Eagles VS Cowboys Game 2....The Destruction

Same situation but different scenarios for week 17. A week ago, the Philadelphia Eagles needed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to lose to the San Diego Chargers in order to control their own destiny in the NFC playoff race, but the Eagles failed to live up to their end of the bargain, losing on the road to the Washington Redskins. This past Sunday, losses by either the Minnesota Vikings or the Chicago Bears (or even both of them) and then another loss by Tampa Bay would allow the Eagles another shot to get in. And when the Bears lost to the Houston Texans and the Buccaneers dropped their fourth straight game to the woeful Oakland Raiders, it made the Eagles and Dallas Cowboys game a “Win and Get In” situation.

And the Eagles didn’t ask for control…they took it away with force.

After an opening first quarter with the score at 3-3, the score was never close once after that point, as the Eagles posted 24 points in the second quarter and 17 in the third quarter on their way to a through 44-6 dismantling of the Cowboys, avenging a loss in week two on Monday Night Football in Irving. The funny thing is that the two touchdowns the team did score in the second half came from their defense with two fumble recoveries out of a total five forced turnovers.

At the end of the day, the Eagles qualified for the playoffs, entering in at the #6 spot with a 9-6-1 record and will face a team that the Eagles should know very well, that being Brad Childress and the NFC North champion Minnesota Vikings. The day and time for that match will be determined by Tuesday, from what we do know is that if the Eagles are going to do it, they are going to have to replicate the Pittsburgh Steelers of 2005 or the New York Giants of 2007 and win them all on the road.

Quarterbacks: Wow, I think someone needs to thumb through the record books for this season, because I can’t remember the last time Donovan McNabb had as few pass attempts as he did. Sure, McNabb had some scrambles and sneaks, but the defense was a big reason for that with their two touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. McNabb completed 12 of 21 passes (57%) for 175 yards and two touchdowns through the air, posting a 116.2 QB rating. And on the ground, McNabb scrambled three times for four yards, including a 1-yard touchdown keep to give us the lead, once and for all. And even on the sideline, there seemed to be no problems as expressed by the “Media” between him and anyone else. Later on, Kevin Kolb made the scene and, luckily, was not implored to throw the ball, but he did get on the board with two kneel downs to end the game.
McNabb Grade: A (95%)

Running Backs & Full Backs: There were a total 23 carries between our top two runners, Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter, but it was the latter who got less carries but did more with his attempts. In fact, Buckhalter was the versatile one this game, not Westbrook, as Buckhalter jammed for 63 yards on ten carries, including a run good for 33-yards because apparently the “Great” Dallas defense must have been taking tackling lessons from Cleveland and Denver. Buckhalter also caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown from four yards out, totaling 122 yards on 13 touches (9.4 yards per) and a touchdown. Westbrook had 13 carries for 50 yards and two receptions for 12 yards, totaling 15 touches for 62 yards and a VERY questionable fumble. Kyle Eckel posted eight carries for 22 yards rushing, most of which came in the fourth quarter.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Wide Receivers: Due to the lack of pass attempts, and on top of that the running backs hauling in five of the 12 receptions, passes were hard to come by for these guys. In fact, it was so hard that only three guys here caught a pass, as DeSean Jackson, who had four drops a week ago in Landover, had two receptions for 46 yards, including 34-yards on a nice inside route. Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis, the latter of whom missed the Redskins game, both had one reception.
Unit Grade: B (83%)

Tight End: Yeah, notice the “S” is missing off of that one, because we only had one tight end making a statement, and no, it wasn’t the overpaid LJ Smith because apparently he was “injured.” Brent Celek co-led the team with three receptions for 30 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown reception with 13 seconds to the half. Also, it should be made mention of that Matt Schobel was in the game, but if anyone saw him anywhere, please feel free to tell me.
Unit Grade: B+ (89%)

Offensive Line: Back in week two, the Eagles offensive line allowed five sacks to the Cowboys, and there must have been at least a dozen more times where McNabb had to fight off pressure in order to avoid taking another sack. But this time, Dallas managed only one sack and one quarterback hurry, both from Bradie James, and sack artist DeMarcus Ware, who came into the game with 20 of them, left with zero. The line allowed the actual runners on the team 4.3 yards a carry (we won’t include the two quarterbacks) and committed no fouls (although Philadelphia committed NONE as a team). For the season, the line, which has again seen three starting right guards, going from Shawn Andrews to Max Jean-Gilles to Nick Cole, allowed only 23 sacks on Kevin and Donovan. That is five less then they did in 2006 and a very sharp decrease of 26 from last year.
Unit Grade: A+ (98%)

Defensive Line: One would have to be quick to forgive Tony Romo, because if he felt as if he was stuck in some never ending horror movie where he kept getting sliced and diced instead of sacked and pressured, then it would be understandable. Despite missing Victor Abiamiri due to what I would assume was some sort of injury, seven of the linemen still enjoyed the mayhem they created, starting with Darren Howard who had three tackles, a sack, a tackle for a loss, a QB hurry, and one pass defense. Juqua Parker also had three tackles along with a pass defense, and Chris Clemons had easily his best game as an Eagle, posting two solo tackles, two sacks, two QB hurries, a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble, and a recovered fumble from Brian Dawkins off of Romo which he took for a touchdown. Both starting tackles Broderick Bunkley and Mike Patterson had two total tackles (one solo and one assist) and backup tackle Trevor Laws recovered his first fumble of the season, the one that Clemons forced. Trent Cole didn’t get a tackle but was always entering the backfield and had one pass defense. In all, the line piled up three sacks, three QB hurries, and helped to hold Dallas to 87 yards rushing on 19 carries. Of course, the actual runners of Marion Barber and Tashard Choice averaged 4.3 yards a run.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Linebackers: Jason Witten, who has traditionally killed the Eagles, made seven catches again but was held to only 50 yards, thanks in large part to Akeem Jordan. Jordan, who had five more tackles then the rest of the linebackers put together and four more then Dallas’s leading tackler (James had seven), Jordan had 11 tackles for the game, including two of them for a loss. Both Chris Gocong and Stewart Bradley pitched in two tackles and Bradley had a “pass defense” right in front of Witten which was a dropped interception. Also making an appearance at linebacker was Omar Gaither, who lost his job at WILL to Jordan back before the Ravens game, had a tackle for a loss, and Tracey White had one tackle.
Unit Grade: A- (90%)

Secondary: If Brian Dawkins is not back in midnight green again in 2009, it better be for a DAMN good reason, like he chooses to retire, and not because we can’t re-sign him. In traditional rise up and take charge fashion, the crazy man who leads the fans in our fight song chant after scores from the sideline had five tackles, two forced fumbles, a sack, a tackle for a loss, and a QB hurry. Quintin Mikell had four tackles and two pass defenses, and was in prime position for another interception, much like he was in Landover, but failed to get it. Quintin Demps pitched in two tackles after Dawkins left the game in the third quarter, and Joselio Hanson had one tackle, a tackle for a loss on Roy E. Williams, a pass defense, and a 96-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, which Dawkins forced on Barber. Both Sean Considine and Asante Samuel had one tackle, and Sheldon Brown intercepted his first pass of the season, and his first in 19 games, and had three additional pass defenses. All toll, Dallas had 233 passing yards, but only 191 of them came from Romo and, later, Brooks Bollinger, as Witten had a 42-yard pass to Terrell Owens. Speaking of, Owens himself was the only consistent receiver, posting six receptions and 103 yards, while “Superstar” Williams had two receptions for four yards.
Unit Grade: A- (90%)

Special Teams: Every looked really good here, for a change. David Akers booted three field goals, and while he did miss one, it was way late when we were up 44-3 anyway, and he drilled a 50-yard field goal after special teams’ forced the fumble prior to the half on Adam “Pacman” Jones. Sav Rocca got back to more charted land as he punted three times (twice in the fourth quarter) and netted 41.3 a kick, thanks in large part to Jones being held to two yards a punt return on two tries. Together, the team of Jones and Miles Austin averaged only 20.4 yards a kick return and Jones fumbled one away prior to the half, with Demps on the hit and Gaither on the recovery. Jackson even got some breathing room on punts, averaging 12 yards a return on two tries, including 21-yard on one. But, I wish the same could be said for Demps on kick returns, as he averaged only 11 yards a return on two.
Coverage Grade: A+ (98%)
Akers Grade: A (95%)
Rocca Grade: A- (90%)

Coaching: First of all, I would like to say again that we committed not ONE penalty in this game, so the staff gets a huge spike in the grading scale for that. Defensively, the team did allow a few big pass plays here and there, but whatever it was that Dallas picked up, the defense turned it upside down with a fumble, or a sack, or an interception, so props for remedying those situations are in order. Special teams was nearly flawless, outside of weak kick return blocking and one meaningless missed field goal by Akers. But to be honest, I am shocked at the offense once again, as it seemed to take a decided 180 from last week when he went pass heavy. The team “ran” the ball 36 times, although only 31 should count, and we attempted 22 passes with the one time McNabb was sacked. And it’s not like only one back did all the work, because Westbrook and Buckhalter split the main handoffs 13-10. Finding a balance like this through the playoffs could see this team going further then anyone could possibly imagine.
Offensive Grade: A+ (98%)
Defensive Grade: A (95%)
Special Teams Grade: A- (90%)

Ripper’s Three Game Balls:
3. Joselio Hanson: Huge open field tackle on a much bigger receiver (Williams) and the longer of the two fumble recoveries for a touchdown
2. Brian Dawkins: Massive game again from the “Old Guy”: appears to be playing again like he did in December of 2006 when he was defensive player of the month.
1. Chris Clemons: In my opinion, played the best game of his career here: two sacks, a forced and recovered fumble, and a touchdown spelled domination.
Honorable Mention: Correll Buckhalter, Sheldon Brown, Darren Howard, Quintin Demps, and Donovan McNabb

Stats and Numbers of Interest:
-Since 2000, the Cowboys are 0-9 in season finales. This even includes the 2007 season, when they finished 13-3.
-Tony Romo is now 5-8 in the month of December, and 0-2 in the month of January.
-The Cowboys first field goal sustained 8:15 off the clock: that drive eclipsed the amount of time they held the ball in the final three quarters (4:06, 8:05, and 7:24).
-The nagging and complaining about the red zone offense seemed to find a resolution, as the team had three red zone attempts and made the end zone every time, and they even succeeded every time from “goal-to-go” yardage. In addition, the team managed to complete 50% of their third down tries (7-of-14).
-With his game today, DeSean Jackson led all rookies this season with 898 receiving yards, and also had 62 receptions as well.
-The difference of 38 points is the biggest margin of victory for either team since 1961, when the Eagles defeated the Cowboys 43-7 (36 points).

Well guys, I don’t know what was more fun…making the playoffs or trumping the Cowboys in order to get in. But, once again, had Houston and Oakland not won, then we wouldn’t be getting in, even with this game that we had. So I thank them two teams, and am looking forward to our wildcard match in the Metrodome next weekend, whenever it might occur.