Curtis catches 11 passes for 221 yards in Eagles win
By RANDY PENNELL, Associated Press Writer
September 23, 2007
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It took three weeks, but Kevin Curtis finally proved to be the big-play threat the Eagles thought he would be.
Curtis needed just a quarter to set a career high for yards receiving and finished with 221 yards on 11 catches and three touchdowns Sunday in Philadelphia's 56-21 win over the Detroit Lions.
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"We definitely had some room out there to run around in the secondary," Curtis said. "We were able to just kind of exploit that with the way the line blocked up front."
Curtis' 205 yards receiving in the first half were the most in a single half since Buffalo's Lee Evans posted the same total last year against Houston.
The Eagles initially announced that Curtis' performance had tied Evans' record for a first-half performance, with records only available as far back as 1991. Steve Largent had 224 yards in the first half of an Oct. 18, 1987, replacement game for Seattle against Detroit.
The Lions' Roy Williams had nine catches for 204 yards, making this the first time in NFL history that two players had more than 200 yards receiving in the same game.
"They were playing off coverage on a couple of those (plays), and on a couple of them they came up and tried to bang him around and he was a little quicker than they were," Eagles coach Andy Reid said.
Curtis was approaching the Eagles single-game record for receiving yards but dropped a pass late in the game that would have put him close to Tommy McDonald's mark of 237 yards set in 1961.
"I know I had a drop at the end that would've helped my cause," Curtis said.
After signing a free-agent contract with the Eagles in the offseason, Curtis was expected to provide Philadelphia with a reliable big-play threat after the team decided not to re-sign speedster Donte' Stallworth.
But through his first two games, Curtis -- like the rest of the Eagles offense -- was a disappointment, catching six passes for 81 yards.
That changed fast on Sunday.
Curtis caught touchdown passes of 68, 12 and 43 yards from Donovan McNabb as the Eagles built a 42-21 lead in the first half.
McNabb hit Curtis on a post for the 68-yard TD in the first quarter and found Curtis open after a play-action fake for the 12-yarder in the second. Then, following a Detroit punt, Curtis got loose down the left sideline for an easy touchdown catch that gave the Eagles a 35-7 lead.
"When you get in a situation like that where a guy's hot like that versus a defender you continue to stay with him," McNabb said.
Curtis caught six passes for 132 yards in the first quarter. His previous single-game best was 105 yards in 2005.
By RANDY PENNELL, Associated Press Writer
September 23, 2007
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- It took three weeks, but Kevin Curtis finally proved to be the big-play threat the Eagles thought he would be.
Curtis needed just a quarter to set a career high for yards receiving and finished with 221 yards on 11 catches and three touchdowns Sunday in Philadelphia's 56-21 win over the Detroit Lions.
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"We definitely had some room out there to run around in the secondary," Curtis said. "We were able to just kind of exploit that with the way the line blocked up front."
Curtis' 205 yards receiving in the first half were the most in a single half since Buffalo's Lee Evans posted the same total last year against Houston.
The Eagles initially announced that Curtis' performance had tied Evans' record for a first-half performance, with records only available as far back as 1991. Steve Largent had 224 yards in the first half of an Oct. 18, 1987, replacement game for Seattle against Detroit.
The Lions' Roy Williams had nine catches for 204 yards, making this the first time in NFL history that two players had more than 200 yards receiving in the same game.
"They were playing off coverage on a couple of those (plays), and on a couple of them they came up and tried to bang him around and he was a little quicker than they were," Eagles coach Andy Reid said.
Curtis was approaching the Eagles single-game record for receiving yards but dropped a pass late in the game that would have put him close to Tommy McDonald's mark of 237 yards set in 1961.
"I know I had a drop at the end that would've helped my cause," Curtis said.
After signing a free-agent contract with the Eagles in the offseason, Curtis was expected to provide Philadelphia with a reliable big-play threat after the team decided not to re-sign speedster Donte' Stallworth.
But through his first two games, Curtis -- like the rest of the Eagles offense -- was a disappointment, catching six passes for 81 yards.
That changed fast on Sunday.
Curtis caught touchdown passes of 68, 12 and 43 yards from Donovan McNabb as the Eagles built a 42-21 lead in the first half.
McNabb hit Curtis on a post for the 68-yard TD in the first quarter and found Curtis open after a play-action fake for the 12-yarder in the second. Then, following a Detroit punt, Curtis got loose down the left sideline for an easy touchdown catch that gave the Eagles a 35-7 lead.
"When you get in a situation like that where a guy's hot like that versus a defender you continue to stay with him," McNabb said.
Curtis caught six passes for 132 yards in the first quarter. His previous single-game best was 105 yards in 2005.