EAGLES NEWS

In one of the wildest season ending weeks in recent history, the Eagles got the losses they needed early as the Houston Texans rallied to beat the Bears, and the Oakland Raiders rallied to knock of the Bucs, and they then crushed the arch rival Dallas Cowboys to earn the NFC's final playoff spot. It is not just that the Eagles played so well, that made their win today so impressive it's that Dallas with all of its high payed stars played so poorly. The Cowboys literally fumbled away their chances in this one, with 4 fumbles, an interception and a plethora of stupid penalties. Not only did they look unprepared, but the Cowboys also just did not appear as if they wanted to win this one. It was almost as if they were not aware of what was at stake in this game. The Eagles on the other hand had their eyes on the prize right from the beginning. Donovan Mcnabb completed 12 of 21 passes for 175 yards and 2 TDs as the Eagles went a perfect 3 for 3 in the redzone on the day. Correll Buckhalter was the other headliner on the offense with 3 catches for 59 yards and a TD, and 10 rushes for 63 yards. Defensively the Birds were equally up to the task forcing 5 turnovers, and limiting the Cowboys to just 298 total yards of offense, only 87 rushing yards, and just 6 points. It was simply a dominating performance on both sides of the ball today. Halfway through the first quarter David Akers booted a 40 yarder for the early 3-0 lead. Dallas and Nick Folk matched him late in the quarter to tie it at 3. From there it was all Eagles. Early in the 2nd quarter, Mcnabb himself plunged in from a yard out for a 10-3 lead. With just over 2 minutes left in the half Mcnabb finished off another drive with a 4 yd TD pass to Buckhalter for a 17-3 lead. After stopping Dallas on their ensuing drive the Birds drove down for another TD, this time a 1 Yd td pass from Mcnabb to Brent Celek for a 24-3 lead. Pacman, er Adam Jones then fumbled the ensuing kickoff to set up David Akers with a 50 yarder for a 27-3 lead. Early in the 3rd quarter Brian Dawkins sacked and stripped Romo, and Chris Clemons scooped it up and scampered 73 yards for 34-3 lead. BDawk did it again on the next Dallas drive this time stripping Marion Barber inside the Eagles five, and Joselio Hanson grabbed it and ran it back 96 yards for another scored and a 41-3 lead. Finally a couple minutes later after another Romo fumble Akers drilled a 41 yarder for a 44-3 lead. From there the two teams merely played out the remaining time on the clock, as Nick Folk booted a 42 yarder late in the 4th quarter to cut the Eagles lead to the eventual final score 44-6. So the Birds finish the season 9-6-1 and claim the final playoff spot in the NFC. They will now travel to Minnesota next week for a wildcard matchup with the Vikings and if they win that they'll head to the meadowlands for a 2nd rematch with Eli and the New York Giants in the divisional round of the playoffs.