Sunday January 16, 2005
Lincoln Financial Field Philaddelphia
Announcers- Joe Buck Troy Aikmen Cris Collinsworth
Game attendance: 67,722
No Pre-Game- No Post Game-
The Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the fourth consecutive year on the strength of quarterback Donavan McNabb (21 out of 33 completions for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns). Meanwhile, the Vikings repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with penalties (including 3 pass interference calls for 78 yards), turnovers (including two third quarter interceptions), and other miscues. The most notable was a blown fake field goal attempt which failed because they did not send the right personnel onto the field.
Midway through the first quarter, McNabb scored the first points of the game with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Mitchell. The next time the Eagles got the ball, McNabb completed a 52-yard pass to receiver Greg Lewis, setting up his second touchdown pass on a 7-yard toss to Brain Westbrook .Menelde Moore returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards to his own 42-yard line, and two plays later, Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw a 40-yard completion to Marcus Robinson . After that, he finished the drive with a 7-yard touchdown run, cutting the score to 14-7. But the Eagle struck right back on their next drive. First, JR Reed returned the kickoff 48 yards to the Vikings 46-yard line. After two penalties against Minnesota gave them 33 yards, McNabb completed two passes to tight end LJ Smith .Smith fumbled the ball on the second pass, but Mitchell recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, increasing the Eagles' lead to 21-7.
The Vikings responded with a drive to Philadelphia's 3-yard line. On fourth down, coach Mike Tice called a fake field goal that was supposed to involve backup quarterback Gus Frerotte passing the ball. But the lineman next to the long snapper didn't hear the call. He remained in and Randy Moss, who was supposed to receive the pass, had to run off the field to avoid a penalty. When the ball was snapped, a confused Frerotte had no receivers to pass too, and was forced to throw the ball away. The Eagles then drove 93 yards the Vikings 4-yard line, but were unable to stop the clock from running out before they could score.
After a scoreless third quarter, Philadelphia kicker David Akers kicked two field goals in the final period. The Vikings managed to respond with an 80-yard drive capped by Culpepper's 32-yard touchdown pass to Robinson, but they could not recover the onside kick and the Eagles ran out the rest of the clock.
Culpepper threw for 354 yards and 1 touchdown, but was intercepted twice. Robinson caught five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. Westbrook rushed for 70 yards and caught five passes for 47 yards and a touchdown.
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