What happened?
In what was basically a preseason game for the Eagles, the Cowboys managed to score a last minute touchdown to earn a season split with the Eagles. Philadelphia finished the season at 10-6 and will host the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round on sunday.
The Good:
Jerome Harrison got the start, and finished with 99 yards on the ground on 21 carries.
Chad Hall had six catches for 84 yards and his first career touchdown.
The defense played very well against the first team of the Cowboys, giving up just 272 yards of offense and not allowing a touchdown until the last minute of the game.
David Akers went 2/2 on field goal attempts.
The Bad:
Jason Witten was able to break loose at the end of the game and catch that game winning touchdown.
The offensive line, despite being mostly backups, still gave up five sacks. The Eagles finished second to the Chicago Bears in sacks allowed this season.
Sav Rocca punted the ball seven times for an average of just 38.3 yards per punt.
The Ugly:
Kevin Kolb had a week to get ready for this game, and all he did was show Eagles fans that Michael Vick was the better option this season. He threw three interceptions and fumbled the ball late in the second quarter. The fumble was returned by DeMarcus Ware for a touchdown.
The Eagles still lost to the Dallas Cowboys. Regardless of whether the second string was playing or not, that's not a good feeling.
The Breakdown:
There honestly isn't that much to say about this game that's going to matter through the rest of the season. With their loss on Tuesday to the Minnesota Vikings, the Eagles were locked into the number three seed in the NFC, so last week, they rested most of their starters against the Cowboys. The second team defense looked impressive, holding Stephen McGee and the Dallas first team offense to just seven points, but it wasn't enough as Kevin Kolb looked every bit like a backup quarterback against a tough Dallas pass rush.
You do have to give the defense credit for going out there and playing as well as they did. Some first teamers did play, like Dimitri Patterson. He still needs to prove more after being burned by the Giants three weeks ago. Patterson is going to get the start against the Packers this Sunday, and with Aaron Rodgers having one of the better wide receiving corps in the NFC, you can bet that Patterson will be tested early and often.
The game went about as well as it could have for the Eagles, in all honesty. The starters that needed rest got to rest, and the team played the Cowboys to the limit with their second string. Sure, the Cowboys had a bad season, but it's still fun to watch the Eagles backups take Dallas to the limit and back. That never gets old. There are still some questions going into the game against the Packers this weekend, however.
Green Bay has one of the few offenses in the league that can go toe to toe with the Eagles and still come out on the winning side. Despite the lack of a solid running game, Aaron Rodgers more than made up for it with his arm. Rodgers passed for over 4,000 yards and likely would have made it to the Pro Bowl had it not been for Michael Vick. Greg Jennings is Rodgers' favorite target, but he'll likely have Asante Samuel on him all day long, so it will be up to the rest of the secondary to cover Donald Driver, Jordy Nelson and James Jones. Just because you might not know the names other than Driver doesn't mean that the Packers can't destroy you through the air. The Eagles have given up some big plays this season, and they can't afford to do too much of that on Sunday.
The Eagles also have to keep Michael Vick on his feet as best they can. The Eagles allowed more sacks this season than any team since the 1998 year, and when you have one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the NFL under center, that's not a good thing. The Packers brought a tough pass rush against the Eagles in Week 1, and it knocked Kevin Kolb out of the game and allowed Vick to get his season started. This time, they'll be prepared for Vick. The Green Bay pass defense is still one of the best in the league, but their run defense ranks in the bottom third. The Eagles have to run the ball more with LeSean McCoy and Jerome Harrison in order to keep the Packers from being able to go after Vick on every play and sit back and look for interceptions or fumbles. Charles Woodson may be older, but he's still a top defensive back. Plus, the Packers also have A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews, as well as B.J. Raji up the middle. Matthews led the Packers with 13.5 sacks, and was the one that knocked Kolb out of the game in Week 1.
Can the Eagles beat the Packers? Of course they can. Even with Vick only playing half of the game at the start of the season, they almost were able to win. Vick said after the game that he thought the Eagles would have won had he started. Now, he's got his chance to prove it. The Packers were a trendy pick to make it to the Super Bowl when the season started, and they're looking that way again. Just remember, three weeks ago, the Eagles were almost everyone's pick to go to the Super Bowl. It only takes one game to swing everything around. These are the playoffs, anything can happen now.
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