Strong run for Eagles kicker Akers

David Akers is on about as good a run as he has ever been on. Including his 32-yard game-winner yesterday against the Redskins, Akers has now made 16 straight field goals for the Eagles. It hasn't been a run of total cheapies, either. In order, the yardage list since his last miss has been 45, 47, 44, 30, 35, 45, 48, 52, 18, 25, 25, 25, 29, 24, 41, 32.

Sixteen in a row is one short of his personal record of 17, set in 2001. But the circumstances more than the number - he kicked No. 16 with 1:48 left in the 27-24 victory, capping a furious fourth-quarter comeback for the Eagles - were what had Akers talking so excitedly after the game.

"The way we're looking right now, to win a division game like this, I think it shows a lot of heart," he said. "To be able to come back late in the fourth quarter [with a touchdown], scratching and clawing for the two-point conversion there, and then holding them defensively and going down and getting a very makeable field goal . . .

"The way the o-line, the last several games, they've given us so much time. And then to have Sav [holder Sav Rocca] and Jon [long snapper Jon Dorenbos] do their job, for me, it's just, 'Don't screw it up.' "

For the season, Akers is 13-for-13 inside of 40 yards. From 40 to 49 yards, he is 10-for-12. From farther than that, he is 1-for-2. He is putting up numbers that rival those of 2004, the most recent of his three Pro Bowl seasons.

"I just give thanks for the Eagles letting me stay around," he said "All of a sudden, you miss a couple of kicks next week, you're a bum. I just try to keep an even keel and not get too high . . .

"When you're called upon, you don't want to be the person that doesn't help the team out."