Eagles escape Chicago with a win

It wasn't pretty, but the Philadelphia Eagles moved to 4-0 Sunday by defeating the Chicago Bears 19-9.

The Eagle offense sputtered inside the red zone, as Donovan McNabb threw his first interception of the year and even the reliable David Akers missed two field goals.

However, the Bears, who were playing their first game without injured starting QB Rex Grossman, could mount no offensive attack.

With his weak play, Chicago QB Jonathan Quinn showed why he hasn't started a game since 2001, as the Bears did not have the ball long enough to establish the running game with Thomas Jones.

The Donovan McNabb-Terrell Owens' show connected for their sixth TD of the season.

TO also hauled in a 44-yard reception from McNabb and went over the century mark for the second time this season.

Brian Westbrook also had a very strong day running the ball, as he continued to show his durability carrying the ball 23 times for 115 yards.

McNabb finished 24/38 237 TD INT.

Outside of a major coverage breakdown by David Terrell, the Eagles defense played solid, picking up four sacks and holding the Bears without a touchdown until the waning moments of the game.

The front four didn't get as much pressure as during previous weeks, but they got there when it counted and contained the run well.

For the first time this season, the Eagles come out of a game relatively injury free.

Josh Parry seemed to do a solid job in place of injured full back Jon Ritchie, and despite being banged up OG Jermaine Mayberry was able to start.

The Eagles have next week off before hosting Carolina on October 17 in a rematch of last year's NFC Championship game.

While Carolina does not look like the Super Bowl team of a year ago, this will be a major showdown and should give an indication of just how much better this Eagles team is both offensively and defensively.

The Eagles are 4-0 for the first time since 1993.

However, unlike the Rich Kotite coached '93 team that collapsed down the stretch, this Eagle team has the potential to get better as the offense continues to jell and the secondary gains further experience.

While a perfect season is highly unlikely, a favorable schedule down the stretch makes 14 wins a real possibility, and if that happens it should mean that the Eagles will have a fourth chance at cracking that championship game curse.