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Eagles' defense bottles Bears

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Posted 8:10AM on Sunday 20th January 2002 ( 23 years ago )
CHICAGO - Donovan McNabb maneuvered Philadelphia into the NFC championship game, throwing for two touchdowns and running for a third in the Eagles&#39; 33-19 victory over Chicago on Saturday. <br> <br> David Akers kicked four field goals and Philadelphia&#39;s rugged defense bottled up a Chicago offense crippled when quarterback Jim Miller was knocked out of the game in the second quarter because of a separated shoulder. <br> <br> The Eagles will face the winner of Sunday&#39;s Green Bay-St. Louis game in the conference championship. <br> <br> McNabb, who once played in a high school championship game at Soldier Field, completed 26 of 40 passes for 262 yards and rushed for 37 more in the last game at the venerable lakefront stadium before it undergoes a major renovation. <br> <br> After the Bears sacked McNabb for the first time in the third quarter, he scrambled and hit Jeff Thomason with a 30-yard pass to the Chicago 10. On second down, Duce Staley easily took a pass from McNabb for a 6-yard TD play that made it 20-14 late in the quarter. <br> <br> Akers kicked a 40-yarder field goal to put the Eagles up 23-17 in the final quarter, and when Chicago&#39;s Autry Denson fumbled the ensuing kickoff after a hit by Tim Hauck, Quinton Caver recovered. <br> <br> McNabb again responded after being sacked. He eluded the Bears and found Staley on a 14-yarder to get Akers in position for a 46-yarder with 6:28 left that made it 26-17. <br> <br> McNabb had a 5-yard TD run with 3:21 to go. <br> <br> The Bears, with Shane Matthews filling in for Miller, managed only one offensive touchdown. Their defense got them a third-quarter lead when Jerry Azumah grabbed a deflected pass and raced for a 39-yard TD to put the Bears up 14-13.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/199915

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