Detour: Road to NFC East goes through Dallas, Cowboys blowout Eagles

by Dave Halprin (Grizz) on Nov 4, 2007 10:17 PM CST in News Comment 27 comments

Donovan McNabb informed the world that the road to the NFC East championship goes through Philadelphia. The Dallas Cowboys didn’t need a map. They took the expressway straight through Philadelphia, stopping just long enough to punch the Eagles right in the mouth. Then they hopped on a jet bound for the new destination of the mythical road to the NFC East, Dallas. The Cowboys found little resistance on the road to a 38-17 humiliation of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Linc was so quiet I thought they were holding church services in there, that was until they bothered to boo their own team.

Terrell Owens finally got the homecoming he wanted, albeit a year late. But isn’t it true that revenge is a dish best served cold? T.O. caught 10 passes for 174 yards and a TD. From the start of the game he was Tony Romo’s go-to guy on the night and was clearly enjoying himself a little more than usual on this evening. Tony Romo shredded the Eagles defense and didn’t seem to be bothered in the least by the Eagles’ pass rush. He made only one mistake, an INT, which Ken Hamlin quickly rectified by picking the ball off in return. Across the board, the Cowboys players were outstanding. On defense, Bradie James was a beast and recovered a fumble, DeMarcus Ware started creating havoc, Chris Canty was a disruptive force and the secondary shut down the Eagles passing attack. On offense, both Marion Barber and Julius Jones were running hard, Jason Witten added a highlight play by losing his helmet and still running for another 20 yards or so. And as for Tony Romo, perhaps he sold himself short for $67.5 million, the kid can play.

Let’s reserve some special love for the offensive line. They simply owned the Eagles front seven.

This was as satisfying a win as they come. From the start of the game the Cowboys jumped on Philly, forcing McNabb into a fumble that was quickly converted into a TD. After that, the Eagles made one weak attempt at holding the line, but the Cowboys were not to be denied. They came into this game with bad intentions and smacked around the former NFC East bully on their own turf.

If you’ve got a map and are driving towards the NFC East championship, please note the detour. Philly is no longer the place, your looking for a little place called Valley Ranch.

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I am just FEEEEELLLIINNGG it right now

TO owned them with CONSTANT mid-range catches

Witten looked like a stud rumbling along without his helmet.

Romo was just Romo. Barber was Barber. The O-line took care of bidness...

And the D shined... key turnovers and ONLY 3 points after the opening drive until the garbage time score...

LUVIN IT

Cowboys and Tar Heels

by DalaiLuke on Nov 4, 2007 10:23 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

My only complaint

is that I couldn't be there to give them a standing ovation. The whole team shined.

If we win the Super Bowl, then we owe Parcells a Gatorade shower.

by Nelson on Nov 4, 2007 10:25 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

You were better off...

...doing it at home - a standing O in the stands at Philly might have been hazardous to your health!

by Pete on Nov 4, 2007 10:27 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Great Signature line

Nelson, I agree with your signature line. Madden last night said that when Parcells came to the Cowboys he was the right caoch, and now Phillips is the right coach for this bunch. I couldn't agree more

Lifetime Cowboys Fan from the Swamps of Jersey

by Seanrude on Nov 5, 2007 11:24 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I am wired

That game was amazing. I hope we can keep it going like this against the Gints... wait a second, I know we can. How 'bout them Cowboys?

Been a Cowboy fan from 4 yrs old.

by TKM31986 on Nov 4, 2007 10:30 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

It's Time for Me to Eat Crow

And time for all the guys predicting the blowout to crow. I thought this was going to be a much tougher game than it turned out to be. The skill players were great, but the offensive line was even better. In years past, the Eagles stunts and blitzes went through our line like it was a sieve. Tonight, we dominated them so much early, they didn't blitz as much, and became more predictable. That allowed Romo to dissect them in detail, and the points piled up.

Great win. I'm thrilled. Bring on the Giants.

by kindablue on Nov 4, 2007 10:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

It is a relief

to get our second NFC East game win. We still have four more to go and each will be critical to our season. Sweep them all and there will be an earthquake. We are learning and we are getting healthy. I did not hear anything about injuries in this game so I am hoping we are clean.

by lee3022 on Nov 4, 2007 10:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

The O-Line goes on my horse trailer

especially Flo Adams, Trent Cole might as well have stayed home cus Flo was in his grill all night and made him pretty much irrelevant.

by 703Cowboys on Nov 4, 2007 10:45 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

You have a horse trailer?

Nice!

by Pete on Nov 4, 2007 10:48 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

And what about Kearse?

I saw him at the end of a few plays, 5 yards away from the ball. Great game by the line.

by jmangell0830 on Nov 4, 2007 10:55 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed. And Let's Give Props to King Jerry...

... for re-signing Colombo and Gurode AND signing Bigg Davis to bolster our valuable offensive line.

Not to mention having guys like Kosier in only the second year of his FA deal from the '06 offseason and the draft picks of McQ from the '06 Draft and Free and Marten from the '07 Draft.

If we could sign Flo to a one-year deal in the '08 offseason, it'll give one of the latter three mentioned to develop into a possible Hotel successor.

But I'm getting ahead of myself... let me just savor this win with the rest of you. Man, tonight was probably the closest our team's been to playing a complete game... and I love that it came at the expense of "McFlabb" -- to quote Tom -- and the Birdbrain Eagles!!!

"It's either hit, or be hit... It's just that physical aspect of my game that has always been with me." -- Marion Barber III

by kcbrett5 on Nov 5, 2007 12:15 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I Think About That Blogger in Philly Dissing Romo

Romo can't throw on the run, has poor mechanics, and would never be chosen over Donovan McNabb. There's a special tickle-spot in my heart to see Philly fans miserable. Hehehe.

I love the fact we scored on the first possession and the defense stiffened after Philly's first possession. We're light-years away from the Patriots or even the Colts, but you never know what could happen over the course of a season. Maybe Tom Brady will get knocked up - oooh, bad taste.

by jmangell0830 on Nov 4, 2007 10:54 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't say light years

they are better right now, but we'll close that gap before February.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Nov 5, 2007 7:46 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Darn Texas-Oklahoma State game.

The Cowboys were up by four touchdowns and I vowed not to turn my set off in the fourth quarter again!

The Philly crowd was long gone.

Texas slang in a Big Apple minute, by a friendly OED consultant. http://www.barrypopik.com

by barrypopik on Nov 4, 2007 11:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Great Win

Celebrate tonight and focus on beating NYG next week. Next wk will determine if we finally get our first East crown in 9 years

by VADallasFan on Nov 4, 2007 11:20 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

From O to D to STs

I really didn't see anyone under perform badly. Maybe Jacque Reeves early on, but that's about it. They really deserve to enjoy this, but everyone knows the real test of our mettle will be next Sunday. But, right now and tomorrow, I'm going to sit back and enjoy how badly we trounced them tonight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_cowboys Pretty much required reading for any Dallas fan.

by oneinsider on Nov 4, 2007 11:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Did Anybody Realize

It's been over a year since our last regular season road loss? The last loss was that crazy game in Washington, where our winning field goal was blocked in the last play. That was on November 5th, and since then we've won seven straight.

by kindablue on Nov 4, 2007 11:46 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I did not know that. Great find, kindablue.

However, I would've preferred that you stated that AFTER next week's game against the G-men.

I'm superstitious, and I hope you didn't jinx our Beloved Cowboys -- just kidding, of course :)

"It's either hit, or be hit... It's just that physical aspect of my game that has always been with me." -- Marion Barber III

by kcbrett5 on Nov 5, 2007 12:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Ever Since Dallas Signed TO

I thought that they never persistently used him right in a game... until tonight.

So many times, Romo hit Owens in stride on slant patterns -- allowing #81 to rack up yards after the catch, which is one of his HUGE strengths.

I loved the offensive efficiency for most of the game, and it seemed like our entire team made wise use of the bye week.

What I also loved is that we only committed three penalties, only had one turnover, and amassed around 32 minutes in Time of Possession.

Plus, our defense looked fast and appeared to hit hard this game.

And how about that Marcus Spears sighting on the very first line of scrimmage play.

McNabb should've known after that hit and turnover that this would be a long night for him and his Eagles.

I am so sick of hearing it from Eagles fans -- my brother-in-law and friends at work. Expect to see my pulling a TO and flapping my arms in mockery to those guys.

YEAH!!! Take that, Eagles!!!

And did anyone notice the cheap shots by their defense -- out of frustration -- when it was obvious they couldn't stop our O and we had them down by more than two scores? What a bunch of poor sports and cheap shot artists...

"It's either hit, or be hit... It's just that physical aspect of my game that has always been with me." -- Marion Barber III

by kcbrett5 on Nov 5, 2007 12:08 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah and On Bleeding Green Nation

His summary didn't mention a single Cowboys player by name. It was "the QB" or "T.O." or "the DB". And somewhere buried in his moaning about how the team made mistakes and didn't play well and didn't have any fire, he mumbled Dallas played really well, then went back to grumbling about how bad the team was.

Rule number one for Cowboys haters: Never say the magic words: "The Dallas Cowboys have a good football team, and they kicked our rear." Mention injuries, bad calls, how rotten your team is, conspiracy theories, but never say the forbidden sentence.

by kindablue on Nov 5, 2007 12:22 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yep they don't give much credit

where credit is due.

The coaches and lack of Iggles playmakers was to blame.

They were impressed that Westbrook was "fighting to the end". The end of what, a blow out? Why are they playing their starters down by 21 points with less than 3 minutes remaining? Embarassing is the word I would use.

To hell with the Iggles and their ignorant fans. They had their time in the sun. Now get the f#$% out of the way for actual contenders.

by APerfectStar on Nov 5, 2007 12:42 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

This Loss

Has to be sort of like how we felt when we started the 2000 season, getting blown away at home by the Eagles, effectively ending our dynasty. The big difference is we picked up three Super Bowl trophies during our run, whereas the Eagles have been a pathetic organization up until the Reid era. Under Reid, they dominated us for several years, but choked (in some cases, literally) in the playoffs. So at the end of their pseudo-dynastic run, we won as many Super Bowls as they did--zero.

Now that the tables are turning, the bitterness and futility of their dreams must really be setting in. They see us getting better and better; we could have scored 52 points last night, if we wanted. We're not thinking in terms of beating up the Eagles for a few years. Our eyes are on hoarding multiple Lombardi trophies for the next six or seven years, to pull away from the other two teams that also have five in their trophy case, and establish ourselves as the pre-eminent dynasty in all of professional sports for decades to come.

And that reality has to be incredibly painful. It exposes the utter pettiness and immaturity of their perspective, displays how badly misplaced their focus and emotions are. And cognitive dissonance of that magnitude has to be really getting to them.

NB: I've mentioned before I know a few classy, gentlemenly Eagles fans. I'm obviously not talking about them here.

by kindablue on Nov 5, 2007 7:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs