dhockster

Judging the Eagles offensive line by last year's performance is a little nuts based on all the injuries they had. If they stay healthy this year and don't perform well then you have a point. You are quick to point out all Reid's misses without giving him any credit for his hits. DeSean, Maclin, Celek, Herremans, Bradley, Brown, Sheppard are all examples of good draft picks. If Kolb turns out to be the QB of the future, that will be a great draft pick. In addition, the Eagles are very good at getting extra draft picks either through trade or compensatory picks, which allows them to miss a little bit more often with their draft picks. Basically the Eagles organization has turned over twice since Reid has been there and they have stayed successful throughout. The one losing year other than Reid's first year could have been a winning season had not McNabb got hurt and the Eagles not made the wrong decision about bringing Mike McMahon in as a backup. So either Reid is great at coaching up players or the Eagles are bringing in some talent to be able to win. I think he is doing a little of both. My biggest gripe with Reid is his run/pass balance. I don't know why he gives up on the run with McNabb in the game, yet when Garcia or Feeley or even Kolb last year are running the offense he goes to a more balanced game and is successful with it. Stick with the run, Andy!

Good thoughts, Colonel. I don't necessarily think LB is the place to go in the first round, I think Safety and corner are more pressing needs, assuming Stewart Bradly is 100% healthy. However, they probably should take the best available player on defense, as there really is no place they are totally set on defense. Assuming in the off season the Eagles get some holes filled at LB and Safety, it will be interesting to see how McDermott does in his second year. I think he did pretty good being shorthanded, but we will know more if the defense continues to struggle with more talent on board. I will be very excited to see what Kolb can do if he is the starting QB this year. I think the Eagles offense could be awesome. Then again, if Kolb is the second coming of Bobby Hoying, the Eagles will be in trouble.

MASH was really two different shows Funny - Col. Henry Blake, Trapper John, Frank Burns Not so Funny - Col. Potter, BJ Honeycutt, Charles Emerson Winchester Add in that the show got more anti-war preachy the longer it went on, and it really got close to unwatchable at the end.

Great game for the Cowboys. Obviously, they are better than the Eagles right now. To me, they also have the look of a team that could go a long way in the playoffs. So why are the Cowboys taking the step forward now? Three big reasons: 1. Playcalling - Without TO there, I think Jason Garrett has finally figured out what he has on the offensive side of the ball and how to use it. The run/pass mix is very good and defenses can't really key on any one aspect of the Cowboys offense to shut down. 2. Leadership - I have maintained that a successful football team has to get leadership from at least one of three areas: Head Coach, QB, or someone on the defense. This year, the addition of Brookings has added a leader on defense. By cutting down on Turnovers and mistakes and seeming to be in sync with the offensive gameplan, Romo has quietly become a leader on Offense. Wade is still Wade, but with leadership coming in the other areas, he doesn't need to be a firebreathing type of head coach. 3. Good luck - The Cowboys as a team are healthy right now and have been the majority of the season. Other than losing Columbo for 7 games, the only other area they have had some injury issues is RB, which happens to be the position they have the most depth in. That stability has helped them to play good team football on both offense and defense. The Cowboys are balanced on both offense and defense and have great special teams (other than Suisham who I would not want to rely on). While it would be tough to win two road games to get to the Super Bowl, they are facing the Vikings at the right time and have already beaten the Saints in New Orleans. The Cowboys have the run defense to contain AP, and they have the pass rush to put pressure on Farve to make him throw interceptions. There is also a fair chance that they host the Cardinals in the NFC championship game. While Warner was excellent the other day, I think the Cowboys can put enough pressure on him that he isn't quite as dominating. As for my Eagles, with the injuries and turnover that went on this year, I am not surprised they went out the way they did. The offensive line never had any consistency, the Linebacker position was a revolving door, and they haven't found a replacement for Dawkins at Safety yet. Defense is the big question mark on this team, both personnel wise and coaching wise. Was McDermott just dealt a bad hand this year, or is he really a big step down from Jim Johnson? The Eagles are very young and have great young skill position players on offense, so there are bright spots for this team. I do think Andy Reid will get things corrected next year, and hopefully we have much better luck with injuries. Again, good win Cowboy fans and good luck the rest of the season.

Yeah, but isn't Dallas 0-2 when they have won the first two games, losing to the Cardinals and Giants in the playoffs? I'm just saying.....

Nice English.

I would have it no other way than for you to hate the green bastages. I am just happy you can talk football intelligently without resorting to stupid statements like the person you were responding to. I, too, would rather be playing GB or Arizona. Dallas probably has the best defense in the NFC, and the most well rounded offense. Losing to Dallas 3x's in one season would be bad, and having the last two eliminate us from the playoffs would be just about the worst way for the Eagle's season to end. However, based on the turnover and injuries on the Eagles this year, I can at least say we lost to a more talented team. If somehow we beat Dallas on Saturday, it will be a nice to elimate Dallas as an underdog and keep their playoff losing streak alive. Good luck, and I hope, win or lose, the Eagles come with their best effort this week.

As an Eagle fan, all I can say is, very well said.

I agree that if Vick plays, it will really help the Eagle's offense. During their 6 game win streak, Reid appeared more willing to run the ball on first and second down, knowing that if the Eagles got to third and short, he could put Vick in and pick up the first down without necessarily throwing the ball. This gave the Eagles offense more balance and thus made it less predictable. Vick also was a tremendous asset in the red zone. I think the rush up the middle was definitely a reflection of the Eagles starting center being out. Dallas also benefitted from getting an early lead, thus allowing their rushers to pin their ears back and not worry about the run. Jackson only returns punts. Demps usually returns kickoffs but he has been out injured the last few games. Yes, The Cowboy coverage was excellent and the touchbacks prevented the Eagles from even attempting a return. You mentioned the youth of the Eagles. I was not aware until today that coming into this season, the Eagles were the second youngest team in the NFL. While that bodes well for the future, it does mean that the Eagles have some young kids in there that can make mistakes due to inexperience. One final beef about Reid. I thought settling for a 53 yard field goal attempt on the first drive of the second half was way to conservative considering the Eagles were down 17-0. They would have had a 4th and 3 to make, and the chances of making that were probably as good as Akers making the 53 yarder. Go for it, Andy!

I thought I did pretty good on this prediction. Thoughts from last week's game: -Eagles defense is really feeling the effects of three off-season events: The death of Jim Johnson, Dawkins leaving in free agency, and Stewart Bradley going out for the season. Their run defense is soft as Dallas lineman are tying up the smaller Philly lineman and linebackers, and the Philly safeties don't support the run defense the way Dawkins did. The Philly linebackers or safeties are not covering Witten adequately, and haven't been able to cover TE's all year. Finally the lack of blitzes in the first half gave Romo plenty of time to be comfortable and accurate with his throws. On offense, once again, Andy Reid abandoned any attempts to try to run the ball with Westbrook, McCoy, or Weaver. This made the Eagles offense one dimensional which the Cowboys were able to handle thanks to good coverage, and a few misses by McNabb. The Eagles line actually gave McNabb enough time to throw most of the game, the Eagles just weren't able to take advantage. Thoughts on this weeks game: -The Eagles are going to need to get off to a better start both offensively and defensively. On offense they are going to probably need one, if not two, big TD plays from Jackson and/or Maclin, because the Dallas defense is not going to give up many long drives. On defense, they are going to have to be risky and blitz a lot more. This could help stop the pass and the run, but could give up more big plays. The Eagles have to risk it because right now if they sit back, Dallas will pick them apart the way they did last week. Thoughts on the Coaches: -I think both coaches should be shot for playing their starting QB's in the last 5 minutes of a 24-0 game. Reid could say he was trying to find some rhythm, but what good is rhythm when you are playing against a prevent defense. As for Phillips playing Romo, when he already had a sore back, what was the point? You may be able to justify it if all he was doing was handing off the ball, but the Cowboys were still throwing the ball. If Romo had gotten hurt, and it ultimately cost the Cowboys this weeks game, Phillips would have definitely been run out of town. -While I think overall the Cowboys have more talent this year, they have also outcoached the Eagles in both games this year. Prediction for this week: -While it would not surprise me to see the Eagles win this week, I do think the Cowboys match up very well with the Eagles and will win 24-14. -Interesting stats going into the game: Andy Reid 7-0 in Opening playoff games, Wade Phillips 0-4 record in playoff games, Donovan McNabb 9-6 in the playoffs, Tony Romo 0-2 in the playoffs. What that says to me is Reid knows what buttons to push to get his team ready in the playoffs and Wade Phillips has not figured that out yet. Despite that, I stick with my above prediction based on the matchups of the two teams.

I think the Eagles have a slight edge overall in special teams, for the reasons you mention above, but what you don't give Dallas credit for is they have a far better punter and have a designated kicker for kickoffs who gets lots of touchbacks. When I have seen Dallas play their coverage teams have generally been excellent (except for the punt return against the Giants). The Eagles coverage teams have gotten very good over the course of the season. A big key will be if Demps can return kickoffs. Macho Harris scares the bejesus out of me.

I think you are right that the Eagles are going to try and take Austin out of the game. They did it in the first meeting this year except for the great double move route that the Cowboys called when the Eagles thought the Cowboys would go for the first down and instead they went for the touchdown. That was Austin's only catch of the day.

Vs. the coach who is 0-4 in playoff games. Actually, the Cowboys outcoached the Eagles in the first game this season. I just don't like Wade's record when teams have a full year to look at what he does.

That is what I said. Seattle was not a good team this year.

That's interesting since the Saints lost to the Cowboys and beat the Eagles. Of course, the Eagles were without McNabb for that game, so that was a factor. I don't think any secondary really wants to have to cover Desean Jackson right now.

With the exception of two games, the Eagles and Cowboys play the exact same schedule. The Eagles played SF and Chi and Dallas played Sea and GB. GB was tougher than Chicago, but Seattle was easier than San Francisco. The Cowboys lost to the Giants twice and the Eagles beat the Giants twice. So what? The Eagles beat Denver and the Cowboys lost to Denver. So what? You can only win the games that are on your schedule. Stop fishing.

No, the network already decided the Jets/Bengals game is the Sunday night game. Probably because it is a New York team, and more cities are affected by the outcome of the game depending on if the Jets win or lose. Thus the network thinks this will draw higher ratings.

I could see the Eagles offense having big trouble this week with Jamaal Jackson out and Ratliff having such a good year. If the Cowboys get pressure up the middle, that will force McNabb to scramble, and if he is limited by his hamstring then he will be in big trouble. If the Eagles can't throw the ball, they won't be able to run the ball, because they are not a team who will just line up and pound you with the run. Their passing game sets up their running game. On defense, the Eagles need to address three things from the first Cowboy game. The razorback, the WR screen to Ogletree, and the delayed draw. All three of these were effective in helping the Cowboys move the ball. Remember, Austin had no catches until the big TD in the 4th quarter. This game will really depend on how well the Eagles play early because if they get behind in a hostile environment, I think they will have a hard time coming back in light of their injury situation. Either Dallas wins big, or the Eagles win a close one. Dallas 34-10 if the Eagles get behind early, Eagles 27-23 if the Eagles don't fall behind in the first half.

No, Dallas can only be the #2 seed if Arizona losses as well. If Philly loses to Dallas, then they will be a wildcard team and be either the 5th or 6th seed.

Yes, Jamaal Jackson tore his ACL and is out for Sunday and the playoffs. I don't think McNabb's hamstring will be a problem.

I give the Cowboys credit for backing up their upset of the Saints with a solid performance against the Redskins. Yes, the Redskins offense has had major injuries and doesn't put much pressure on a defense, but still, the Cowboys got up in the first half and were never threatened. The Eagles game should be interesting. The key to the game will be if McNabb has time to throw, the Eagles should be able to move the ball through the air. If McNabb does not have time to throw, I don't see the Eagles being able to rely on their running game to move the ball. The Cowboys will get their points against the Eagles, because the Eagles haven't really been a shutdown defense all year. Another key will be for Romo not to force things as the Eagles can force turnovers. I really don't know who will win.

I hate it when a team gets decomated

Nightmare scenario for the Cowboys: -Cowboys lose to Redskins, beat Eagles -Eagles lose to Denver -Minnesota beats Chicago, loses to Giants (sitting starters because they locked up the 2nd seed). -Giants Beat Carolina, Vikings -Green Bay wins 1 of its 2 remaining games. Minnesota 2nd seed Philadelphia, Dallas, Giants three way tie for first. Three way head-to-head tied at 2-2. Eagles and Giants have better division record (4-2) than Dallas (3-3), so Dallas does not win division. Eagles win head-to-head against Giants and win division. Giants beat Dallas head-to-head and wins one wildcard. Green Bay beat Dallas head-to-head and takes other wildcard. Cowboys miss playoffs with 10-6 record. I don't think the Cowboys will lose to the Redskins, but stranger things have happened.

Don't forget that Suisham missed a 23 yarder at crunch time against New Orleans that would have given the Redskins a 10 point lead and probably won them the game.

Nice win for the Cowboys. Unlike prior seasons, Romo is stringing together some very good (turnover-free) games in December, rather than being up and down and turning the ball over in key moments. In addition, someone on the defense stepped up big (Ware and Spencer) which has not happened for the Cowboys in prior Decembers. IF Romo continues to play well and the Cowboys continue to get players to step up on defense, then they may be able to overcome their two biggest liabilities: Phillip's coaching and Folk's kicking. The fact that the Cowboys are still relying on Folk tells you what kind of a coach Phillips is. I think even Wade will figure out this week that Folk has to go. However, this is kind of like breaking someone's serve in Tennis. You haven't really broken serve until you hold your own serve in the next game. If Dallas loses to Washington then this Saints win doesn't really mean all that much. If Dallas beats the Redskins, then they have some nice momentum going into the division deciding game against the Eagles.