Eagles Organize a Block Party

A big play from their much-maligned special teams saved the Philadelphia Eagles on a day their once-potent offense was ordinary again.

Quintin Mikell blocked a field-goal try and Matt Ware carried the ball 65 yards for a touchdown with 2 minutes 25 seconds to play, leading the Eagles to a 20-17 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

“All year, we’ve had some bad breaks on special teams and some silly mistakes. But to come out and put it all together and make a play was great,” Mikell said.

LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers was held to a career-low seven yards in 17 carries, and his NFL-record-tying streak of games scoring a touchdown ended at 18.

Drew Brees rallied the Chargers from a 10-0 deficit with two touchdown passes, but San Diego couldn’t put the game away after the Eagles failed to convert a fourth and one at their 30 with 3:37 left.

Mikell leaped to swat away Nate Kaeding’s 40-yard field-goal attempt, and Ware picked it up after one bounce and raced into the end zone.

“Usually, it takes a funky bounce after a block, but this one came right up and it was, ‘Whoa, look at this!’ ” Ware said. “I said, ‘This is it,’ and started running. You know, high knees and pumping arms, and the guys were blocking for me.”

The Chargers (3-4) drove to Philadelphia’s 19 on the ensuing possession, but Sheldon Brown stripped Reche Caldwell of the ball, and Darwin Walker recovered.

In a game that had a lot of flags, including several that weren’t penalties, the stadium’s fire alarm went off late and spectators were asked to leave. Few complied, and there was no delay. The sirens were set off accidentally, team officials said.

Donovan McNabb set an Eagle record with 35 completions in 54 attempts for 287 yards and one touchdown, and Terrell Owens caught his 100th touchdown pass.

Philadelphia (4-2) had only 10 rushing attempts, excluding scrambles and kneel-downs by McNabb, who surpassed Randall Cunningham’s record of 34 completions against Washington in 1989.

Tomlinson, who started the game with 652 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns combined, lost yards on each of his first four carries and didn’t have positive yards until the fourth quarter. He shares the NFL record for consecutive games scoring touchdowns with Baltimore’s Lenny Moore, who scored in 18 in a row from 1963 to 1965.