Turn Out the Dome Light(s); Peters Out
Updating: It's 27-0 in the third, Birds just scoring on a Sheldon Brown route jump and frolic, 83 yards for the TD.
Before that, Michael Vick run, 5 yards inside right. Vick got mixed boos and cheers this time, unlike when he appeared in the first half, which was a boofest.
It was Vicks' first touchdown since he was the Falcons' QB, three years ago. He threw the ball into the stands, to a guy wearing a Falcons Vick jersey; the ball bounced back and Leonard Weaver retrieved it and got it back to the Vick guy.
Jason Peters is out with a "head and shoulder" injury, which sounds as if he might have ingested shampoo, but it's more likely the c-word is involved, as in the cases of Brian Westbrook and DeSean Jackson. Replays showed Peters might've gotten kicked in the head.
Excellent goal-line stand by the Birds at the end of the first half, Quintin Mikell making the fourth-down stop on Jason Snelling.
Earlier: The Eagles are up 10-0 in the second, and not to sound ungrateful, it could be more. The Birds just wasted a 59-yard Leonard Weaver ramble with a Donovan McNabb pass; the drive bogged down and David Akers missed wide left from 39 yards. The shank ended Akers' 17-field goal success streak, dating back to the Oakland game.
The Falcons look really inoffensive.
But the Eagles now have misfired on a third and 6 pass, and Jason Peters seems to have tweaked his bad ankle. Ruh-roh. Looks like the first Sav Rocca punt.
Birds got a field goal on their opening drive, then cashed in a fumbled kickoff, Weaver catching a 4-yarder from McNabb.
Also, Asante Samuel made a really solid open-field tackle ... and gave up a long Roddy White completion on the next play. Samuel might have been disoriented.
Earlier: The inactive list is out and the biggest question resolved is that Falcons rushing leader Michael Turner indeed will not be playing this afternoon against the Eagles. Turner had not practiced all week and had been listed as questionable with an ankle injury.
As expected, DeSean Jackson, Brian Westbrook and Akeem Jordan are inactive for the Eagles, along with Mike McGlynn, Kevin Curtis and P.J. Hill. Kevin Kolb is the third QB.
Also, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Eagles coach Andy Reid's contract extension could be announced soon. The Daily News reported back on Oct. 9 that talks had begun on a new deal for Reid, whose current contract will expire after the 2010 season. This is the closest the team has allowed Reid to get to coaching free-agency since his 1999 hiring.
Meanwhile, the teams are warming up and so far, Jeremiah Trotter hasn't fought anybody. But Ike Reese is no longer here to instigate.
Mike Vick just held an onfield chat with his close personal friend, Falcons owner Arther Blank. Hard to read lips, but Blank might have been saying, "Are you SURE you don't want to give that money back that we sued you for?"