Both Pats, Eagles were shut out in opener

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A week ago, the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots had Super Bowl aspirations. On Monday, one of them will be fighting to save their season.

Both teams were shut out in their openers. Unless Sunday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field ends in a tie, either the Eagles or Patriots will be in trouble.

In their first game at their new stadium, the Eagles were embarrassed Monday night, losing 17-0 to the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a rematch of last year’s NFC championship game.

“Everyone talks about the loss to Tampa. Well, that is over,” quarterback Donovan McNabb said. “We have 15 games left and we need to concentrate on the Patriots. Once we get the chance to get on the field against the Patriots, I am sure it will be a different story.”

The Patriots were thoroughly dominated last Sunday in a 31-0 loss to the Bills in Buffalo.

“We are past it,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We had the autopsy. What are we going to do, kill it again? How many times can you pump bullets into a dead body? I mean, what good does it do? You analyze it, make corrections and move on. We are playing this week.”

The Eagles will be without two key members of arguably the best secondary in the NFL when they face Tom Brady and the Patriots. All-Pro safety Brian Dawkins and Pro Bowl cornerback Bobby Taylor are out with foot injuries. Second-year pros Clinton Hart (safety) and Lito Sheppard (cornerback) will start in their places.

Also, defensive end Brandon Whiting is out with a hamstring injury. Defensive tackle Darwin Walker will move to end to replace Whiting, who was starting for the injured Derrick Burgess.

“That is unbelievable to lose three starters in one game, especially to lose half your secondary,” Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said.

The season opener was also was costly for the Patriots, who lost another defensive captain when linebacker Ted Johnson broke his foot less than a week after the team released safety Lawyer Milloy.

Roman Phifer, who started 161 of his 182 NFL games before coming off the bench against the Bills, is expected to start in Johnson’s place.

“We are going to have to step up and rally this team and get it going in the right direction,” Brady said. “We have a lot of talent in this locker room. There are a lot of guys who have been through a lot of winning seasons and have been around here and know the attitude of the team and the coach. We are all behind each other. It is us against everyone else. That is how we like it.”

Brady is coming off a horrible performance in which he threw four interceptions. McNabb also wasn’t effective, throwing one interception, taking three sacks and getting most of his 148 yards passing and 55 yards rushing in garbage time.

Brady obviously will look to take advantage of Philadelphia’s inexperienced secondary by throwing often to Troy Brown and David Patten.

McNabb made it clear he’ll try to get rid of the ball quicker and won’t be hesitant to take off and scramble if he has running lanes.

“When you come off a frustrating loss you want to get back out there,” McNabb said. “We have been in this situation before. We have handled it the way we wanted to. We are going to focus on the Patriots and go out there and relax and have fun.”

The teams met in the preseason three weeks ago, but both played their starters briefly to avoid revealing too much about their game plans.

Too bad for each the Buccaneers and Bills exposed their weaknesses already.

AP-ES-09-11-03 1932EDT