Uh, was that a replay from last week? It sure felt like it. It also resembled the game we all saw on TV last week too. The stat sheet almost looked the same except that Philly gained a few more yards and actually scored 2 TD’s. Defensively, the Eagles looked exactly as they had last week. They gave up 426 total yards with 228 via the air and 198 on the ground. Did you see how many rushing yards the Eagles had? 56! Philadelphia running backs rushed just 13 times for those 56 yards. Time of possession again was double in the Cowboys favor. Those four turnovers also really cost the team, especially the three fumbles, two alone by Leonard Weaver. It was again another playoff disaster in Dallas. Some of you don’t remember 1992 or 1995 when the Cowboys made the second half’s of both those games just a formality. In 1995, the Eagles really didn’t have a prayer of winning the game as the starting QB Rodney Peete was out with an injury and backup Randall Cunningham in last game as an Eagle, was more concerned with his family as his wife delivered a baby just 2 days before the game. But in 1992, the Eagles were supposed to be the better team and after losing in s three straight playoff years, Philadelphia looked real impressive in beating the Saints in New Orleans as the defense came alive and the offense was unstoppable in the second half. Philly had some momentum going into Dallas, but they soon found out, they were no match.

Now back to the present of 2009, the Eagles this season lost three straight times to the Dallas Cowboys. All three games featured an attacking Dallas defense that Donovan McNabb could not figure out. He again had no time in the pocket as both DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer brought havoc on almost every Eagles offensive play. McNabb was sacked 4 times, but it could have been a lot more than the result on paper showed. McNabb wound up 19-for-37 for 230 yards with a TD and INT. The Eagles did come out and play tough to start the game forcing two punts, but McNabb could do nothing to get the team going. In fact, it was backup QB Michael Vick who almost turned the game upside down. A quick series of plays at the start of the second quarter almost had Dallas in shock. The Eagles defense finally caved in a bit as Cowboys QB Tony Romo made quick work on their third possession with great field position given to them due mostly to the Eagles ineptness on offense. A four-play, 55-yard TD drive was capped by a 1-yard TD pass to backup tight end John Philips. But 2 plays later, it was Michael Vick who threw a long out-pass to Jeremy Maclin, who broke away from the Cowboys tacklers and took the play to the house for a 76-yd touchdown. The very next play appeared to end in utter disaster for the Cowboys as it looked like Eagles safety Sean Jones intercepted a Romo pass and returned it all the way to the Cowboys 14-yard line. The Eagles were poised to take the lead, except that Cowboys coach Wade Philips challenged the play and the INT was reversed and the INT was ruled an incompletion. Nine plays later, Tashard Choice plunged into the end zone and the Cowboys never looked back.

After the reversal of the Jones INT, the Cowboys scored 27 straight points, including 20 more alone in the second quarter. Dallas had a 27-7 lead at the half and was in total control. For the second straight week, the Cowboys offense did whatever it wanted and in the second quarter, they scored 27 total points, gained 195 yards, had 16 first downs and converted on 5 of 6 third down situations and the humiliation was on. Call it what you want, déjà vu, total domination or a complete laughter, all apply as the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles for a second straight week, this time by a score of 34-14. Dallas is moving on to play the Vikings next week as the Eagles will run home with their tails between their asses. In the two back-to-back losses, the Eagles gave up 58 points and 900 yards and the star of the both games was Tony Romo. Romo could do no wrong in both debacles, completing 47-of-69 passes for 555 yards to go along with 4 TD passes. The Cowboys rushing game is what totally broke the Eagles defense as they bashed their way to 377 yards on the ground. Of course, poor tackling made the numbers a bit a skewed. You gotta give the Cowboys credit though, they wanted these games more and they went out performed at a higher level than the Eagles could match.

The Dallas Cowboys finally exercised all those bad demons of playoffs’ past to win their first post-season game since 1996. Philips was also 0-4 in the playoffs as a head coach. Romo was 0-2, with bizarre circumstances in each loss. The losing streak included six losses with a 7th loss to Philadelphia would’ve set a NFL futility record. The playoff loss by Andy Reid’s Eagles also snapped a streak of 7 opening playoff wins by teams coached by Reid himself. Dallas now travels to Minnesota with plenty of momentum as they also now have won 4 straight games, all in a dominating style. Besides the dominating defense that Dallas threw at the Eagles offense, the running game looks like a runaway train right now. Believe it or not, Marian Barber only had 4 yards rushing in this latest debacle. It was Felix Jones, who finished with 148 yards on the ground on 16 carries, that’s a 9.3 average. Also, the Cowboys Miles Austin tore apart pro-bowler CD Asante Samuel for 82 yards on 7 catches. Austin and Roy Williams were open all game long. For some reason, the Eagles linebackers did a pretty good job of nullifying the big tight end Jason Witten, holding him to just 27 yards.

The Philadelphia have no excuse to what happened, but they did have some serious injury issues down the stretch and especially in these last two games. Sheldon Brown was playing with a torn hamstring and center Jamaal Jackson was lost for the season after an ACL tear in his knee in week #16. Both starting linebackers Omar Gaither and Stewart Bradley were long gone on IR. The list goes on, but to show no heart in these last games, well then there is no explanation. Brian Dawkins was surely missed and the eagles will need to upgrade his old position this upcoming off-season. Add a safety, add another linebacker, sign one of the stud ends like Julius Peppers and bolster up the offensive line again and the Eagles could be back as favored to win again. The Andrew sisters experiment was a total mistake. They could of signed Runyan back in the opening weeks of the season when it appeared that neither Shawn or Stacey would be effective during the season. They also need to decide what to do with the QB situation. If they decide to keep McNabb, I will be OK with that, but they will need to give him another extension of 2-3 years on his existing contract and then trade away Kevin Kolb, keep Vick for one more year and then draft another QB until you decide if it will be Vick or McNabb for the future. I would no be against signing Vick and trading away either or both McNabb and Kolb either. As far as Kolb, I truly feel he is another Bobby Hoying in waiting. So, they must figure out the QB soon, sign Julius Peppers and maybe another experienced linebacker, preferably a middle LB, draft a safety, cornerback and some good offensive linemen and then we can go from there.