Eagles’ Victory Is Widely Accepted

One of the NFL’s best kickers was no more accurate than a fan pulled from the stands.

One of the game’s best runners couldn’t gain a do-or-die yard, even against the league’s 20th-ranked rushing defense.

And a team that two months ago teetered on the brink of collapse is suddenly the top-seeded team in its conference.

Just another twist in the unpredictable NFC.

The Philadelphia Eagles, who overcame an 0-2 start to the season, won their seventh consecutive game Sunday with a 25-16 victory over the Carolina Panthers at Ericsson Stadium.

The victory left the Eagles (9-3) tied with St. Louis for the best record in the conference but with the tiebreaker edge over the Rams by virtue of a better record in the NFC. On Sunday, the division-leading Eagles play host to Dallas (8-4), which is coming off a Thanksgiving Day loss to Miami.

Meanwhile, the Panthers (8-4) have lost four of seven since starting 5-0. They blew an embarrassment of opportunities against the Eagles, wasting prime field position and watching their chances flutter wide left and wide right.

John Kasay, the only original Panther on the roster and one of football’s most accurate kickers, missed three field-goal attempts and an extra-point attempt in one of the most frustrating performances of his career. Two of his misses were from 32 and 38 yards. This from a kicker who hadn’t missed from inside 40 yards since 1998.

“John had a bad day,” said Coach John Fox, making what just might be the understatement of the season.

In all, Kasay’s misses cost the Panthers 10 points, precisely what they needed to swing the game in their favor.

“Seeing the way he performed today, I know he’s hurting inside,” said Philadelphia kicker David Akers, who was as good as Kasay was bad, making field goals of 35, 48, 38 and 29 yards. “We’ve all been there before. I really feel for him. I know he’s going to come out and really battle next week.”

Yardage-wise, it was a productive day for Carolina’s Stephen Davis. He ran for 115 yards in 23 carries. But he was stopped short on a fourth-and-one run with 47 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Eagles the ball back at their eight.

Defensive end Brandon Whiting made the drive-halting tackle, bashing his shoulder into the 230-pound Davis and dropping him inches from a first down.

“That was a big blow for us,” Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme said. “I wish we could have gotten seven points to tie it up, or at least get three out of it, but we didn’t make the play.”

In the first 2 1/2 quarters the Panthers drove to the Philadelphia two, 14, 20, eight and 29 -- and came away with three points.

“That’s demoralizing, and at the same time it switches the momentum to us and keeps the crowd quiet,” Philadelphia defensive end N.D. Kalu said. “That’s huge. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you can come into someone’s house and take away their fans it really helps you out.”

That’s nothing new for the Eagles, who are 23-7 as visitors since opening day of 2000, by far the league’s best road record during that stretch. Tennessee is second-best with 19 victories.

“We stick together really well as a team,” tight end Chad Lewis said. “When you come into a hostile environment, you’ve got to rely on each other even more. Because we never divide when bad things happen, that just helps us stick together.

“When you see people on the sidelines fighting and pointing fingers at each other, looking to the sideline like, ‘It wasn’t my fault, it was his fault’ ... that doesn’t happen here.”

For a while this season, it looked as if the Eagles might never win at home. They lost two exhibition games at their new stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, and fans started calling the place “Stinkin’ Financial” when Philadelphia dropped to 0-2 with home losses to Tampa Bay and New England. It was a mystifying start for a team that had advanced to the last two NFC championship games.

“Being 0-2 was almost a surreal feeling,” Whiting said of the Eagles’ excruciatingly slow start. “We knew we were a better team than that, and everybody sort of wrote us off. We were just looking around the huddle thinking, ‘This is not us. This is not happening. This is not the way we play.’ ”

The Eagles were devastated by injuries early in the season. They not only lost five defensive linemen for all or part of the season, they lost cornerback Bobby Taylor and free safety Brian Dawkins, who made their return Sunday. Then there was the bizarre early-season slump of Donovan McNabb, who has reemerged as one of the league’s most effective quarterbacks.

McNabb didn’t put up astounding numbers against the Panthers. He completed 18 of 26 passes for 182 yards, but he spread the ball to nine teammates and overcame the shock of watching his first pass glance off the fingertips of fullback Jon Ritchie and into the arms of defensive end Mike Rucker.

Rucker’s interception gave Carolina the ball at the Philadelphia 36, and the Panthers drove all the way to the two before the Eagle defense made a stand. The Panthers walked away with a field goal and their only lead of the day.

Carolina was within striking distance throughout. The Eagles took a 22-10 lead with 11:56 remaining in the fourth quarter when McNabb floated a short pass to James Thrash, who appeared to be stopped near the goal line, then was knocked into the end zone by a tackler for a 10-yard touchdown.

The Panthers answered with 6:42 to play when Delhomme threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad. Kasay missed the extra-point attempt, and Carolina trailed, 22-16.

But the Panthers would get no closer. Philadelphia clinched the victory with a drive that consumed 5:16, included a 29-yard reception by tight end Chad Lewis on third and nine, and ended with an Akers field goal.