Roller-coaster ride ends in Broncos’ favor

DENVER – From blowout to embarrassment to blowout again, the Denver Broncos put a unique twist on the art of the four-touchdown victory.

Little-known receiver Todd Devoe caught a 43-yard touchdown pass and Tatum Bell ran for 67- and 6-yard touchdowns in the fourth quarter Sunday to help the Broncos hold off, then run away from the Philadelphia Eagles for a 49-21 victory.

The Broncos came one point and 3 yards short of setting franchise records for offense. But the gaudy stats (564 yards, 28 first downs) and the 28-point margin don’t begin to tell how scary this one got for a while.

“An old-fashioned butt-whupping,” is what Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter called it. “What can you say? When you dig a hole too deep, you think you can come back, but then they came right back and made some more big plays.”

Jake Plummer, who finished with a season-high 309 yards and no interceptions for the sixth straight game, threw three of his four TD passes over the first 23 minutes to give Denver a 28-0 lead.

But the Broncos allowed Philly within seven points and a mere 24 yards of the tying score early in the fourth.

Donovan McNabb had running back Lamar Gordon wide open on a third-and-5 from the Denver 24, but went to the end zone instead and was picked off by rookie Domonique Foxworth, who was covering Reggie Brown.

Five plays later, Devoe ran a short slant to the inside, caught the pass from Plummer, then spun outside and had free sailing after cornerback Roderick Hood fell on the rain-soaked turf.

“The feeling was not the best,” Devoe said of the mood on the Denver sideline with the lead slipping away. “We knew we had to do something to slow their momentum down.”

Devoe’s touchdown did it, then a few minutes later, Bell got loose on the sideline for his 67-yard run, yet another in a long list of big plays he has made this year.

Bell, who added his second touchdown in the last minute, finished with 107 yards and Mike Anderson had 126 more, keeping them on pace to become only the fourth pair of running backs in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards each in the same season.

Before Devoe’s big catch, it looked very much like McNabb and Terrell Owens might match the NFL’s biggest regular-season comeback.

Trailing 28-7, McNabb opened the third by hitting Owens on a short pass on the sideline. Owens juked Champ Bailey, then ran free for a 91-yard score – the longest of either player’s career.

Owens beat Bailey again for a 43-yard gain to set up a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brian Westbrook to pull the Eagles within 28-21 late in the third.