Eagles/Cowboys Take Three

by BigGreek24

Thursday January 7, 2010 

Eagles/Cowboys Take Three thumbnail

The first two Eagles/Cowboys matchups were like night and day.  A close, thrilling game that the Birds led until Miles Austin broke free for his only catch of the night to give the Cowboys a 20-16 win in Philly.  The second game a complete domination in every aspect of the game by the Cowboys down in Dallas last week.  On Saturday night you can expect something in the middle.

Let’s forget about what the Eagles lost out on.  Its over and time to focus on what they need to do if they expect their season to last another week.   Forget also about the Cowboys total domination last week.   Andy Reid usually figures this kind of stuff out, and the fact that even after a total blowout by the Cowboys Las Vegas has the ‘Boys installed as just 4 point favorites at home speaks volumes.   It says alot about Andy Reid and the Eagles playoff success as well as Wade Phillips failure as a head coach in the playoffs (0-4) as well as the Cowboys team playoff failures, losing their last five playoff games.  Their last win? December 28, 1996 40-15 against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Wild Card game.   The Eagles have never lost a first round game in the previous 7 trips to the playoffs under Andy Reid.  If they are to continue that trend, here are some things they need to do:

Get Pressure On Romo.  Tony Romo looked far too relaxed last week, and the Eagles cannot allow that to happen again.  I was shocked that Phillips let Romo stay in the game late up 24-0 and found it to be incredibly classless to continue to throw the ball against a team you know you have to play the following week.  The Eagles should’ve hit Romo on every drop back at that point, even if it meant a penalty.  If Romo wanted to continue to throw the ball, he should’ve taken a few hits just as a reminder that Trent Cole and the boys were still there.  I was even more surprised to see Romo in the game after his back stiffened up a bit.   The Eagles need to dial up the blitz package early and often and come from as many different places on the field as they can just like Jim Johnson used to do.

Contain Whitten.  I didn’t say stop Whitten, I said contain him.  There is a big difference.  Containing means you know he is going to make catches, just limit the damage.  Jam him hard off the line so he can’t release as easily as he did last week.  Whitten is Romo’s favorite target and you have to do what you can to make Romo have to check off to another receiver.

Balance, Balance, Balance.  The Eagles have to maintain some balance on offense.  In order to be able to pass downfield successfully the Eagles have to make the Cowboys defense respect the run.  Use Weaver, Westbrook and McCoy early and often and mix in the passes so the Cowboys have to lay back a little bit which will also give McNabb time to find what will be an open Jackson downfield at some point in the game.

Take The Crowd Out Early.  Hopefully the Eagles will win the toss and just move the ball right down the field and get early points.  If they have to put their defense on first, then the defense has to come up with a three and out to get the Cowboys faithful, who are certainly looking for more blood, to sit on their hands a bit and keep the stadium quiet.

With all that – I picked the Cowboys last week 27-24 and I was sort of right.  Nobody told me the Eagles wouldn’t show up for the game otherwise maybe I’d have picked the Cowboys 27-0.   I will be shocked if Saturday becomes a repeat of last Sunday.  Seriously, does anyone think the Cowboy defense can continue to play at the level they’ve played the last three weeks? They got New Orleans on a down week and had to actually hang on in the end.  Washington is, well, Washington and they simply got the Eagles flat during a six game winning streak and as we all know those streaks will come to an end and sometimes they end rather ugly.

My pick for this week is the Eagles 27-24 in overtime.  I think the Eagles will come out quick on the Cowboys only to have the Cowboys find their legs and come back late to tie the game before the Eagles either win the toss in overtime and march right down for the Akers game winner, or like 2003 at Lambeau Field they force Romo to make a bad decision and Asante Samuel picks off a pass to setup Akers winning field goal.  Either way, I believe the Eagles are going to New Orleans.

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