In one of the ugliest days of football in recent memory, the Sunday Night Eagles-Cowboys game was as good as everybody hoped, with three lead changes and two ties in a 30-27 game. Michael Vick didn’t play his sharpest game, throwing two interceptions to blemish his 270 yards and 3 touchdowns (one rushing). His two big plays went to Desean Jackson, a 60-yarder to start the game and a 91-yard pass play that DJax took by himself all the way from the 17-yard line. Jackson caught 4 balls for 210 yards and the one touchdown, coming away from Dallas with a bum ankle that could be cause for worry over the next week. LeSean McCoy was invisible in the first half but came to play after the break, going for 149 yards, most of which came from a time-wasting drive at the end that sealed the deal. It looks like Jackson, McCoy, and Maclin will all easily break 1,000 yards this season.
Though the defense wasn’t always there, allowing Jason Witten to score twice, his 5th and 6th career touchdowns against the Eagles, they made a few big plays on quarterback Jon Kitna. Quintin Mikell and Dmitri Patterson each stole a ball from the Cowboys, with Patterson’s being a late killer that led to the Eagles two-score lead. The secondary is still definitely the weak spot, but Trevard Lindley and Joselio Hanson had pretty good games, holding Miles Austin, Dez Bryant, and Roy Williams to 4 total catches for 45 yards and no touchdowns. The loss of Stewart Bradley (dislocated elbow) in the middle is a big concern for the rest of the season, as he may end up sitting out for more than a few weeks. Rookie linebacker Jamar Chaney played solid in replacing Bradley, but I’m sure Howie Roseman is going to be looking for a few veteran additions to sub in there. Pray that it’s not Jeremiah Trotter.
Other game balls go to David Akers (who hit his longest field goal of the season at 50 yards), Darryl Tapp (his 3rd sack of the season, proving to be a great pickup just before the season started), and Todd Herremans, who led a terrific offensive line tonight, protecting Vick and creating holes for McCoy especially at the end, as well as catching a touchdown pass, the second of his career. The special teams, with the exception of Jorrick Calvin’s idiocy, was really solid today, limiting returns on punts and kicks. The field position battle is always important in games like these.
The Eagles move back into first place in the NFC East and will watch the Giants play Minnesota in Detroit (huh?) tomorrow night, hoping to keep sole possession of the division going into the New Meadowlands next week for another huge divisional battle. It’s great to beat the Cowboys any time, especially considering what they did to us in three games last season, even when their record is less than stellar. Having the Redskins lose and the Giants game in flux makes it even sweeter.
A 9-4 record with three games to play. Kudos to Andy Reid and crew for keeping this thing going.