Les Bowen: Further Review: LeSean's and DeSean's strip lessons

ALL THE YOUNG dudes, carry the ball carelessly, boogaloo dudes.

I'm guessing Shady McCoy and DeSean Jackson wouldn't know Mott the Hoople from Mott's applesauce, but they know now that defenders will just haul off and punch the ball out, while they're wrestling with you. McCoy expressed surprise over that dynamic, following the Eagles' 24-20 victory over the Chicago Bears Sunday night.

"As I put it away, he punched it out!" McCoy said. "I've never experienced that."

The rookie running back's fumble, after a 17-yard run early in the fourth quarter, gave the Bears the ball with a 20-17 lead at the Birds' 37. Disaster was averted when the defense held, then Antonio Dixon blocked a 48-yard Robbie Gould field-goal attempt, setting up what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown drive. McCoy, the ball well-secured, was the guy who knifed through the left side 10 yards for a touchdown, on first-and-goal.

Earlier, Jackson, who had been shouldered aside on a slant for a pick and then fumbled the ball away after a catch, recovered with a 48-yard touchdown catch that was the Eagles' first sign of life in the second half.

It seemed significant that the Birds went back to Jackson and McCoy, repeatedly, after the mistakes. As offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and quarterback Donovan McNabb said afterward, that's just part of the cost of doing business when your primary weapons are this young. It would be nice to be able to hand the ball to Brian Westbrook, or even to be able to throw it to Kevin Curtis every now and again, but that just isn't happening any time soon.

"Well, you have to [come back to them], because many of our players are young, and/or new, and they're going to make a mistake here and there," Mornhinweg said. "Now, we've got to get over that. We've got to get better. We're past midway through the season; we have to be a little bit more efficient that way and give ourselves a chance to score points . . . But those guys that you go back to [after mistakes], that's important. Then you end up having a little mojo down the stretch."

McNabb suggested that his "must-win" declaration last week was less a reflection of the true circumstance - given the way contenders are bunched up, it wasn't technically a must-win - and more of a prod to the young guys, a way to evoke a sense of urgency at a point in the season when perhaps energy is flagging.