Eagles escape for sixth straight win

It was a tale of two halves for the Eagles, but in the end, they escaped with a sixth straight victory, beating the Broncos, 30-27, at Lincoln Financial Field.

After a nearly flawless first half offensively, Donovan McNabb and company sputtered in the second half.

But after getting great field position at the Denver 42 yard line with 1:41 left, McNabb hit Jeremy Maclin for a huge 27-yard completion, which proved to be the difference. The play was initially ruled incomplete, but the officials reviewed it and overturned the call, giving the Eagles the ball at the Denver 13 yard line.

After three straight runs, David Akers hit a 28-yard field goal to give the Birds the win.

The Eagles are now 11-4 and will remain in first place in the NFC East for another week.

If the Cowboys lose tonight to the Redskins, the Birds clinch the division.

If Dallas is victorious, next weekend's matchup between the two teams will be for the NFC East.

Notes:

** McNabb completed 15 of 19 attempts for 242 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the first half. In the second half, he completed just five of 16 for 80 yards.

** Brent Celek had four catches for 121 yards in the first half, but didn't have a single reception in the second.

** DeSean Jackson had a touchdown early but finished with four catches for 33 yards, his lowest total since Week 9.

** The Eagles gave up four sacks and had three turnovers.

** A day to forget for Macho Harris. He was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on the Asante Samuel interception in the second half and fumbled a pair of kickoff returns, one which was recovered by the Broncos. Harris and Sean Jones rotated at safety opposite Quintin Mikell.

** Not Brian Dawkins. Not Correll Buckhalter. But it was ex-Eagle Jabar Gaffney who killed the Birds, with seven catches for 69 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

** Ok, so Dawkins wasn't so bad either. He led all players with eight tackles. Dawkins did not warm up on the field with the rest of his teammates, but instead first appeared during pre-game introductions.

** Buckhalter had five carries for 42 yards.

** With the Colts losing today, it looks even more likely that the Eagles-Cowboys game next week will move to Sunday night.

** If the Vikings lose Monday night, the Eagles overtake the No. 2 seed going into Week 17. That would mean a first-round bye and a home game in the divisional round.