We had joy, we had fun against Da Bears Sunday night… but this upcoming game against the Cowboys in Dallas for the division title will be anything but a season in the sun…
Throw out all you thought you knew about these Eagles or them Cowboys… it's bound to be a High Plains Drifter, Hang 'em High kinda gunfight to determine the survival of the fittest in the NFL East.
The Eagles seem to be favored as the team that is getting healthier and playing better as the second season unfolds… while the Cowboys seem to be withering on the vine.
But don't be fooled by apparitions— Dallas is far from done, and they will pull out all the stops to steal this title game away from the Eagles. Jerry Jones has his coaches studying the game tape of the Eagles' last 3 games virtually non-stop the past 48 hours, and by now he feels he knows our team's tendencies better than we do.
Some of us are going "yay!" over the possibility that Tony Romo may be knocked out of the big game on Sunday due to a herniated disc in his spinal column. Personally, I would rather face Romo than his backup Kyle Orton. The reasoning here is you can game-plan for the known factor at QB; but if Orton is the guy, then you are reduced to scouting an offense that is basically an unknown factor with Orton at the helm. And we've seen scenarios like this blow up in the Eagles' collective face over the years, as when John Skelton thrashed us just a few years ago with the Cardinals— and don't get me started about Matt Cassel dominating us for the Vikings a few weeks ago…
ESPN reporter Adam Schefter reported Monday that Romo will miss the game – and the playoffs if the Cowboys beat the Eagles – with a back injury suffered while leading Dallas to a 24-23 victory at Washington on Sunday. However, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said at a news conference later Monday that Romo would be evaluated daily and that his status for the Eagles game was uncertain.
Romo was enjoying one of his best seasons statistically speaking, having thrown 31 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions. He rallied the Cowboys past the Redskins with a fourth-down, 10-yard touchdown pass to running back DeMarco Murray with less than two minutes left on Sunday.
Backup quarterback Kyle Orton would replace Romo against the Eagles. Orton, a nine-year NFL veteran, appeared in two games this season, completing 3 of 5 passes for 40 yards.
Las Vegas oddsmakers responded by making the Eagles 7½-point favorites over the Cowboys, up from 2½ points earlier in the day in the wake of the Eagles' 54-11 rout of the Bears.
"You'd like to say that the [Chicago] game helped us build momentum, but not in this league," Eagles coach Chip Kelly said Monday in quotes provided by the team. "I think that's the one thing you'd better get rid of, whether it's a win or a loss, very quickly. This league will test you from the standpoint of it's not what you did last week, it's what you do this week, and it's about how you prepare. When we get back to work (today), we'd better understand that."
I definitely understand that, Chippah. I'm right there with you. You might as well burn the tape of the big win over the Bears. And if you should need an archival copy, don't worry— Dallas already has plenty of backup tapes available….and those tapes are being reviewed by the Cowboys' coaching staff as we speak.
The Eagles found out what happens when complacency creeps into their mindset two weeks ago. They headed to Minnesota brimming with confidence. The Eagles had won five in a row and were facing a Vikings team that was missing running back Adrian Peterson and four other starters. Minnesota earned a shocking 48-30 win.
"That didn't affect us," Eagles tackle Jason Peters said Sunday. "One loss won't break us apart. We're a good team. If we played the Vikings again, we'd beat them."
The Eagles also are looking forward to their rematch with the Cowboys, who beat them 17-3 on Oct. 20.
Philadelphia quarterback Nick Foles was terrible in that game. He completed just 11 of 29 passes for 80 yards before sustaining a concussion. Running back LeSean McCoy, the NFL's leading rusher, was limited to 55 yards on 18 carries.
"I can't even remember that far back," McCoy said Sunday. "I can tell you that they didn't see the best of the Eagles. They didn't see the best of Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy and the rest of the team. But they will this Sunday, so it will be a different story. This is a much different team now just in terms of our confidence level. Our confidence level is out of this world. There is always this feeling like, 'Oh, we can't lose.' We are playing well in every phase right now, and that's what a team needs to have if they want to be successful."
"Playing well against Chicago this week was huge for us," Eagles center Jason Kelce said Sunday. "After losing last week against Minnesota, for us to hold back for another week wouldn't have been good. This just fires us up and puts us in a better mood heading into the Dallas game."
The game figures to have an intense, exciting atmosphere considering the stakes. The winner reaches the playoffs, while the loser's season is over.
"As far as we're concerned, the playoffs start next week in Dallas," Trent Cole said. "This is where it starts. This is the big show. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and we can either take it and run with it or we can go home."
Dallas coach Jason Garrett said again today that Tony Romo has not been ruled out for a winner-take-all finale against Philadelphia after injuring his back against Washington.
Garrett said that Romo will get treatment and be evaluated daily. He added that the Cowboys were looking to add a third quarterback behind backup Kyle Orton.
Which is fine with me. If you're looking for a backup QB for Kyle Orton at this stage of the game, the advantage swings a little more to my team. You should have had a QB#3 already in the pipeline. But it's really all academic at this point. I'm sensing there's no way Jerry Jones permits this showdown with Philly to go down without having his best gunslinger Tony Romo at the helm. After all, live by the sword, die by the sword…and Jerry seems okay with that concept, as long as it's "entertaining"…
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