Late Field Goal Sinks Birds

The 38-year-old Tennessee kicker, who missed two field goals and an extra point to cost the Titans two games, kicked a 50-yarder as time expired Sunday to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 15-13 on Sunday.

It was the fifth field goal of the game for Del Greco, and it put the Titans (10-3) a game ahead of Baltimore in the AFC Central. And it broke a four-game winning streak for Philadelphia (9-5), dropping them a half-game behind the New York Giants (9-4) in the NFC East.

This was a field goal duel for 3{ quarters between two of the best defensive teams in the NFL -- four for Del Greco to two for Philadelphia`s David Akers. Even Eddie George, who ran 32 times for 101 yards for Tennessee, went backward almost as often as he went forward.

Del Greco`s fourth field goal, a 44-yarder with 5:23 left, put the Titans ahead by six. He missed an extra point and a potential game-winning field-goal attempt against Cleveland, and last week missed a field-goal try that would have put the Titans ahead late in a game they lost late in Jacksonville. But after falling behind, the Eagles came alive.

Donovan McNabb, held largely in check by a Tennessee defense that sacked him five times, threw a 45-yard pass to Todd Pinkston on third-and-10 from his own 23, then completed three more passes before scrambling in from the 2 with 3:11 left, giving the Eagles a 13-12 lead.

Philadelphia held the Titans on one series, but the Titans got the ball back with 1:43 left on their own 36. Steve McNair hit Derrick Mason twice on the sideline and got the ball to the Philadelphia 32, allowing Del Greco to try from the 50.

It was straight through the uprights. McNabb, who scrambled for 128 yards in the Eagles` win in Washington last week, ran for 37 yards this week in seven carries. He was 18-or-39 for 239 yards.

The teams were tied at 6 at halftime on two field goals each by Del Greco and Akers. Del Greco was successful from 26 and 42 yards, Akers from 23 and 40.

Tennessee controlled the ball for most of the half, using up more than nine minutes on their first field-goal drive and nearly 6 minutes on the second. Tennessee had the ball for 20 minutes and five seconds of the 30 minutes played.

The Titans made it 9-6 on their first possession of the second half on Del Greco`s 22-yarder after Tennessee drove from its own 20 to the Philadelphia 4, using up another 6:37 on the clock.

(Courtesy Asociated Press. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2000.)

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Author: AP