CHICAGO, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The scrambling skills of quarterback Donovan McNabb and the mistakes of the previously-charmed Chicago Bears combined to send the Philadelphia Eagles into the NFC Championship game for the first time in 22 years Saturday with a 33-19 victory at frigid Soldier Field.
McNabb threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, ran for another score that clinched the victory and kept drives and eventual scoring plays alive by successfully eluding the Chicago pass rush. The Bears, meanwhile, made critical miscues on offense, defense and special teams to fall in their first playoff appearance in seven seasons.
Chicago also lost quarterback Jim Miller in the first half to a separated shoulder when he was blocked into the ground by Philadelphia defensive end Hugh Douglas following an interception. The Bears' offense promptly disappeared with the only second-half Chicago touchdown coming from its defense.
With the divisional-round victory, Philadelphia earned a spot in the NFC title contest next weekend against either the Green Bay Packers or St. Louis Rams. If Green Bay upsets St. Louis in their divisional-round game Sunday, the Eagles would host the NFC Championship game.
Philadelphia (13-5) last played for the NFC title at the end of the 1979 season, when the Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys before falling to the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XV. Chicago, which won its first division title since 1990 thanks in part to a series of amazing comebacks, finished the season at 13-4.
Chicago, playing on its home field in sub-freezing temperatures and with a chill factor of 18 degrees, became the first NFC team in seven years to earn a bye past the first round of the playoffs and then lose in the division round.
"It's very exciting. We've taken one step further than we did last year," said McNabb, whose team lost in this round last season to the New York Giants. "It's just a feeling right now that I could not explain. But believe me, we're all excited."
"This leaves a sour taste in our mouth," Chicago linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said. "In the offseason, we have to remember that we lost the last game at Soldier Field. We really got punished."
Next season, Soldier Field will be renovated and the Bears will play their home games at the University of Illinois.
McNabb put Philadelphia in front at 13-7 with 14 seconds left in the first half when he hit fullback Cecil Martin with a 13-yard pass. His other scoring throw was a seven-yarder to running back Duce Staley that gave the Eagles the lead for good at 20-14 with 5:55 to play in the third quarter.
Martin's touchdown reception came when he was left wide open in the end zone after McNabb shook off a would-be tackle in the backfield by Chicago defensive end Phillip Daniels to keep the play alive.
And Staley's scoring reception came after he split to the right side of the formation and no member of the Chicago defense bothered to cover him. McNabb took the snap and quickly fired a strike to his running back for the score.
"Donovan threw a bullet, but I made the play," Staley said. "We just made eye contact. Donovan just comes up to the line and was able to look over the defense. It's an empty backfield and they left me open. They were kind of confused all day on that and that time we were able to capitalize."
Chicago turned the ball over four times with the first one being the most critical. Miller, on his fifth pass of the game, threw for the end zone on third and one from his own 25 in the opening seconds of the second period. That pass was underthrown and picked off by strong safety Damon Moore, who had two interceptions last week in Philadelphia's wild card victory over Tampa Bay.
While Moore was returning the ball 18 yards, Miller was slammed into the ground by Douglas. Miller got up holding his shoulder and soon went to the locker room for examination. Although Miller trotted out of the locker room midway through the second period to the cheers of the crowd, he did not return to the game, leaving the offense in the hands of Shane Matthews.
"It's just disappointing to work so hard for something like that to happen," Miller said. "If I would've thrown the ball further I wouldn't have been in the situation where something like that could happen."
"He acted like he was going to make a tackle," Douglas said. "If it would've been any other quarterback, they wouldn't have moved because they don't want to get hurt. But when he moved, I put him down."
That was Chicago's only turnover until the fourth quarter, but the Bears' coughed the ball up three times in the final eight minutes to seal their fate.
After Philadelphia's David Akers kicked a 40-yard field goal with 8:48 to play that gave the Eagles a 23-17 lead, Chicago's Autry Denson fumbled away the ensuing kickoff at his own 35. That quickly led to another Akers field goal, his fourth of the game, to put the Eagles in front by nine with 6:28 left.
Matthews then threw an interception, which soon resulted in a five-yard touchdown run by McNabb.
Philadelphia opened a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on field goals of 34 and 23 yards by Akers -- the second one coming after McNabb scrambled away from the Chicago pass rush and hit James Thrash with a 43-yard pass.
Chicago's lone offensive highlight came with 5:29 left in the half when flanker Ahmad Merritt scored on a 47-yard reverse to give the Bears a 7-6 lead. The only other touchdown for the Bears came when cornerback R.W. McQuarters tipped a pass into the hands of teammate Jerry Azumah, who returned it 39 yards for a score.
The Eagles surrendered a fourth-down safety on the final play of the game.
McNabb completed 26 of 40 passes for his 262 yards while Matthews was eight of 17 for 66 and Miller three of five for 23.
Staley led the Eagles in rushing with 66 yards on 18 carries while Chicago's leading rusher turned out to be Merritt, whose end around for a touchdown accounted for almost half of the Bears' rushing total. Chicago rookie Anthony Thomas, who rushed for 1,183 yards during the regular season, was held to 36 on 15 carries Saturday.
