Offense erupts as Eagles rip Lions, 56-21

Maybe it was the uniforms.

The Eagles, playing in throwback powder blue and yellow uniforms that commemorated their 1933 predecessors, scored touchdowns on their first five possessions and rolled to a 56-21 victory over the Detroit Lions today at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles (1-2) led 42-21 at halftime and cruised to their first win of the season over the previously undefeated Lions (2-1).

Brian Westbrook and Kevin Curtis each scored three touchdowns, while Donovan McNabb shook off his knee brace and threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns.

"Like I said before, you're never as good as you think, and never as bad as you think in the National Football League. Things get carried away and they snowball," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "When you say you're a hair off, it can go either way in this league. When you're connecting, it's a beautiful thing. When you're off by a hair, it's not very pretty. The important thing is that you keep firing."

Rookie running back Tony Hunt even scored his first NFL touchdown on a one-yard run, giving the Eagles a 56-21 lead in the fourth quarter.

Hunt scored after Juqua Thomas sacked Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna and forced a fumble. Thomas recovered at the Lions 17-yard line and a pass interference penalty in the end zone gave the Eagles the ball at the 1. Thomas Tapeh carried for no gain before Hunt scored on the next play, with 7:27 left to play.

Correll Buckhalter scored on a one-yard touchdown run as the Eagles increased their lead 49-21 in the third quarter.

Buckhalter's short run off left tackle capped an 11-play, 63-yard drive with 2:24 left in the third quarter for the Eagles, who scored six touchdowns in the first half. They had scored one touchdown in their first two games.

Westbrook's third touchdown came on a 43-yard screen pass with 1:49 left in the first half, after the Lions had scored 14 straight points in the shootout of a game.

Westbrook had 102 yards rushing and 98 yards receiving in the first half, including two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter. Westbrook injured his ribs in the third quarter and did not return to the game. He wound up with 110 yards rushing on 14 carries and five receptions for 111 yards.

Reid said X-rays taken at the stadium were negative, but Westbrook would have a CT scan on Monday,

Curtis, who had eight catches for 187 yards in the first 20 minutes, produced two one-play touchdown drives and caught scoring passes of 68, 43 and 12 yards. He finished the day with 11 catches for 221 yards.

McNabb, playing without a brace on his surgically repaired right knee for the first time this season, was 14-of-15 for 332 yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone. He completed 18 straight passes at one point before throwing an incomplete pass in the end zone in the third quarter.  The Eagles also rushed for 173 yards while holding the Lions to just 39 yards on the ground.

"(C)oming off of two losses where we just weren't playing as ourselves, we had to come out here and really make an explosion," McNabb said. "When you get things rolling like that you want to get everyone involved and get them an opportunity to make plays for you, and I think everybody stepped up today."

McNabb finished the day 21-of-26 for 381 yards and four TDs.

"He knows that if he keeps firing, good things will happen," Reid said. "That's what he did."

Rookie Kevin Kolb replaced McNabb with three minutes left in the game, was sacked twice and lost a fumble at the Eagles 8-yard line.

Kitna was 29-of-46 for 446 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception, but the Lions were no match for the Eagles on this day.

Roy Williams raced 91 yards for a touchdown that brought the Detroit Lions within 35-21 of the host Eagles in the second quarter.

Williams caught a short slant pass from Kitna and simply outran the Eagles secondary for the Lions' second straight touchdown with 5:01 left in the first half, after the Eagles scored touchdowns on their first five possessions.

Curtis caught his third touchdown pass of the wild game early in the second quarter, giving the Eagles a stunning, 35-7 lead. His second one-play TD drive came when a wide open Curtis hauled in a perfectly thrown pass from McNabb for a 43-yard scoring strike with 11:32 remaining in the second quarter.

Detroit snapped the Eagles' run of 28 straight points when Shaun McDonald caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Kitna, making it 35-14 with 8:45 remaining in the first half.

The Eagles appeared to be driving for another touchdown after that, but McNabb fumbled when he was hit from behind by Corey Smith, and Detroit's Idrees Bashir recovered at the Lions 9. Williams scored two plays later.

"(O)ffensively we just kind of continued to stay focused, guys stayed together and just kind of waited for our opportunity to get back out on the field," McNabb said.

Curtis' second touchdown catch, from 12 yards out, gave the Eagles a 28-7 lead earlier in the second quarter.

McNabb opened the game by completing 10 of his first 11 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns by Curtis. The second came after a play-action fake to Westbrook, who already had run for two scores.

McNabb's second touchdown pass capped a seven-play, 78-yard drive with 12:45 left in the second quarter.

Curtis also caught a 68-yard touchdown pass as the Eagles jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first period. The one-play drive with 3:04 left in the first quarter gave the Eagles touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game. The Eagles entered the contest without a touchdown in the previous six quarters of their 0-2 start.

"I think now people are getting to see the team that we all talked about today and hopefully we'll continue to feed off this ," McNabb said.

Curtis caught six passes for 132 yards in the first quarter alone, when McNabb was 8-of-9 for 159 yards. Curtis had six catches for 81 yards and no scores in the Eagles' first two games.

Westbrook had more touchdowns in the first quarter than the Eagles had in their first two games, running for two scores as the Eagles took a 14-7 lead.

Westbook's second touchdown, from five yards out with 3:41 left in the opening period, was upheld after a challenge caused when he lost control of the football just after crossing the goal line. It capped a 10-play, 77-yard drive that included a 19-yard pass from McNabb to Reggie Brown and a 15-yard Westbrook scamper.

Local product Kevin Jones scored on a four-yard run as the Lions pulled into a 7-7 tie earlier in the first quarter.

Jones, from Chester, Pa., tied the game on a short run with 9:05 left in the first period after the Lions got in scoring possession of two long pass plays, a 54-yard catch and run by receiver Roy Williams and a 21-yard catch by Shaun  McDonald that gave Detroit a first-and-goal at the Eagles 4.

Westbrook also scored on a 25-yard run as the Eagles took an early 7-0 lead.

Westbook broke through the left side of the line of scrimmage untouched and sprinted to the end zone for just the Eagles' second touchdown of the season, this one coming on their first possession of the game.

The Eagles used just four plays to march 56 yards in 1:59. McNabb hit wide receiver Curtis twice for 27 yards before Westbrook's score with  11:59 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles wore throwback uniforms that were yellow with blue numbers, and helmets that were yellow with blue wings in honor of their 75th anniversary. The uniforms used the colors of the original Eagles team in 1933.

The teams had 63 points and 763 total yards in the first half. The 473 yards by the Eagles were the most in any half since the stat became official in 1991.

Philadelphia's defense finished with nine sacks.