At one point during Sunday's win, the Eagles had not allowed a sack, or committed a penalty, or even turned the ball over. By game's end, the Eagles recorded three sacks while allowing none. The team committed just three penalties to Kansas City's 10. And each team committed a turnover. After the game, head coach Andy Reid reported no injuries.
It was just that kind of day for the Eagles, who were without Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and Kevin Curtis.
"It would have been very easy for the team to hang their heads and not play the way they did today, so my hat's off to everybody for a great job," Reid said. "My hat goes off to the coordinators and coaches. They put together a good game plan all the way around and did a nice job of rebounding after last week."
With the win, Philadelphia improved to 5-6 the week before a bye under Reid.
More importantly, McNabb, Westbrook, Curtis and others have time to heal before the regular season resumes in two weeks against Tampa Bay at Lincoln Financial Field.
Reid sounded optimistic when asked whether McNabb and his fractured rib would be ready for the Buccaneers game.
"I think he will," Reid said, "but we'll see how it goes."
As for Westbrook, he was held out of Sunday's game due to "soreness" in his injured right ankle.
"It's not worse," Reid said. "I think he just has some inflammation in the tendon. I thought he was going to be able to make it in the game, but we never got the soreness out of there. I don't think it's a long-lasting thing.
"I think this week coming up will be a good week for him to recover, and I think he'll be back after the bye week."
As it turns out, the injuries to McNabb and Westbrook allowed coaches to get a look at both Kevin Kolb and LeSean McCoy. And neither player disappointed.
Kolb was strong again in his second career start, with 327 yards and two touchdowns on 24 of 34 passing. He also scored his first career rushing touchdown. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 300-plus yards in his first two starts.
"It looked like he was fairly accurate today and poised in there," Reid said. "[Kansas City] tried getting after him like [New Orleans] did last week, and I thought he handled that part of the game very well. He's giving our receivers an opportunity to run after the catch, so that's a plus.
"I think this has been great for him. I think it's good for the team to see that he can play in case something was ever to happen with Donovan that they have confidence that he can come in there and lead our football team."
McCoy, meanwhile, scored his first career touchdown on a 5-yard run in the first quarter and finished the game with a career-high 84 rushing yards on 20 carries.
"I thought he played well all the way around and played a complete game," Reid said. "He was aggressive carrying the football. He held the football a little bit tighter this week, which is important. He kept it nice and high and tight with leverage on it."
-- Posted by Bob Kent, 8:25 p.m., September 27
