It happened a little more than a week ago, not long after Philadelphia’s improbable “Let’s block a field goal and return it for a touchdown to win in the final minutes” victory over San Diego. Tammy Reid, the wife of Eagles coach Andy, abruptly stood in a crowded room and implored everyone present to be sure to log on later and vote for the local team in a promotion sponsored by a soup company.
I wasn’t very hungry at the time, but I remember thinking the scene made as much sense as anything else that had happened the previous few hours, and that, had she been asking for a referendum on the best team in the NFC, Philly probably would have gotten the nod.
The simple thought was the Eagles didn’t deserve to win that day, but they had just held the NFL’s best running back, LaDainian Tomlinson, to a career-low 7 yards rushing. And while Donovan McNabb clearly has been in need of a bowl of chunky clam chowder and a hug from his mom all year, one could envision the team scraping together enough offense to make its annual deep foray into the postseason.
So what happened Sunday at Invesco Field at Mile High? McNabb throws for almost 300 yards and three touchdowns, but the defense gives up 255 yards rushing and 564 overall in getting blown out by the Broncos.
Afterward, as his mother and father waited outside the visiting locker room, hopefully to finally give him that well-deserved embrace, a downtrodden McNabb was succinctly describing the tenuous existence that is life in the NFL.
“One week you’re on top of the world, and the next you’re in second or third or fourth place,” he said.
Similarly, back on that same Sunday in Pennsylvania, one might have been certain that the only thing missing from the Chargers’ locker room was a circling vulture, waiting to strip the dying carcass. The loss to the Eagles dropped San Diego’s record to 3-4 – and not only that, it was a disheartening 3-4, the defeats coming by a total of 12 points, with blown leads in the fourth quarter of each.
Even with more than half the season remaining, it might not have been surprising if the team began to wonder if, unlike 2004, when it won the AFC West, that 2005 would be lost to buzzard’s luck.
However, as the locker room emptied, with only a handful of players remaining, coach Marty Schottenheimer stood to the side with Tomlinson. As the back prepared to meet the press to account for his miserable day, the coach fussed and fidgeted with Tomlinson’s shirt collar, working out the wrinkles before straightening his tie, whispering softly in his ear the entire time.
In that telling moment, you knew the Chargers wouldn’t quit on Schottenheimer – and sure enough, San Diego rallied Sunday, getting back to .500 with a 28-20 victory at Kansas City. Tomlinson didn’t run for 200 yards, but he did throw his third touchdown pass of the season as the team moved to remind Denver that, at least momentarily, the division title isn’t a done deal just yet.
“It was a very important win,” wide receiver Keenan McCardell told reporters. “Losing like we did to Philly, we had to show the league that we could bounce back. We had to show up.”
This weekend, the Eagles face that same mandate, playing to re-establish themselves in an important game in the NFC East.
Their opponent? The Redskins in Washington for the late Sunday night game in front of a national TV audience. And the Redskins are coming off a 36-0 loss to the New York Giants two days ago.
NFL Week 8
Trending
New England’s win over Buffalo on Sunday night continues a remarkable streak: The Patriots haven’t lost back-to-back games since December 2002, a span of 41 starts. … Although Tampa Bay looks like it may fade from the three-way tie for first atop the NFC South, Carolina has won four straight games, the Falcons two. … After totaling 53 rushes in their previous three games, all losses, the St. Louis Rams have run the ball 60 times in winning the past two weeks.
GAME OF THE WEEK
There are a few important games around the league – Miami can get to .500 with a win over Atlanta, while Oakland and Kansas City rumble for positioning behind the Broncos in the AFC West – but all anyone wants to know is, can the 7-0 Colts, coming off a bye week, finally travel to New England and beat the Patriots on Monday night?
IN THE SHADOWS
It’s hard to believe it could happen to a player from New York, but Tiki Barber has been unappreciated his entire career. With the likes of LaDainian Tomlinson, Priest Holmes and Clinton Portis drawing the bulk of the praise and publicity, all Barber has done during his eight-plus seasons with the Giants is rush for 7,616 yards and account for more than 13,000 all-purpose yards. He had 206 on Sunday in the team’s win over Washington.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
