Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles

Thursday, November 27, 2008

*McNabb, Westbrook lead Eagles to rout of Cardinals*

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- With the offense producing and the defense swarming, it seemed like old times for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Donovan McNabb completed 27 of 39 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns, while Brian Westbrook had a career-high four touchdowns as the Eagles scored on their first two possessions and coasted to a 48-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday.

McNabb was coming off consecutive dreadful performances - first in a 13-13 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals and then again a week later, as he was benched at halftime in what became a 36-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

"Adversity always happens in our position," McNabb said. "It's how you pull yourself out of it. If I just continue to be myself and know what I'm seeing out there and react, good things will happen."

Meanwhile, Westbrook has been hampered by injuries that have limited his effectiveness and practice time. Against Arizona, the running back finished with 22 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns and also had TD receptions of 5 and 2 yards.

"We needed this game," Westbrook said. "We've been dogged all week long. Now, we did what we needed to do to handle business."

Westbrook became the first Eagle to score four touchdowns in a game since Irving Fryar accomplished the feat against the Miami Dolphins on October 20, 1996.

Philadelphia (6-5-1) remains mathematically alive for a playoff berth.

"We need this game to be our springboard," Westbrook said. "We can't lose anymore. We are at that point where we have to man up. We have the team that can do it."

The defense also helped the Eagles snap a three-game winless streak. Even though they did not register a sack, the secondary was able to notch three interceptions against Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner.

"The guys were able to put a lot of pressure on Kurt," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "We didn't have the sacks that we normally have, but at the same time, we caused him to throw some errant passes."

Warner finished 21-of-39 for 235 yards and three touchdowns, but was harassed throughout the Philadelphia defense.

"(The Eagles) were doing a good job playing some combination coverages," Warner said. "We're going to have to go back and figure out a way to attack teams that are playing us that way."

McNabb completed his first five passes during the Eagles' opening possession, which took seven minutes off the clock. The Eagles used ball control during the 12-play, 70-yard drive that McNabb culminated with a 5-yard shovel pass to Westbrook.

"When you start fast, that's something that (other) teams kind of struggle with because (they) don't know what's coming next," McNabb said. "

Joselio Hanson then set up the Eagles' next touchdown when he had the first pick off Warner on the Cardinals' first series and returned it 13 yards to the Arizona 41.

From there, it was all Westbrook as he had four carries during the four-play drive that he capped with a 1-yard run to give Philadelphia a 14-0 lead.

Westbrook upped the margin to 21-0 midway through the second quarter when he was all alone during a Cardinal blitz to catch a 2-yard toss from McNabb.

Warner finally got Arizona on the board with a 1-yard TD pass to Larry Fitzgerald before David Akers gave Philadelphia a 24-7 at halftime with a 42-yard field goal in the final second of the first half.

Westbrook and the offense continued to pour it on after intermission. He made it a 31-7 game with 6:17 left in the third period on a 9-yard scamper.

Warner threw two touchdown passes around another Akers field goal that pulled the Cardinals within 34-20 early in the fourth quarter.

However, McNabb removed whatever suspense remained with two short TD strikes to DeSean Jackson and Jason Avant that completed the scoring.

The Cardinals (7-5) failed to clinch the NFC West with their second straight loss, but still possess a commanding lead over the second-place San Francisco 49ers (3-8) and have three of their remaining four games at home.

"Obviously not a good night, a lot of mistakes," Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "Hopefully, we will respond like we did the last time we came off a tough two-game stretch."