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Eagles 23, Raiders 20

FLASH RECAP:
An injured David Akers kicks a 23-yard field goal with nine seconds left to give host Philadelphia a victory over Oakland before an announced crowd of 67,735 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 25, 2005.

Akers, who aggravates his right hamstring on the game's opening kickoff and is sidelined the first two quarters, isn't the only Eagle to carry his team despite injury.

Pro Bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb, who enters the game with chest and groin injuries, rallies the Eagles (2-1) in the second half with touchdown passes to Terrell Owens (4 yards) and Brian Westbrook (5 yards). McNabb throws for 266 yards on 22-of-26 passing during the second half.

Oakland's Kerry Collins is 24-of-42 passing for 345 yards and two touchdowns. Collins' 27-yard TD pass to Doug Gabriel with 2:17 left and Sebastian Janikowski's PAT deadlocks the score at 27.

McNabb then drives the Eagles 75 yards in 11 plays to the Oakland 5-yard line. Akers, who is successful on two PATs earlier in the second half, makes the aforementioned 23-yarder.

"You know it's going to hurt for one second and then the game is over," Akers tells the media after the Eagles' victory. "My whole leg hurts right now."

Despite the gritty effort against the defending NFC champions, the Raiders (0-3) continue to self-destruct with 13 penalties for 94 yards and two missed field goal attempts by Janikowski from 49 and 37 yards.

Two of Oakland's penalties — defensive holding on strong safety Derrick Gibson and roughing the passer on linebacker DeLawrence Grant — lead to Philadelphia touchdowns.

Oakland opens a season with three losses for the sixth time in franchise history. The Raiders suffer their 17th road loss in the past 19 games dating back to Dec. 8, 2002.

PRIME-TIME PLAYERS:

Philadelphia
QB Donovan McNabb — Sizzling second-half performance (266 passing yards and 2 TDs) rallies the Eagles to victory. McNabb finishes 30-of-52 passing for 365 yards and 2 TDs with one INT.
RB Brian Westbrook — Has 208 combined yards (68 rushing, 140 receiving) and a TD.
K David Akers — Despite a hamstring injury, the three-time Pro Bowler nails the game-winning field goal from 23 yards with nine seconds left.
MLB Jeremiah Trotter — Has 10 solo tackles and three passes defensed. The fired-up Trotter spearheads an Eagles defense that stuffs the Raiders running game (21 yards on 22 carries).
WR Terrell Owens — Scores his 100th career TD on a 4-yard reception early in the second half. T.O. has catches of 15, 14 and 7 yards on the Eagles' final drive to set David Akers' game-winning field goal. Owens finishes with 9 catches for 80 yards.

Oakland
QB Kerry Collins — Is 24-of-42 passing for 345 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions for a passer rating of 99.8.
TE Courtney Anderson — Has 5 catches for 100 yards, both career highs. The second-year player from San Jose State contributes catches on three of four Oakland scoring drives.
WR Doug Gabriel — His 27-yard TD catch late in the fourth quarter narrows the Philly lead to 20-19.
DT Warren Sapp — Contributes his fourth career interception (his first since 2002) and two passes defensed.

KEY STAT:
The Raiders are penalized 13 times for 94 yards. Through the season's first three games, Oakland has 36 penalties for 327 yards.

GOAT:
Raiders K Sebastian Janikowski. Despite making kicks of 28 and 26 yards, he misses field goal attempts of 49 and 37 yards. The Polish Cannon is 3-of-7 on field goal attempts through the season's first three games.

TURNING POINT:
After Oakland deadlocks the score at 20 on Kerry Collins' 27-yard TD pass to Doug Gabriel, Eagles QB Donovan McNabb engineers an 11-play, 75-yard drive to set up David Akers' game-winning field goal. McNabb is 6-of-8 passing for 79 yards (there is a 10-yard Philadelphia holding penalty on the drive) as the Eagles advance the football to the Raiders' 5.

BY THE NUMBERS:
1.0: Raiders' average yards per rush on 22 running plays.
26: Receiving yards for Raiders WR Randy Moss through three quarters. Moss finishes with 5 catches with 86 yards.
266: Passing yards by Eagles QB Donovan McNabb during the second half.

THEY SAID IT:
"I saw a lot of great effort out there. Last year, I don't know if we would have had that."

Raiders QB Kerry Collins

"I'm a little banged-up. It would be great to go out and not have any injuries, but in life, you have adversities."

Eagles QB Donovan McNabb

DID YOU KNOW?:
The Raiders open a season with three losses for the sixth time in franchise history. None of the previous 0-3 Raiders teams (1961, 1962, 1964, 1986, 1992) finished with a winning record or made the playoffs.


With the victory, the Eagles are 14-3 in regular-season games at Lincoln Financial Field. The NFC East team played 31 seasons at Veterans Stadium before moving into its new home in 2003.

Photo caption/credit:
Eagles kicker David Akers (2) kicks the
game-winning field goal against the Raiders.

By The Associated Press

Updated: 9-26-2005

OAKLAND RAIDERS RAP

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