MINNEAPOLIS — All but forgotten as a postseason contender just one month earlier, Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles have a playoff win.
Next up: the Super Bowl champions.
Brian Westbrook caught a short pass out of the backfield and zigzagged through the Minnesota defense for a devastating 71-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, and the Eagles spoiled the Vikings' first home playoff game in eight years with a 26-14 victory yesterday.
Asante Samuel's 44-yard interception return of Tarvaris Jackson's errant pass in the second quarter set the tone for the kind of game most Vikings fans feared from the unpolished QB.
Reid improved his playoff coaching record to 9-6, including at least one win each time the Eagles (10-6-1) have qualified in his 10 years. He bested his buddy and former offensive coordinator Brad Childress in this one, and they spoke for several moments on the field after the game.
Philadelphia will play next Sunday in New Jersey against the top-seeded Giants, sending Arizona to play Carolina in the other NFC semifinal Saturday.
Jackson, who lost his job in September but got it back when Gus Frerotte was hurt, went 15-for-35 for 164 yards. Adrian Peterson's two touchdown runs weren't nearly enough for NFC North champion Minnesota (10-7).
Ravens 27, Dolphins 9
MIAMI — The Baltimore Ravens had Chad Pennington spinning, ducking, on his heels and on his back. When he did manage to get a pass away, they were often there to snatch it.
The Ravens came up with four interceptions, including one returned 64 yards for a touchdown by Ed Reed, spoiling the Miami Dolphins' first playoff game in seven seasons.
Baltimore stuffed Miami's ground attack and negated the Wildcat, but most of all the Ravens harried Pennington into uncharacteristic mistakes. After throwing only seven interceptions during the regular season, he had four during a 22-minute flurry midway through the game.
With a rookie coach in John Harbaugh and a rookie quarterback in Joe Flacco, wild-card entrant Baltimore (12-5) won for the 10th time in 12 games and will play Saturday at AFC South champion Tennessee.
The playoff victory was the first for the Ravens since they beat Miami in a first-round game in January 2002. The result put the brakes on this season's remarkable resurgence by the Dolphins (11-6), who won the AFC East after going 1-15 in 2007.
Reed had two interceptions, and Jim Leonhard and Fabian Washington made one apiece. Terrell Suggs recovered a fumble by Patrick Cobbs early in the second half at the Miami 19, and four plays later Le'Ron McClain scored on an 8-yard run for a 20-3 lead.
