Eagles back on winning track

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles aren't thinking about injuries, suspensions or arbitration hearings this week.

The reigning NFC champions can finally focus on football after ended a four-game losing streak with a 19-14 victory over Green Bay on Sunday.

"There is a lot of room for improvement, but we also saw some good things," Eagles coach Andy Reid said Monday. "We had some young kids playing and we saw some improvement with the ones that had been playing and then we saw a glimpse of the kids that had a chance to get in there for the first time and they did a pretty good job.

"There are plenty of things to work on, but they gave a great effort."

At 5-6, the Eagles' playoff hopes are slim. Eight teams in the conference have a better overall record, while Philadelphia is 0-4 in the division and 2-5 against the NFC.

But no one is looking toward next year just yet. The Eagles are used to success, having played in the NFC championship game the last four years. They're still hoping to win out and force their way into the postseason.

"We can go out and win every game," safety Brian Dawkins said. "We talked about winning; it starts with the first game. We have another tough game coming up and I see no reason why we can't win that one."

The Eagles host the conference-leading Seattle Seahawks (9-2) next Monday night. At this point, each game is a must-win for Philadelphia. Considering the turmoil surrounding the team this season, players would rather face that kind of pressure than talk about the Terrell Owens' saga or how to deal without so many injured starters.

Owens has finished serving his four-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. The Eagles plan to deactivate the All-Pro wideout for the final five games.

Star quarterback Donovan McNabb, who missed the last two games, had surgery for a sports hernia on Monday and will be out the rest of the year. All-Pro cornerback Lito Sheppard (ankle) and Pro Bowl tackle Tra Thomas (back) also were lost for the season last week.

"We needed a win," said quarterback Mike McMahon, who has started the last two games for McNabb. "The defense stepped up big and that felt good. It felt like we didn't let one slip away this time. We finished it. No matter how bad things were, we finished the win. So, let's improve from there. Let's go from there."

Without McNabb and Owens, the once-potent offense now relies on running back Brian Westbrook for big plays. Westbrook ran for 117 yards and one touchdown against the Packers, surpassing the 100-yard mark for the first time since early last year.

McMahon, who threw for a career-best 298 yards in a loss to the New York Giants a week ago, had just 91 yards passing and completed only 12 of 28 passes against Green Bay. But the fifth-year pro played error-free and didn't make any costly mistakes.

"Right now, it's Mike's position," Reid said when asked if backup Koy Detmer would get a chance to play. "We will see how he does here. He did some good things. He took a couple of steps forward and we will get him started a little faster than we have the last couple of days.

"You saw that he was in trouble a couple of times and he was able to get out of trouble with his legs, not only running but throwing down the field. He had a couple of throws down the end there that were big throws."

The defense was solid, especially in the second half when it held the Packers to 109 total yards and no points. Though Green Bay's offense is missing its top receiver (Javon Walker) and best running back (Ahman Green), it still was a positive step for a defense that had struggled to stop teams in important situations.