"We had some things that we needed to prove," running back Brian Westbrook said after Thursday's game. "We had a lot of people doubting us . . . our offensive line . . . really, just all aspects of our team from the top down. We had a message, and we wanted to go out there and send that message. We did a pretty good job of it."

The only real message sent by the 6-5-1 Eagles, whose dim playoff hopes are still flickering, was that they can play a good Football game on occasion.

"I feel we have a good team," cornerback Sheldon Brown said. "I always felt that way. Make no mistake about it, we just haven't been playing well. Consistency, and today we did it, and you see what happens when we do it."

The convincing 48-20 win over the Cardinals could just add to the ultimate frustration for the Eagles and their fans. The odds still say that when this season is over, the Eagles will look back at the loss in Chicago and the tie in Cincinnati and wonder what could have been and what should have been.

If the Eagles really want to prove something, this Sunday is their chance to do it.

The New York Giants reconfirmed yesterday that they are the best team in Football by going down to FedEx Field and surgically taking out the Washington Redskins , 23-7. The Giants refused to shoot themselves in the foot the same weekend their best receiver shot himself in the leg, which is more proof that the defending Super Bowl champions are determined to repeat regardless of what happens around them.

If only the Eagles had such focus.

Instead, they let the home loss to the Giants three weeks ago morph into that ghastly tie against the Bengals and then a controversial quarterback-changing loss in Baltimore. Good teams don't do that.

Great teams do what the Giants have been doing all season, and now the Eagles have a date scheduled with New York at the Meadowlands. If they win, the Eagles can start talking about being a good team. If they win, the Eagles will be considered a serious playoff contender, and the debate about quarterback Donovan McNabb's being here beyond this season will become more heated.

McNabb actually addressed the subject ever so briefly after Thursday's game, during his circuslike interview on the overcrowded set of the NFL Network's postgame show at Lincoln Financial Field. He revealed that it wasn't really the janitor who told him he was getting the keys to the offense back after being benched in Baltimore four days earlier. Shockingly, it was coach Andy Reid who broke the news.

"I went into his office on Monday . . . and we just kind of aired some things out," McNabb said. "I didn't get to what I wanted to talk about, but we will have that conversation with Andy as well as with some other . . ."

What McNabb said after "other" was inaudible because he was interrupted by Dopey Deion Sanders saying, "All right, all right, all right . . . there you go." It was the only non-nonsensical moment of the entire interview, and Sanders ruined it.

McNabb, fortunately, continued with his thought, adding that he believes a more thorough conversation with Reid about his future is needed.

"It's very important," he said. "I've been here for 10 years, and the conversation is needed. At this particular point, we were in a short week and we were trying to get things done, and he had already announced that I was the starter. So my main focus went to Arizona at that particular point."

There's really no need for McNabb and Reid to have any more conversation about the quarterback's future until after the Eagles play their final meaningful game this season. McNabb and his teammates can't focus on anything beyond the Giants. He and the rest of the offense must duplicate the kind of performance they had against the Cardinals in the remaining four games.

Even that might not be enough to erase the games that have already been given away by an Eagles team that still is not close to proving it is good.

Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com.