David Akers

Danny Syvret's second goal, with less than eight minutes to play in the game, snapped a tie and gave the Phantoms a 5-4 AHL win over the Lowell Devils last night at the Wachovia Spectrum. His first goal, early in the second period, had given the Phantoms a 4-1 lead after Andreas Nodl, Jared Ross and David Laliberte scored in the first period. Goalie Scott Munroe stopped 37 of 41 shots for the win. Before the game, David Akers of Abington and Andy Reid of Philadelphia participated in a ceremonial name-alike puck drop.

David Aldridge The Eagles own the Redskins. The back of Washington's jerseys should read "Property of Lurie". Bob Brookover The Eagles know they gave away a game on opening day in Green Bay. Bob Ford Reno Mahe doesn't break a punt return for a score, but everything else goes better. Ashley Fox Brian Dawkins said he's "jacked up" for this one. Let's hope so. Ray Parrillo McNabb continues his pattern of rebounding after poor performances in season openers.

A YEAR OF NEAR PERFECTION IN PHILLY SPORTS When Philly fans look back on 2004, I believe it would be fittingly described as "The Year of Near Perfection. " Not only (as of this writing) have the Eagles lost to only one opponent, but Smarty Jones and the St. Joe's basketball Hawks were just an Al Bundy thumb warmer away from eternal prominence. So during New Year's Eve maybe take a moment and raise a glass to these competitors 'cause we may never see three almost flawless performances in one year like this again.

The Eagles signed rookie wide receiver Gari Scott to a three-year contract and kicker Rich Maston, a Camden Catholic and Temple product, to a two-year contract yesterday. Terms were not disclosed. Coach Andy Reid is extremely high on Scott, the Birds' fourth-round draft pick out of Michigan State. Scott has been impressive in minicamps and Reid has lauded him for learning the equivalent of three receiver positions. "That's a lot to ask a guy," Reid said earlier this week. "But he wanted that challenge.

DAVID AKERS could no doubt kick himself. On Monday, the former Eagles placekicker who is now with the 49ers, testified before a federal grand jury in Austin, Texas, that he lost $3.7 million in an alleged Ponzi scheme. Akers claims he got bad investment advice from Kurt Barton, the former chief executive of Triton Financial. "I've had a lot of sleepless nights," Akers told the Austin American-Statesman. "This is my family's future. I said that to Kurt a lot of times.

CINCINNATI - One game into their weeklong trip, the San Francisco 49ers already have a very nice gift to take home and put on the shelf. And they've left room in the suitcase for one more. Kendall Hunter ran 7 yards for the game's only touchdown with just under four minutes to play on Sunday, rallying the 49ers to a 13-8 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals that began their extended stay in the Buckeye State on an upbeat note. The Niners will practice at Youngstown State this week, preparing to face the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

RUSHING OFFENSE: LeSean McCoy and Leonard Weaver combined for 120 yards on 23 carries. Weaver picked up a big first down on a fourth-and-1 on the Eagles' first touchdown drive and set up Eldra Buckley's game-tying TD with a 12-yard run. Grade: B-plus PASSING OFFENSE: With his team trailing by eight, Donovan McNabb engineered a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives, completing five of six passes for 116 yards, including back-to-back 46- and 21-yard...

A conspiracy theory surfaced Sunday during the Eagles' 31-28 overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers. After watching Fox's replays of David Akers' 42-yard field-goal attempt with 4 minutes, 51 seconds left in the third quarter, some viewers believed that the football was stopped in midair by something other than a stiff wind. The theory was that the football had hit one of the wires used for the unmanned camera that travels above the playing field at Lincoln Financial Field. Those of you who believed that actually happened will be disappointed to learn that the world is round, Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, and Akers' attempt wasn't knocked down by anything other than Mother Nature.

SCOUTING REPORT Rob Bironas, Tennessee: Look for a bounce-back season after posting career lows in field goals made and attempted. Josh Brown, St. Louis: Sebastian Janikowski gets more ink, but Brown is 15-for-19 (78.9 pct.) from 50+ yards over the last three years compared to Janikowski's 13-for-22 (59.1 percent). David Buehler, Dallas: Battling a hip strain. Look elsewhere. Stephen Gostkowski, New England: Coming off a torn quad, but has looked OK in camp. Garrett Hartley, New Orleans: Not thrilled that he was only 12-for-16 (75 percent)

Defensive struggles: A defense that had given up just 65 points in its last six games and hadn't allowed a touchdown pass in five games, gave up 24 first-half points and couldn't prevent a game-winning, 14-play scoring drive at the end. The kicker: Usually reliable David Akers missed a point-after and a 47-yard field-goal attempt and sent a kickoff out of bounds. Another missed comeback opportunity for McNabb: The Eagles quarterback brought his team back from a 24-6 halftime deficit, but couldn't engineer a game-winning drive at the end. Tough day for Quintin Demps: The rookie safety, who got his most reps of the season, got beat for a 62-yard touchdown by Larry Fitzgerald, and later was flagged for a late hit on Kurt Warner.