Eagles 27 – Vikings 14

PHILADELPHIA – Let the angst begin.

One week and counting until the Eagles dare to go where they’ve gone before, where they’ve gone often during this famously agonizing stretch of great success and gnawing failure. The Eagles yesterday had little trouble disposing of the Vikings 27-14 in a divisional playoff and now hope to chase their demons away with a fourth straight trip to the NFC Championship Game.

Next up for the Eagles (14-3) is a meeting with Michael Vick and the Falcons (12-5) in Sunday’s NFC title game, which for the third straight year will be held in this long-suffering city. After so many years of knocking, the door to the Super Bowl remains closed until the Eagles kick it down.

“For all the people who are paranoid about whatever, have a good time being paranoid,” safety Brian Dawkins said, “because we’re not gonna be.”

For now, the Eagles promise they’ll be loose and confident as they once again try to vault past this one gargantuan hurdle. They’re the fifth team in NFL history to advance to four consecutive conference title games. No team has ever lost four straight.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” said quarterback Donovan McNabb, the ringleader of this group, “so I’m ready to play right now.”

Feasting on their first playoff foe is nothing new for the Birds, who were not even at their sharpest and still had little trouble running the Vikings out. Despite not playing a meaningful game in a month, McNabb directed touchdown marches on three straight first-half drives, with Freddie Mitchell scoring on a TD catch and a strange fumble recovery in the end zone. On defense, the Eagles tamed the wild Randy Moss, who was little factor with three catches for 51 yards, intercepted Daunte Culpepper twice and turned a potent attack into a desperate one. The Vikings messed themselves up with a botched fake field goal.

Without injured Terrell Owens, versatile running back Brian Westbrook immediately became the Eagles’ greatest threat. On Philly’s first two touchdowns, Westbrook was too hot to handle. First, he came out of the backfield and was covered by Chris Claiborne, who is a linebacker, which is always a mismatch. Sure enough, Westbrook drifted past Claiborne for a 24-yard reception, setting up McNabb’s 2-yard scoring flip to Mitchell.

Mitchell celebrated by pretending to pull up his pants and finished off his dig at Moss by pantomiming hitching up an invisible belt.

A 52-yard pass to Greg Lewis – one of the young receivers getting more time with Owens down – led to another shining moment for Westbrook. He lined up in the slot and made a stop-and-go move to easily elude linebacker E.J. Henderson for a routine 7-yard TD catch and a 14-0 Eagles lead.

“Any time you can get a better athlete on a linebacker or safety you got to take advantage of it,” said Westbrook, who had 70 rushing yards and 47 receiving yards.

After Culpepper’s TD run closed the gap to 14-7, the Eagles went ahead 21-7 in bizarre fashion, as McNabb from the Vikings’ 14-yard line fired to tight end L.J. Smith, who rambled to the 4-yard line before he was hit by Winfield, causing a fumble that popped up into the air and floated into the end zone, where Mitchell was there to snare the ball before it hit the ground.

And now it’s on to the title game. “Obviously this is the fourth time for us,” McNabb said. “They come in here, we play the way we expect to and say if we win, then what do you guys say now?”

They say it’s on to the Super Bowl for the Eagles. Finally.

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Ferocious in Philly

After the long layoff, the Eagles’ defense seemed rested and ready. And that was bad news for Daunte Culpepper. A look at Philadelphia’s effort:

CATEGORY — TOTAL

SACKS 3

INTERCEPTIONS 2

FORCED FUMBLES 1

POINTS ALLOWED 14