The Eagles and Cowboys continue their dance with the number 17 moment of the decade. Like I said yesterday, most people, myself included, didn't think this game would mean a whole lot when they woke up that morning, but after some amazing circumstances, it meant a whole lot more.
Moment #17: Philadelphia takes Dallas to the woodshed and earns a playoff spot-December 28, 2008
The 2008 Philadelphia Eagles were a model of inconsistency for just about the entire season. After starting the season 5-3, the Eagles looked like they would be in line for a playoff spot, especially since their three losses were each by six points or less. However, that start to the season was wiped out by an 0-2-1 stretch that saw Donovan McNabb admit he didn't know a game could end in a tie, and Kevin Kolb playing the second half of a blowout loss against the Baltimore Ravens. The team managed to pull themselves together after that, winning their next three games to get back into the playoff picture, but a horrible 10-3 loss to the Washington Redskins all but ended their chances in Week 16. With Dallas coming into town to finish the season, the Eagles were hoping to just play spoiler, but then, everything fell into place.
In order to sneak into the playoffs, the Eagles needed several things to happen. First, the Chicago Bears had to lose to the Houston Texans. Then, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had to lose to the 4-11 Oakland Raiders. Finally, Philadelphia had to beat the Cowboys. Amazingly, during the 1:00 games, things started to happen. The Texans took a 21-10 lead over the Bears, and held on for a 31-24 win, knocking Chicago out of the playoff hunt. Oakland was down 24-14 with ten minutes to play in the fourth quarter, then somehow rattled off 17 unanswered points to close out the game and finish of the Buccaneers, who went from 9-3 to 9-7 and out of the playoffs. With the fans at Lincoln Financial Field knowing that everything was in place, all of a sudden, the upcoming game against the Dallas Cowboys had become more than a chance to play spoiler: it was a play-in game, where the winner got a chance to play in the Super Bowl, and the loser got to watch on television.
The Cowboys were coming off of a season where they had finished with a 13-3 record, but had struggled in 2008, turning an 8-4 record into a 9-6 mark thanks to another slow December. Tony Romo had missed three games with a broken finger, and both the offense and defense seemed to be a step slower than the year before, but they still held the advantage over the Eagles, thanks to a 41-37 shootout win on Monday Night Football in the second week of the season. Most people were expecting the same kind of game this time around, especially with a playoff spot now on the line, and they got it, from one team anyway.
The first quarter went down as a defensive struggle, as both teams were only able to exchange field goals. However, in the second quarter, the Eagles set to breaking the game wide open. A short pass to Correll Buckhalter turned into a 59 yard gain on the first Philadelphia possession, and Donovan McNabb finished the drive with a touchdown run from a yard out. After forcing two straight three and outs by the Cowboys, the Eagles drove downfield again, with Buckhalter scoring on a four yard pass from McNabb to make the score 17-3, but the fun wasn't done yet.
The next Dallas possession ended with an interception by Sheldon Brown thanks to a horribly run route by wideout Roy Williams. McNabb hit Brent Celek with just 13 seconds to play in the half, and just about everyone thought that the first half was going to come to a close. The Eagles had other plans. Adam "Pac Man" Jones, in his last game as a member of the Cowboys, fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the Eagles recovered with three seconds to play. David Akers nailed a 50 yard kick as the first half ended, and Philadelphia went into the break having put up 24 points in just over 12 minutes on the Dallas Cowboys in the second quarter.
Of course, there was still another half of football to play. Dallas had to answer, and quickly, and they looked like they would on their first drive of the third quarter. A 42 yard pass play from Jason Whitten to Terrell Owens moved Dallas down to the Philadelphia 14 yard line, but a false start penalty pushed them back. On second down, Brian Dawkins came in on a safety blitz and drilled Tony Romo, who fumbled the ball. Chris Clemons recovered the football at the 27 yard line, and ran, untouched, for a 72 yard touchdown. The next Dallas drive had promise, but ended with the same result. Romo hit Owens to move the Cowboys down to the Philadelphia 12 yard line, then found Marion Barber, who took the ball to the four yard line. Once he got to the four, Brian Dawkins forced a fumble, and Joselio Hanson recovered it and took it for a 96 yard score. Suddenly, a 27-3 game with a slight chance at a comeback had turned into a 41-3 laughter, and there was no doubt who was going to the playoffs...and this was just midway through the third quarter.
The Eagles would take their foot off the gas at this point, adding just a David Akers field goal following another Tony Romo fumble on the next Dallas possession. The Cowboys would finish their scoring with a Nick Folk field goal early in the fourth quarter, and that was it. The next 12 minutes passed without much more commotion, and the Eagles were headed to the playoffs thanks to a 44-6 pasting of the Cowboys.
What's funny is how close this game actually looked on offense after the fact. The Eagles only outgained the Cowboys by five yards, with the main difference coming on the ground. They also only held the ball for 1:50 longer than Dallas, but the main difference was turnovers. The Eagles had a single turnover on the day, and it came on the first drive of the game. Dallas coughed the ball up five times, with each and every one of them resulting in points for the Eagles. Twenty seven of the 44 points the Eagles scored came directly following a Dallas turnover, and two of the scores came on fumble returns. The Philadelphia defense made the difference in this game, with Brian Dawkins doing what he did best for the Eagles: lead by example. Weapon X had arguably his best game of the season, recording five tackles, a sack and two forced fumbles. It would turn out to be his last game at Lincoln Financial Field as a member of the Eagles.
After destroying the Cowboys, the Eagles decided that their season wasn't done yet. They took out the Minnesota Vikings, 26-14 to open up their playoffs the following week, then upset the top seeded New York Giants, 23-11 the week after that. Unfortunately, they couldn't finish their remarkable run with a trip to the Super Bowl, as they dropped a great NFC Championship to the Arizona f**king Cardinals, 32-25. In the offseason, several players departed, including Brian Dawkins, who signed with the Denver Broncos, and Jon Runyan, who had offseason surgery before signing with the San Diego Chargers last month. As for the Cowboys, the expected cleaning of house by Jerry Jones never happened. Save for Pac Man and Terrell Owens being released, not much changed for the Cowboys. As they head down the home stretch this season, they have an 8-4 record, and have already dropped a game in December. I love watching history repeat itself. Guess which two teams play each other in the last week of the season this year?
Oh yes, it could be very, very fun again.
While there are highlight videos of this game, I believe that this one puts it best. Plus, it's in a catchy song, so you can't go wrong!
We head back to the baseball diamond for Moment #16 tomorrow. This is the latest moment to happen on the list, and while the end result of this year's World Series didn't have a favorable result, there was a game that made everyone stand up in awe of the Phils.
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