11/11/12
Today was a battle between two teams that have the same
record. Both teams badly needed a win. The Eagles have lost four games in a row
while the Cowboys have lost four out of five games. The Cowboys defense this
year has been stellar. The question for them has always been whether Tony Romo
can be an elite quarterback and generate offense for the Cowboys. The Eagles
have had an erratic season. Their offensive line has been decimated with injuries
to four of their five linemen. Evan Mathis is the only starter on the offensive
line that has played in every game. Michael Vick’s starting job has been in
question for the past few weeks due to poor performance. The question for the
Eagles not only involves Vick, but how the defense will play under Todd Bowles
as defensive coordinator.
The first quarter began with the Eagles scoring a touchdown
to take the lead 7-0. That was their first touchdown of the season on the first
drive of the game. In that drive, the
cowboys got penalized twice for going offsides. DeSean Jackson had a big play
when he caught a short pass from Vick and zig-zagged his way around the field
for a 31 yard gain to the Cowboys seven yard line. The touchdown catch by Riley
Cooper was an amazing one handed leaping grab that Vick would have badly
overthrown if Cooper were a couple inches shorter. The Cowboys answered back on
their first drive of the game to tie the game at 7-7. There were no big plays
on this drive, but Romo led the offense in a methodical way.
The second quarter was dull. The Cowboys got the lone points
in the quarter on a field goal by Dan Bailey from 30 yards to make it a 10-7
game. Dez Bryant had a big catch in that quarter when he caught a 49 yard pass
from Romo that set them up in field goal range. During this quarter, Vick was
injured when his helmet snapped back and hit his eye. He headed back into the
locker room and was later diagnosed with a concussion. The Eagles’ fans were
happy that the Nick Foles era was about to begin, at least for today.
The third quarter was underway and everyone will ask the
question: Will Nick Foles lead the Eagles to victory? It looked that way on the
first drive when Foles threw his first career touchdown pass on a 44 yard bomb
to Jeremy Maclin to take a 14-10 lead. On their next drive, they got into field
goal range with the thanks of the Cowboys defense committing some costly
penalties. Alex Henery kicked a successful 40 yard field goal to make the score
17-10. The Cowboys only touchdown was at the end of the quarter. It happened on
a deep 30 yard pass that Romo threw to Bryant that had to be reviewed by the
replay official. The call stood, but I disagreed with the call because I saw
the ball hit the ground and roll out of Bryant’s hands when he dove to catch
the ball. Unfortunately, the referee and I didn’t see eye to eye. It was tied
at 17 at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter is a quarter the Eagles would love to
have back. When the Eagles failed on their first drive of the quarter, the
Cowboys returned a punt for a touchdown to make it 24-17. Dwayne Harris was the
player that ran 78 yards on that punt return untouched. That return could have
also been nullified because of a penalty the referees missed, which was an
illegal block in the back on the Cowboys. That call wasn’t made and this is
where we stand. On the next Eagles drive, Foles threw an interception to
Brandon Carr and ran 47 yards for a touchdown to make it 31-17. The Eagles did
try to make this a game at the very end when Foles orchestrated a quick drive
that resulted in a Stanley Havili one yard rushing touchdown to make it 31-23. Henery
missed the extra point. The Eagles had one last hope to make a comeback and tie
the game, but Foles was sacked in his own endzone and fumbled the ball, which
the Cowboys recovered for a touchdown to make it 38-23. That would also be the
final score of the game.
Overall, the Eagles played what I thought was their best
game since week four against the New York Giants. They played tremendous
defense in the second half. The Cowboys scored 24 of their 38 points on defense
and special teams. Romo played well, but not great. Foles looks like a good
quarterback for the future and I hope Andy Reid continues to play him for the rest
of the season.
Now that the Eagles
season looks all but finished, should they continue playing Foles at
quarterback? Sound off and stay tuned for next week when the Eagles travel to
Washington to play the Washington Redskins.
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