That poor performance had been preceded by an ugly 13-13 tie against the hapless Cincinnati Bengals.

But back-to-back wins against the Arizona Cardinals and the defending Super Bowl-champion New York Giants has turned the absurd into a legitimate hope.

At 7-5-1, the Eagles still are the No. 4 team in the race for the NFC's two wild-card spots heading into their Monday night game against the 4-9 Cleveland Browns. But if they can win their remaining three games against the Browns and NFC East foes Washington and Dallas, they probably will make it to the post season.

That's because one of the three teams in front of them is the 8-5 Cowboys. Another is the 8-5 Atlanta Falcons, who still have two tough games left against the 8-4 Tampa Bay Bucs and the 8-5 Minnesota Vikings, who lead the NFC North.

"If you get to Thanksgiving and you're within striking distance, that's a good thing," said Eagles coach Andy Reid. "And we were within striking distance. So, hopefully, we'll just keep pushing and do a good job out there."

The easiest of their three remaining games would seem to be this week's prime time battle against the Browns, who have lost five of their last six games, are down to their third quarterback and haven't scored a touchdown in the last three games.

But as they found out against the Bengals, it's dangerous to underestimate an opponent.

"When they get in and see the film (of the Browns) and watch it, they'll realize this isn't going to be an easy game. Cleveland has a lot of talent on their team. Their quarterbacks have been banged up a little bit. But you give the kid (Ken Dorsey) a couple of starts there and anything can happen."

For the third year in a row, the Eagles are playing their best football at the end of the season. Two years ago, they bounced back from a 5-6 start to win their last five games, including back-to-back-to-back road wins over the Redskins, Cowboys and Giants and won the division. Last year, they won their final three games, but dug too deep of an early hole and missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record. This year? Time will tell.

What has given the Eagles' playoff hopes a huge boost is the return-to-reasonable-health of their bread-and-butter running back, Brian Westbrook.

Westbrook has been bothered most of the season by ankle, knee and rib injuries. He hasn't been able to cut and explode through holes like he did last year when he led the league in yards from scrimmage.

But he put together back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances against the Cardinals and the Giants and is poised for a strong finish. He had a career-high 39 touches against the Giants and rushed for 131 yards in an impressive 20-14 win. He was the first running back to rush for 100 yards against the Giants in 14 games.

"I give all the glory to God," Westbrook said. "It's not me. It's something more than me."

SERIES HISTORY: 47th regular-season meeting. The Browns lead the series, 31-14-1. The Eagles have won the past two meetings, most recently a 34-31 overtime win at Cleveland in 2004. Donovan McNabb threw for 376 yards and four touchdowns in that game, which was won by a David Akers 50-yard field goal with 5:02 left in OT.