Well, the good news is that we got our answer, this Eagles team is for real. The bad news, obviously is the loss, and the piss poor play and game planning on the defensive side of the ball. After T.O.'s long touchdown in the first quarter Jim Johnson dialed back his defense and rarely pressured Tony Romo with blitzes the rest of the game. The few times he pressured Romo, Romo choked, but he was loathe to do it, and it
cost the Eagles the game.
You'll see McNabb's botched hand-off to Westbrook on the highlights, and while it was a crucial play, that's not what lost this game. It was the passive defense that allowed the Cowboys to nickel and dime the defense the entire second half. They nickel and dimed their way to a win.
Still, it was obviously one of the most entertaining games I've ever seen and there was plenty of good to come out of it. I'm going to chalk DeSean's fumble/showboat/brain fart up as his one rookie mistake. I won't hold that one against him, the next time he does something like that, though, he needs to be benched. Oh, and by the way, he's for real.
Donovan's play was good, by my count only 3 of McNabb's 37 passes were poorly thrown. I counted 5 drops. The most-notable thing about McNabb's game was his health. I'm not talking about his speed. I think his speed was back early last season, I'm talking about his running strength. Time and time again McNabb broke free of arm tackles in the backfield and made something out nothing. Last year, those plays would've wound up with McNabb on his back. He appears to be all the way back.
The alarming thing on the offensive side of the ball is the play of the wide receivers. Baskett and Lewis completely disappeared. Avant made a couple of nice catches, and DeSean was outstanding, but when crunch time came they couldn't get open and when they did they couldn't make the catch. I guess that's to be expected when you're missing your numbers 1 and 2 receivers, but it still stings.
Defensively, I thought the Eagles tackled extremely well throughout the game. They ganged up on Barber and didn't allow a lot of RAC yards. Barber only averaged 3.5 yards/carry. Dawkins sure seems to have lost a step. He was burned a number of times by Witten and beaten badly on a TD slant by T.O., your guess as is good as mine as to why he was covering T.O. on the play, but there you have it.
My brother had a great comment as the game came to an end. This was the first time in a long time you could actually say that the Eagles defense let the offense down in a game. That's exactly what happened, and I hope Jim Johnson is kicking himself for his conservative game plan right now. It cost them the game.
Offensive Player of The Game: Brian Westbrook (102 total yards, 3 TDs)
Defensive Player of The Game: Quintin Mikkel
Team Record: 1-1
Up Next: Pittsburgh, at home.
well it was a very good game. I say what lost it was the lack of pass rush and no one besides Desean Jackson could get open. And was LJ Smith even suited up ? Man talk about a no show.
This one hurts but it will be nullified if we whoop up on the steelers. Oh FYI Andy...We have the BIGGEST offensive line in the league. Run the friggin ball already...up the gut.
Oh Im still waiting on Broderick Bunkley to do something...I mean wasnt this guy the next Warren Sapp ?
I think losing Andrews didn't help the running game much. They went away from it when he went out.
I blame the lack of pressure on the failure to bring extra guys. It was evident early that the front four wasn't going to get to him.
That was an awesome game. It's obviously a lot sweeter if your a Cowboys fan; nonetheless an awesome game.
My quick thoughts (coming from a Cowboys fan):
1. Your absolutely right about McNabb. He looked phenomenal tonight.
2. Coming into the game I kind of liked DeSean. Now I don't.
3. The Eagles played well, no doubt, but I think Dallas did a ton of things to hurt themselves. Granted, the Eagles did too, but the Romo fumble was a game-changer. His interception didn't surprise. And that pass interference call on Anthony Henry was horrible. As I heard one Cowboys' fan mention, "I guess it's karma from the non-facemask call on Westbrook earlier."
4. Felix is a beast.
5. Westbrook is a beast.
And I can't wait for the rematch in your place.
The Cowboys took what the Eagles gave them and that's what good teams do. I was impressed that Romo didn't turtle up after those back-to-back turnovers. The PI call absolutely evened out the missed face mask.
Overall, I think we saw a match-up of the two best teams in the NFC, maybe the entire league. Let's see what they do from here on out.
On a positive note, Mikell continues to impress and Samuel looks really solid as well.
In a high school all star game, DeSean Jackson did a swan dive from the 5 on a break away play as a celebration. Problem? The ball didn't break the plain until after his knee was down. The guy is really really immature. When he is interviewed he reminds me of a 13 year old girl. OMG and all that shit. Thats what the announcers said last night.
And next time I am syncing with 610. The commentary last night was atrocious. Jaws is the worst.
I'll take Jaws over Joe Buck.
Mikell was awesome, he was in the middle of every play, and I like the work Asante did on T.O. (even the pass interference in the end zone). I just wish he was on him more frequently.
What a game! Although the Eagles lost, they gained a lot of respect around the league.
As for the receivers, just think of what we'll look like with Curtis and Brown back. As for Lewis, can't he get his feet in bounds when he catches a ball? I still wonder what blackmail he has on Reid that he's still on this team.
You're absolutely right... Johnson blew it. A little more pressure on Romo and you'd be looking at a few INTs and Romo imploding. And while Samuel came up with a pick, I'm not that convinced that he's made Lito expendable.
If the Eagles crank out a nice 27-14 win over the steelers all will be forgotten about this game.
Birds played well....but not good enough to beat Dallas in Dallas.