, and Philadelphia finished with 299 yards rushing in a 17-3 victory over the New York Giants.

It was the last Monday night game at Veterans Stadium. The Eagles are moving to a new stadium next season.

“Whatever it takes to win,” McNabb said. “You don’t have to pass for 300, 400 yards to get a win. If it takes me running, that’s what I’ll do.”

It was Philadelphia’s third consecutive victory over the Giants after losing nine in a row to them, and it gave the Eagles (5-2) a two-game lead over New York (3-4) and Washington (3-4) in the NFC East.

McNabb had only 137 yards passing, but the Eagles dominated the Giants on the ground. David Akers kicked three field goals in the first half, when the Eagles had the ball for 20 minutes 31 seconds.

Philadelphia hadn’t had two 100-yard rushers since Oct. 8, 1995, when Ricky Watters and Charlie Garner did it against Washington. The Eagles had nine runs of 10 yards or more.

“The offensive line came out and dominated the line of scrimmage and we got a lot of yards,” said Staley, who ran for 152 yards in the Eagles’ 20-10 victory over Tampa Bay last week.

McNabb put the game away with a 40-yard touchdown run 4:30 into the fourth quarter that gave the Eagles a 15-3 lead, and he connected with Chad Lewis on a two-point conversion. McNabb’s run capped a nine-play, 99-yard drive that took 3:33.

On third and 11, McNabb dropped back to pass, stepped up in the pocket, avoided a tackle at his feet by Cornelius Griffin, started to scramble, cut to his left, streaked down the sideline, jumped over a blocker at the five and went into the end zone.

“He’s a playmaker, he runs the offense like he’s a point guard, he makes things happen,” Giant linebacker Michael Barrow said.

It was McNabb’s second 100-yard performance in three games. He had 100 yards in 12 carries in Philadelphia’s 28-25 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 6.