Desean Jackson

Nick Foles' deep pass down the left sideline in the third quarter of the Eagles' loss on Thursday sailed 31 yards. It would have helped if it remained in the air about 34 yards, because wide receiver Jeremy Maclin ran past the cornerback with only the end zone in front of him. The pass was intercepted, and raises one of the pressing questions surrounding Foles: How effective is his deep ball? "Nick has got one of the stronger arms we've had here, one of the stronger arms in the league," coach Andy Reid said Friday.

THERE WILL be a new sheriff in NovaCareland in a few weeks, and one of the first things he will do after calling 1-800-MATTRES and putting the framed picture of the wife and kids he will never see on his office credenza, is to fill up his coffee mug, grab the remote, put his feet up on his desk and watch the 16 disaster movies produced and directed by Andy Reid and his coaching staff this season, including Thursday's night's 34-13 turnoverfest....

Keys to Victory 1. Pressure on Dalton. Despite the departures of Jason Babin and Jim Washburn, the Eagles' defensive line showed only marginal improvement Sunday against Tampa Bay. Fletcher Cox and Cullen Jenkins recorded first-half sacks, but both could be considered coverage sacks. The defense as a whole played better, although it broke down once again in the second half. To beat the Bengals, defensive ends Brandon Graham, Trent Cole, and Co. are going to have to apply some pressure on quarterback Andy Dalton.

If LeSean McCoy is concussion-free and cleared to play, I absolutely want to see him in the remaining games of this lost season. There's more to be gained by seeing how the Eagles' starting running back performs with potential quarterback of the future Nick Foles than by being overly cautious and sitting him for the rest of the season. McCoy is a football player and, if they are healthy, football players play. That shouldn't change depending on whether the team's record is 4-9 or 9-4. I understand the argument that it is not worth risking further injury to a vital part of your future in meaningless games during the closing parts of a losing season.

TAMPA - Two seconds left, Eagles' ball just inside the Tampa 2-yard line, Bucs call timeout, Nick Foles trots to the sideline. Marty Mornhinweg holds up a list of what he later refers to as "plus-5, red-zone, fourth-down-to-win-the-game" plays. "He called it," Mornhinweg said. "He said, 'I want that one.' I didn't quite hear him. I said, 'Who said that? You say that?' " Indeed, Foles had said that. The offensive coordinator didn't need to hear any more. He high-fived the rookie quarterback.

4 The Eagles have won a team-record four games this season by one or two points. 3 Rookie defensive tackle Fletcher Cox has three sacks in the last five games and four this season. 2 The Eagles had just two penalties for 13 yards on Sunday. 271 Damaris Johnson's 271 punt-return yards are second all-time for Eagles rookies. DeSean Jackson had 440 in 2008.

TAMPA, Fla. - The Eagles won a football game on Sunday. Not that long ago, a mere win over an average football team wouldn't have been an occasion for wonderment, but, well, it had been a long two months, and the Eagles also did everything imaginable not to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this time. "We're stinking happy," Andy Reid said, using one of the favorite adjectives. He could have reversed the sentence, too. The Eagles weren't very good against the Bucs. At times, they were terrible.

TAMPA, Fla. - If Nick Foles turns out to be as good as Sunday's last-second victory made him out to be, there won't be anyone as joyous as the Eagles' wide receivers. Well, there may be several million back in Philadelphia as thrilled by the prospect of a budding Foles under center for the near future. But a receiver's best friend is always a quarterback who puts the ball in a spot where he can catch it. And Foles made a number of throws that made Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant, and company look very good in the Eagles' 23-21, thrilling win over the Buccaneers.

TAMPA, Fla. - If Nick Foles turns out to be as good as Sunday's last-second victory made him out to be, there won't anyone as joyous than the Eagles wide receivers. Well, there may be several million back in Philadelphia as thrilled by the prospect of a budding Foles under center for the near future. But a receiver's best friend is always a quarterback who puts the ball in a spot where he can catch it. And Foles made a number of throws that made Jeremy Maclin, Jason Avant and company look very good in the Eagles' 23-21 thrilling win over the Buccaneers.

ASKED IF HE has been consciously calling plays to protect rookie quarterback Nick Foles, especially given a revamped offensive line and the gutting of his skill players by injury, Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg acknowledged as much. "Sure, absolutely, there's no question about that, especially early," he said. "[But] we are much better right now because they have played together for at least a few weeks here. So we're better that way. All of our players have the mentality that they're going to get better as an individual, as a group, and as an offensive unit.