Eagles pay back Cowboys
Eagles 30, Cowboys 27
Eagles pay back Cowboys
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
ARLINGTON, Texas -- You get embarrassed twice in 6 days by the same team and you are shaken as a franchise. That was where the Eagles were when they walked out of Cowboys Stadium 11 months ago.
Manhandled, just physically whipped by the Cowboys in consecutive games, they went about the business of self-assessment -- and their process was brutally honest. They did some underrated things, like re-working their strength program, and they did some publicly-seismic things, like trading away their franchise quarterback.
Half of the defense changed, the average age of the entire team plummeted, and while there are remaining issues -- especially on that defense -- the organizational belief was that, with Michael Vick leading them, they had reached the why-not-us? stage of the conversation.
But they needed this one.
They needed to prove that it was true.
Which they did, with an emphatic flourish. On a night when Vick was again physically clobbered by the opposing defense, a night when the defense again turned a halftime lead into a third-quarter deficit, DeSean Jackson absolutely exploded. He caught a 60-yard pass on the first play of the game and broke a 20-20 tie in the fourth quarter with a 91-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown.
If he ended it by showing up the Cowboys and showboating into the end zone with an unnecessary backward splashdown -- which he did, and for which he was penalized -- Jackson nevertheless took this game and made it his. In the process, he turned a page that needed turning for this franchise.
Yes, yes, it is true: next Sunday at the New Meadowlands Stadium will determine who holds first place in the NFC East with two games left to play. That is true whatever happens tonight in the snow-delayed, geographically-relocated game between the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings at Detroit’s Ford Field. That is true regardless of whatever happened here last night.
But this one was symbolic.
This one was for affirmation.
And in the process of their 30-27 victory over the Cowboys, and as this season digs into its climactic final month, all manner of emotions have begun to surface.
Over the years, we have seen Andy Reid act smart at times and clumsy at others. We have seen him be smug, silent, protective, wistful, exultant, sarcastic and monosyllabic, depending upon his mood.
In a dozen seasons, though, we might never have seen irate like we saw it last night. Pure, unadulterated fury: that was Reid, the man who has so successfully hidden his personality over the years.
Barking, gesticulating, raging at the officials after a borderline hit on Vick was not flagged for a penalty in the second quarter, Reid erupted in a manner that mimicked what was happening in front of hundreds of thousands of Philadelphia television sets at the exact same moment.
He is letting it show more. After the Eagles’ loss 2 weeks ago at Chicago, Reid could not hide his anger at a post-game press conference in which he bit off every response to every manner of inquiry. Now, this.
Why the change? Why the public displays of irritation?
It might be because, after all of this time, after all of the close calls, after all of the years of the never-let-them-see-you-sweat mind-meld concocted by Reid and Donovan McNabb, that the coach knows he has something special going on this season, something different, something that is equal parts precious and tenuous.
The wrong hit on Vick could spell disaster. One unfocused loss in a highly competitive conference could change everything. Reid knows it and he seems to want everyone else to know it, especially the young players on this roster.
With that, and with this page now turned, it is on to the game of the year.
Comment removed.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I love watching the Cowboys lose to my Eagles.
The 15 yard penalty was worth it to see DeSean go backwards into the end zone. 91 yard touchdown, he can do what ever he wants— krazylegs
Yes, they can.- Hoffman, very nice way to put it. But let's not forget Shady McCoy, OK?— rad205
- Fly Eagles Fly! Thanks for not letting Jerry Jones get his face on TV after the game. God he really is Mr. Burns.— hallux
- In 36 years of watching football i have never seen a home player that had just lost a game go up to someone from the other team and ask for his autograph in full sight of the cameras and coaches. Never saw that, until tonight.— lefty1117
- Choice asked for and got Vick's autograph after the game. If McCoy had asked for Peyton Manning's sig after the game a couple weeks ago, wouldn't this city look to ride McCoy out of town on a rail?— Brian F.
- He wasn't in the endzone yet, so it can't really be a penalty for touchdown celebration, he never crossed the goaline yet. Then every player who happens to crash into the endzone backwards needs to be penalized. Yes, it was a bit showboating, but after the run and his performance this game, he did deserve it. But the officials better check where he was, it wasn't a penalty because he never crossed. Where are all the fake fans that said the Eagles will be lucky to win 8 games? They need to just stay away. The Eagles don't want your kind. There is only room for real fans.— crohnkiller
I realize we have an ex-con as a QB, but does that mean the refs have to call the game like we're playing the guards every week? I think everybody at the Linc should start a Mean Machine chant whenever people hit Vick late or drag Cole down by his facemask.
This was big. Points: 1) Dimitri Patterson earned a nice new contract with his play over the past couple of weeks. 2) Maclin needs to make that catch every time. There is no excuse for that. 3) Chaney needs to be educated on how to cover the middle of the field...quick (if Bradley is going to be out next week- or longer). 4) Surprisingly, I'm really loving the play calling. 5) If we don't start seeing flags fly for some of these hits on Vick, there is a legit conspiracy- is this some undisclosed stipulation of his criminal sentence or something? Seriously, its getting absurd.
-BH4P- Great article Rich! Go Eagles!— bossrjc
- uh...LeSean McCoy?— jamesiri
- Great win, but I'm really getting tired of this expert analysis about how Vick is getting hammered??? He didn't get hit tonight any more than any qb in the nfl. It's football, deal with it pansies.
THWND— podunko - Of course, that "one fatal hit" would not spell disaster with KK at the ready. It's the nfl, deal with it.
THWND— podunko
