Akers made this kick to give the Eagles the 20–17 victory. This set up Akers for a 31-yard, game-winning field goal attempt. In the extra period, Eagles safety Brian Dawkins intercepted an errant Brett Favre pass and returned it 35 yards. Broadcaster Joe Buck criticized the spot of the ball, as it appeared from the broadcast that Mitchell barely crossed the line to gain, but the officials gave him some extra yards.Īfter another first down on a McNabb run, David Akers made a game-tying, 37-yard field goal, which sent the game into overtime. Mitchell completed a leaping reception and was brought down at the Packers 46, giving the Eagles a first down. The only player that was close to making a play, Packers' safety Bhawoh Jue, was playing the sidelines as is customary in Cover 2 defense and was too late to prevent a catch or first down. Inexplicably, Darren Sharper, who was partially responsible for deep coverage of Mitchell, played past the first down marker positioning himself for an interception rather than preventing any play in front of the marker. Linebacker Nick Barnett, who was responsible for shallow coverage of Mitchell, bit on the tight end. The Packers' coverage, a Cover 2 package, broke down and was sharply criticized by broadcaster Cris Collinsworth. McNabb threw a perfect strike to Mitchell deep into the Packers' secondary. On fourth down, the play (74 Double Go) called for a slant route to wide receiver Freddie Mitchell. The pass to Freddie Mitchell was completed for 28 yards (2 more than was needed for the 1st down). The Eagles, faced with a fourth down and 26 yards, needed to convert for a first down, with only 1:12 remaining and one timeout left. On the ensuing play, a sack pushed the Eagles back to their own 26 yard line, and on third down McNabb threw another incompletion. Subsequently, on second down the Eagles were penalized 5 yards for a false start. The drive started with a 22-yard run by Duce Staley, but on the next play, McNabb threw for an incomplete pass. Philadelphia's defense kept Green Bay out of the end zone, but Ryan Longwell kicked a 21-yard field goal to give them a 17–14 lead. On the next play, Favre threw a 44-yard completion to Javon Walker. Later, Antonio Chatman's 10-yard punt return gave the Packers great field position on their own 49-yard line. McNabb was responsible for all of the yards on the drive, rushing for 37 yards and completing four passes for 72, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to Pinkston that tied the game at 14 on the first play of the fourth quarter. ![]() ![]() Late in the third quarter, the Eagles drove 88 yards in 8 plays to tie the game, despite two 10-yard penalties against them on the drive. The Packers turned the ball over on downs. Green Bay took the kickoff and drove 67 yards to the Eagles' 1-yard line, featuring a 33-yard run by Green, but on fourth down, Green tripped on guard Mike Wahle's leg and was tackled for no gain. On the last play, his 7-yard touchdown pass to Duce Staley cut it to 14–7. In the second quarter, McNabb led the Eagles on a scoring drive, completing five consecutive passes for 77 yards, including a 45-yard pass to Todd Pinkston. After the missed field goal, Ahman Green rushed three times for 31 yards before Favre threw his second touchdown pass to Ferguson, giving the Packers a 14–0 lead with 1:16 left in the first quarter. But the drive stalled at the 14-yard line and ended with no points when David Akers missed a 30-yard field goal attempt. Then McNabb made up for his mistake with a 41-yard run to the Packers 15. ![]() James Thrash returned the ensuing kickoff 36 yards to the 44-yard line. Midway through the first quarter, Packers linebacker Nick Barnett recovered a fumble from Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb on the Eagles' 40-yard line, and Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Robert Ferguson on the next play. ![]() This was the second postseason meeting between the Packers and Eagles, the previous meeting was back in the 1960 NFL Championship Game, which the Eagles won 17–13. Both teams met earlier in the season in which the Eagles managed to win in Green Bay 17–14 with a Donovan McNabb touchdown pass to Todd Pinkston with under 30 seconds remaining in what was mostly a defensively-contested game. The NFC East champion and top-seeded Eagles were coming off an opening round bye while the fourth-seeded, NFC North champion Packers were the visiting team, coming off an 33–27 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wild Card playoffs courtesy of a pick-six by former Eagle Al Harris. Further information: 2003 Green Bay Packers season and 2003 Philadelphia Eagles season
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