“He’s someone this team cannot afford to lose,” said Fox analyst Darryl Johnston about Redskins’ wide receiver James Thrash as he left the field with an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter. Coming into Sunday’s game, of all the things that could have been said about the former Eagle, the odds of hearing that were somewhere in the 200 million to 1 range. Through three plus quarters James “Trash” had his way with his former team to the tune of five catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns. That tells you all you need to know about the Birds’ recent secondary struggles, but when it came to crunch time, the Philadelphia defense held on for a win.

Following a Donovan McNabb fumble that mirrored the first play of last week’s Cowboys’ game, the Redskins had six snaps inside the Eagles’ ten yard line. Leading 22-20 with seven minutes to play, a touchdown would have sealed the victory for Washington, and officially ended Philly’s season. A defensive holding penalty put the ‘Skins at the 3-yard line, but the Birds held Clinton Portis out of the end zone on three straight plays and forced a field goal.

On the ensuing drive, McNabb hit Westbrook on a screen and the playmaking tailback made some moves and followed his blockers for a 57-yard touchdown to put the Eagles up by one following a missed two point conversion. Without their sidelined stud receiver, Washington couldn’t answer, and Philly escaped with a 32-25 win and a sliver of hope remaining for the season.

Looking ahead at the next two weeks, they might as well simulate the games like it’s a Madden season. Write it down, the Eagles will be 5-6 after the next two games. The Birds have a about as much of a chance of losing to the Dolphins as they do of beating the Patriots. Slim.

Philly will find itself with the same record they had after week 12 last year, but with a much tougher end of the season. The Eagles will have to beat the Seahawks and Giants at home, the Cowboys in Dallas, the Saints in New Orleans and close the season out at home against the Bills. The NFC East is gone. But, looking for something to hold onto, the Giants, Lions and any other playoff contenders in the NFC are very capable of falling apart. There’s a chance the Birds could back into the playoffs at 9-7, but even that will be a tall order over the final month of the season.