Did You Hear That?

That was roughly 7 million people in the greater Philadelphia area breathing a collective sigh of relief. The throwback unis (seen on Reggie Brown and Correl Buckhalter, right) were ugly, and so was the beating. The Eagles put an absolute whoopin' on the Lions Sunday, winning by a score of 56-21. The Eagles put up 42 in the first half en route to dismantling a Lions team that many people thought might be for real this year. And who knows, maybe they are. But with a defense like that, I wouldn't bet on it. The Lions' two wins have come against Oakland and Minnestoa, two teams with a combined record of 2-4, and those two wins have come against Atlanta and Cleveland, who sport a combined 1-5 record. So yeah, Detroit isn't one of the worst teams in the league, but they sure as hell aren't one of the best.

Now, despite their emphatic, convincing victory, the Eagles weren't perfect, although McNabb was. Literally. His QB rating for the game was the highest possible. He looked good. The secondary, without Dawkins or Lito Sheppard, got lit up for over 400 yards in the air, although to the credit of the defense as a whole, the Lions did not score in the 2nd half. The defense also recorded nine sacks, with Trent Cole leading the way with three.

Kevin Curtis went off for 221 yards and 3 scores. Um, T.O. never did that. Westbrook also racked up 221 total yards (110 rushing, 111 receiving) and 3 scores, despite leaving the game in the 3rd quarter with a rib injury. X-rays were negative.

Correll Buckhalter and rookie Tony Hunt also got in the board with rushing TDs late in the game to complete th biggest ass whooping (in terms of points scored) the Eagles have put on anyone since they trounced the - guess who! - yup, the Lions, in the playoffs in 1996 by a score of 58-37. We should play Detroit more often.

The Eagles ran early and often which allowed McNabb to stretch the field. The offense looked just like it did early last season - good. But hey, the Lions aren't good, at least not on defense.

And, when you consider that the Packers, a team the Eagles really should have beaten, are 3-0 and the Redskins are 2-1, the rest of the season doesn't look too bleak. Of course, if McNabb doesn't play well against the Giants next week, various idiots all over Philadelphia will be calling for his head. After all, the Phillies will have played themselves out of the playoffs by then and there will be nothing to take attention away from the Eagles. What? You say no one has been paying attention to the Phillies anyway? Yeah, you're right. But it's still nice to get that first win out of the way, and the Eagles did it in style. Breathe easy everyone, for at least 7 days.