Eagles' performance after bye under Reid

1999: The game actually was played on Jan. 2, 2000, after the Christmas-week bye. It was the season finale, a meaningless game against a Rams team that was on its way to winning the Super Bowl. The Eagles won at home, 38-31, with the Rams resting Marshall Faulk for three quarters and Kurt Warner much of the second half. Donovan McNabb played with his sprained MCL braced. Mike Mamula ran an interception back for a TD. Yes, Mike Mamula.

2000: Another late bye, another season finale postbye game, Dec. 24. This time, the Eagles beat the visiting Bengals, 16-7, then they watched TV in the locker room to learn they were hosting the Bucs in a wild card playoff game.

2001: Oct. 22, 10-9 victory at the Giants. McNabb hit James Thrash for an 18-yard touchdown with 1 minute, 52 seconds left to give Andy Reid his first victory over the Giants in six tries.

2002: Oct. 20, 20-10 over the Bucs at Veterans Stadium. McNabb bootleg 1-yard TD run sealed victory after an Al Harris pick. Duce Staley carried 24 times for 152 yards, something Reid later unaccountably did not factor into his NFC title game plans for the Bucs.

2003: Brian Westbrook's 62-yard touchdown run with a little more than 2 minutes left nailed down a 23-13 Sept. 28 win at Buffalo, and perhaps saved the season for a banged-up, previously 0-2 Eagles team. It was Westbrook's first game-changer. Also the day when Rush Limbaugh opined during a pregame show that McNabb was overhyped by liberal reporters who wanted a black quarterback to succeed.

2004: Cruise control - a 30-8 home victory over Carolina on Oct. 17 made the Birds 5-0. The Eagles picked off four passes, a pair by Lito Sheppard. Each of the five successive wins came by double digits.

2005: On Oct. 23, Quintin Mikell slipped through a field-goal protection gap, blocked the kick, and watched teammate Matt Ware return it 65 yards for an improbable 20-17 edge, with 1:34 left. Chargers then got back within field-goal range, but Sheldon Brown forced a fumble at the Birds' 18, and Darwin Walker recovered. This was the year McNabb tried to play with a sports hernia, and Reid never wanted to run the ball. Fifty-seven passes and 10 called runs against the Chargers. Ah, memories.

2006: On Nov. 12, the Eagles hosted the Redskins and won, 27-3, breaking a three-game losing streak. Reid disclosed he used the bye week to relinquish playcalling duties to Marty Mornhinweg.

2007: On Oct. 14, the Eagles held off the host Jets, 16-9. McNabb almost fell when tripped pulling back from center by an o-lineman, but recovered to complete a third-down pass to Reggie Brown and avoid a punt from the Eagles' end zone just before the 2-minute warning. The Birds had hit the bye 1-3.

2008: On Oct. 26, the Birds defeated visiting Atlanta, 27-14, helped by a fortunate ruling. Falcons punt returner Adam Jennings backed away from a bounce, but was ruled to have touched the ball, with the Eagles' Akeem Jordan recovering, setting up the clinching TD. On replays, it was impossible to say the ball definitely touched Jennings. But the Falcons had used all their timeouts and couldn't challenge. With 2:22 left, they were outside the 2-minute threshold for automatic review.