2005 Philadelphia Eagles season

"at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A visibly wounded Eagles team found a way to come out on top in Week 3 against the visiting Oakland Raiders. The game began inauspiciously as David Akers crumpled to the field in pain from a torn hamstring attempting to boot the opening kickoff. The Raiders took advantage of the good field position and marched to a touchdown with Lamont Jordan taking a short pass and scampering into the end zone. Donovan McNabb, who was clearly bothered by a recently-diagnosed sports hernia, was limited compared to his normal mobility. Brian Westbrook scored on an 18-yard run in the second quarter, but Mark Simoneau, who had humorously made a PAT in the laugher against San Francisco, missed the extra point leaving the Eagles behind 7-6. Oakland got a field goal to make it 10-6 at the half. McNabb led the Eagles down the field to start the third quarter, with Terrell Owens collecting a short touchdown pass. Akers, with a heavily taped leg, was able to painfully boot through the extra point. A few minutes later, Westbrook broke a short pass for a 62-yard gain, and he made the touchdown reception four plays later. Akers again kicked the extra point and the Philadelphia lead increased to 20-10. The Raiders rallied in the fourth quarter, getting a Sebastian Janikowski field goal and a Doug Gabriel 27-yard touchdown reception to tie the game with four minutes left. Using a series of short passes to Westbrook and Owens, McNabb guided the Eagles to the Oakland 5-yard line. The injured Akers came on and booted the 23-yard field goal with :12 left before collapsing in pain. The game had been won in courageous fashion, but the Eagles looked worn down and the season had scarcely begun. McNabb threw for 356 yards and two touchdowns and Westbrook had a big game, racking up 208 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.

Week 4: at Kansas City Chiefs

"at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Needing a win to offset an ugly loss in Dallas, the Eagles faced the San Diego Chargers and LaDainian Tomlinson, who had scored a touchdown in an NFL record-tying 18 straight games. The Eagles defense was surpisingly effective in muzzling Tomlinson, who finished with seven yards on 17 carries and was stopped for a loss on his first four carries. This helped keep the Chargers off the board in the first half. The Philadelphia offense finally took advantage when Donovan McNabb led them on a 12-play drive finished by a four-yard touchdown reception by Terrell Owens, the 100th of his career. The Eagles finished the half with an 11-play drive that took them inside the San Diego ten-yard line, but a completion in-bounds to L.J. Smith allowed the clock to run out before a field goal was kicked. In the third quarter, three-straight McNabb completions gave them 1st and goal from the San Diego five-yard line, but the drive stalled and they settled for a field goal. The Chargers got right back in the game with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees to Keenan McCardell. When Brees found tight end Antonio Gates for a score early in the fourth quarter, the Chargers went ahead 14-10. McNabb was intercepted on the Eagles' next play and San Diego ended up with a field goal. Jeremiah Trotter's interception of Brees set up a 40-yard kick from Todd France that made it 17-13 San Diego. With less than four minutes left, the Eagles went for it on 4th and 1 from their own 30-yard line and failed to convert. Nate Kaeding set up to kick a 40-yard field goal to finish the Eagles. In the most exciting play of the Eagles' season, Quintin Mikell burst in from the left side and blocked the kick. The ball bounced right into the arms of Matt Ware who raced 65 yards to the end zone giving the Eagles an unbelievable lead. A last-ditch drive by the Chargers, who now trailed 20-17, actually reached deep into Philadelphia territory, but Sheldon Brown stripped receiver Reche Caldwell of the ball and the Eagles recovered. McNabb had 35 completions, but he threw two picks and only one touchdown. The Philadelphia defense forced three turnovers. The Eagles had snatched an incredible victory and their record improved to 4-2, and it was hoped that the thrilling win would serve as the springboard for a season-saving run.

Week 8: at Denver Broncos

"at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Needing a Monday Night win against the Dallas Cowboys to keep any kind of division title aspirations alive, the Eagles came out and outplayed Dallas for most of the game before collapsing in the final four minutes. Philadelphia scored on its opening drive, with Brian Westbrook taking a carry on the rightside into the endzone. A 58-yard pass from Drew Bledsoe to Peerless Price gave Dallas 1st and goal, and Marion Barber III took it in from a yard out to tie the game. A Lito Sheppard interception gave the Eagles the ball at the Dallas 19-yard line, and Donovan McNabb capitalized by bootlegging to the right for a two-yard touchdown run, the first rushing score of the year for the injured quarterback. In the third quarter, David Akers booted a 48-yarder, and in the fourth quarter, Akers added another field goal increasing Philadelphia's lead to 20-7. With less than four minutes left, Bledsoe quickly took Dallas down the field and hurled a 20-yard touchdown to Terry Glenn to make it 20-14. On the Eagles' second play of their ensuing drive, McNabb made a risky throw to the right side and Cowboys' safety Roy Williams jumped in front of it and returned the ball for a touchdown. McNabb was hobbled on the play which essentially ended the Eagles' season. Backup Mike McMahon came in and got the Eagles into Dallas territory, but a 60-yard kick from Akers failed. Trent Cole had two sacks and Westbrook rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown in the defeat, which marked the first time the Eagles had lost three in a row since 1999. McNabb, who had needed surgery all season, was now officially done for the year.

Week 11: at New York Giants

"at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A Monday Night matchup with the 9-2 Seattle Seahawks presented a potentially ugly night for the Eagles. The loss they would suffer would be quasi-historic. The Seahawks began the game with a relentless 16-play drive finished by a 11-yard touchdown pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Bobby Engram. Andre Dyson then intercepted Mike McMahon and returned it for a 72-yard touchdown. McMahon gave away an even uglier interception in the second quarter to Lofa Tatupu, who also returned it for a touchdown. Andy Reid benched McMahon and brought in Koy Detmer, who proceeded to throw an interception to Michael Boulware that was returned to the Eagles' two-yard line. Shaun Alexander took it in for a short touchdown, then collected another score later in the second quarter and it was now a shocking 35-0 game. Rookie Ryan Moats replacing the injured Brian Westbrook after halftime, fumbled his first carry and Dyson returned it for a touchdown to make it 42-0. The Philadelphia offense could do nothing the rest of the game in the most lopsided loss of the Andy Reid era. It was the tied for the worst loss in Monday Night history, and was the worst shutout loss. It was also the third worst defeat in Eagles' history. Due to three defensive touchdowns, the Seahawks amazingly scored 42 points with less than 200 yards of offense. Worse still for the Eagles, Westbrook was ruled out for the year after spraining his foot in the second quarter.

Week 14: vs. New York Giants

"at Sun Devil Stadium, Phoenix, Arizona

On Christmas Eve, the depleted Eagles fell to the Arizona Cardinals in the final Cardinals game at Sun Devil Stadium. Neil Rackers, the league's best kicker in 2005, kicked two first quarter field goals. In the second quarter, Mike McMahon was yet again intercepted for a touchdown, this time by outside linebacker Karlos Dansby. McMahon got the points back with a one-yard quarterback sneak touchdown, but the Eagles still trailed 13-7. In the second half, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin each had receiving touchdowns and Arizona stretched their lead to 27-7. McMahon tossed a 21-yard score to Billy McMullen, whose days in Philadelphia were clearly numbered. With less than a minute left, McMahon scored on another rushing touchdown as the Eagles lost 27-21. After two good performances, Ryan Moats was limited to 13 yards. Jeremiah Trotter and Brian Dawkins combined for 16 tackles.

Week 17: vs. Washington Redskins

"at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In the season finale, the Eagles hoped to play spoiler to a Washington Redskins team needing a win to make the playoffs. Early on it looked like the Eagles may succeed. David Akers converted on a 49-yard field goal less than five minutes into the game. Mike Sellers scored on a short pass for Washington, but the Eagles followed that with two Reggie Brown touchdown receptions to take a 17-7 lead. Washington drew it to 17-10 with a field goal a minute before halftime. Clinton Portis' two-yard touchdown run evened things up, but Akers kicked another field goal to make it 20-17 Eagles. Mistakes returned to sink the Eagles in the fourth quarter. Mike McMahon was picked off by Lemar Marshall and Portis took it 22-yards up the middle and into the end zone on the next play. After McMahon fumbled away the ball on the next drive, Koy Detmer came into the game. He was sacked and lost the ball, which was returned for a touchdown by Redskin safety Sean Taylor, sealing the win for Washington. Reggie Brown had 77 yards and two touchdowns, but six turnovers were too much to overcome for the Eagles. The loss dropped them to 6-10 and they had been swept by their division rivals, a year after sweeping them.

Division standings