Wasted opportunity for the Eagles
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Wasted opportunity for the Eagles
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
When the day began, the Eagles were in position for the No. 2 seed, which would have brought a first-round bye and a home game at the Linc in the divisional round.
As it ends, the Eagles find themselves facing the most difficult road to the Super Bowl of any team in the NFC.
The Birds were outplayed in every aspect today at Cowboys Stadium, falling 24-0.
Offensively, they turned in their worst performance of the year. A team that set a franchise record for points in a season was shut out for the first time since December 5, 2005.
Donovan McNabb was off-target. The receivers dropped balls. And the running game was non-existent.
Ten first downs. 37 yards on the ground. Three for 12 on third down. Ugly numbers all around.
And the defense wasn't much better. Sean McDermott's unit got no pressure on Tony Romo, who picked the Eagles apart right from the first offensive snap, setting the tone with a nine-play, 80-yard drive to open the game.
Romo was 24-for-34 for 311 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Three different Cowboys receivers (Miles Austin, Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton) had more than 75 yards.
On the ground, Dallas gashed the Eagles for 182 yards, averaging a ridiculous 6.3 yards per carry.
And so it's back to the drawing board for McDermott, Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid. Because in six or seven days, the Eagles will be back in Dallas to do it again.
The setup goes like this: The Eagles face the Cowboys in the first round. If they win, they'll go to New Orleans to take on the Saints in the divisional round. And if they somehow come out of that one, they'll go on the road against either Minnesota, Green Bay or Arizona in the NFC championship.
The road seemed much more simpler and promising when the day began.
Comment removed.
Injuries have severely depleted the team. Hard road indeed...— Grazman- Let the Kolb era begin! Almost the worst lose since 1933.— Ken B
- Comment removed.
- I knew it. Win 6 in a row and then when they lose they get ripped. I can't wait to see Halladay start 10-1 and read how he sucks after the 1. You guys never disappoint.— smfree31
- Painful. At least we don't have to wait until the NFC Championship game to be disappointed. Thankfully, pitchers and catchers will report before you know it.— Han Solo
- Losers!— 2stepbay
- Great performance. Way to show up. Not. Really? Tony Freakn' Romo? You let Tony Romo throw up 24 points on you? Wait, that's right ... FIVE was the one who THREW UP! 1-800-GET_A_LEADER_ON_THAT_TEAM.COM!— SKIPJACK
- Did the Eagles think this was the Championship game? They shouldn't have played like this for another month.— ericg610
- you know, it would be just like the Eagles to win Big next week, somehow go to New Orleans and beat the Aints and then either lose the NFC Championship game or worse make it to the superbowl and Choke. that would definitely be worse than hell.— kappdoe1476
- SHUT OUT. Where are all your stupid Eagles chants now? That girl Jackson held to 2 catches AGAIN. Oh, did I say SHUT OUT!? bwahahahaah— morvak
- Eagles refuse to score a single point, Eagles refuse to play today. I probably witnessed the worst performance of the Eagles. I hoping this isn't a preview to next sunday's game.— duces
I am a lifelong Eagle fan. To me, going in, it was an easy call to say the Cowboys win. The Eagles are a young team. The Cowboys, about time they played well. All arrows pointed to Dallas. I hope Eagles fans don't overlook what Andy Reid has done this season.— road515- Not exactly what I expected when the game began. Mcnabb was not a leader today, D. Jackson pulled a Randy Moss, and Maclin watched the safety instead of the ball on the last offensive eagles play. Yes there are quite a few injuries on D, but they played terrible against the pass and run. Can't blame it on any level of the D as it was bad across the board.— baranx4
- Comment removed.
Follow
Sheil on Twitter. And become
a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for even more Birds
coverage, including app-exclusive videos and analysis. Download it here.
