One word - DOMINATION!
I honestly cannot remember the last time the Cowboys dominated a team so thoroughly as they did on Sunday. From the opening kickoff until the 4th quarter whistle the Cowboys smacked the Eagles around as if they were the defending NFC Champions and the Eagles were the NFC doormats.
Even though the Cowboys moved the ball at will, scoring 17 unanswered points in the first quarter, I felt deep down that the Eagles were just waiting to pounce and turn certain defeat into victory. Surely the Cowboys could not continue dominating this vaunted Eagles team. As the 2nd quarter started so did the Eagles, sure enough the moved the ball down the field but had to settle for a field goal. Never the less, the comeback had begun. I felt they were going to start rolling and the Cowboys would wilt.
Unlike Cowboy teams of the past few years, this team did not wilt, in fact they answered the Eagles field goal with a third touchdown and then kicked a field goal before the half was over to push the lead to 27-3 at half.
I was still not convinced of the outcome of this game until about 5 minutes left. The Eagles never threatened to score after their 2nd quarter filed goal. They never moved the ball into Cowboys territory again and aside from the Cowboys fumble that was returned for a touchdown, the Cowboys played a near perfect game in all 3 phases.
As a Cowboy fan, I don't think you could have asked for a better performance and for that performance to come against a heated rival like the Eagles, nothing could have been sweeter! Lets hope there is more of this to come!
Injuries; Julius Jones did not play the entire 2nd half with an apparent ankle injury.
Player of the Game; There are many to choose from but I give the nod to Terry Glenn who set the tone early and often, scoring the 1st 2 Cowboy Touchdowns!
Other players who deserve props; Drew Bledsoe had a superb performance! Tyson Thompson led the Cowboys in rushing and had some great kickoff returns. Roy Williams with a number of big tackles. Terrance Newman shut down most ever play coming his way. Jose Cortez made all 4 field goal attempts Brett Peirce had some big tackles on special teams and a fumble recovery. The whole offensive line not only produced 150+ yards rushing but kept Bledsoe clean with zero sacks and zero hits on the QB. Jason Witten had several crucial 3rd down grabs. Bradie James had his best game as a pro at LB. Every team and everybody showed up and played exceptionally well.
Grades:
Offense - A; The offense moved the ball at will vs the Eagles. The only blemish was the turnover but the Cowboys quickly answered by moving the ball back down the field for another score. 450+ total yards of offense against what is considered one of the top defenses in the league!
Defense - A+; The defense only gave up 3 points and less than 150 yards of total offense. The only downside was they did not create any turnovers, but still were able to completely shutdown the NFL's #1 offense. I kept waiting for the Eagles to make a run, score a couple of touchdowns and get back in the game, they never did. They never came close as evidenced by just 6 first downs all game and only 19 yards rushing. All I can say is WOW!
Special teams - A; The first 3 times the Cowboys had the ball, they got it in Eagles territory thanks to special team returns. The Cowboys had 171 total return yards vs the Eagles 97, all 97 from 6 kickoff returns. Plus the Cowboys made all 4 field goal attempts.
Straight A's for the Cowboys for the first time in a long time!
Did you notice? DeMarcus Ware recorded his 3rd sack of the year but them seemed to get lost in the melee.
Anthony Henry is like Glue, he sticks to those receivers.
Willie Pile started at safety in place of Keith Davis and for the most part, went unnoticed, which is good for a free safety. If Westbrook had been able to grab onto that one short pass over the middle, we would have noticed Willie Pile. noticed he was not in position!
The Cowboys ran 2 screen plays that worked. That alone should tell you some kismet signs were all in alignment.
The official Drive charts tell an amazing story.
Eagles |
Cowboys |
3 plays -9 yards |
4 plays 51 yards |
3 plays -1 yards |
8 plays 41 yards |
3 plays 7 yards |
1 play 38 yards |
10 plays 71 yards |
9 plays 40 yards |
6 plays 15 yards |
11 plays 70 yards |
1 play -1 yards |
13 plays 80 yards |
3 plays 3 yards |
7 plays 26 yards |
5 plays 19 yards |
11 plays 59 yards |
3 plays 6 yards |
3 plays 4 yards |
3 plays 7 yards |
13 plays 52 yards |
4 plays 9 yards |
3 plays 6 yards |
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2 plays -2 yards |
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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|
10 |
3 |
3 |
33 |
|
0 |
3 |
7 |
0 |
10 |
|
Scoring Summary |
1st Quarter |
|
TD |
Terry Glenn, 15 Yd pass from Drew Bledsoe (Jose Cortez kick is good), 13:01. Drive: 4 plays, 51 yards in 1:59. |
|
TD |
Terry Glenn, 38 Yd pass from Drew Bledsoe (Jose Cortez kick is good), 7:41. Drive: 1 play, 38 yards in 0:07. |
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FG |
Jose Cortez 28 Yd, 0:19. Drive: 9 plays, 40 yards in 5:18. |
2nd Quarter |
|
FG |
Todd France 23 Yd, 10:23. Drive: 10 plays, 71 yards in 4:56. |
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TD |
Lousaka Polite, 12 Yd pass from Drew Bledsoe (Jose Cortez kick is good), 5:22. Drive: 11 plays, 70 yards in 5:01. |
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FG |
Jose Cortez 33 Yd, 0:09. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards in 2:24. |
3rd Quarter |
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FG |
Jose Cortez 37 Yd, 11:39. Drive: 7 plays, 26 yards in 2:07. |
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TD |
Sheldon Brown, 80 Yd fumble return (Todd France kick is good), 1:12. |
4th Quarter |
|
FG |
Jose Cortez 45 Yd, 4:39. Drive: 13 plays, 52 yards in 9:11. |
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Passing |
|
CP/AT |
YDS |
TD |
INT |
D. Bledsoe |
24/35 |
289 |
3 |
0 |
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Rushing |
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ATT |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
T. Thompson |
20 |
75 |
0 |
16 |
J. Jones |
16 |
72 |
0 |
25 |
D. Bledsoe |
3 |
14 |
0 |
9 |
A. Thomas |
4 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
K. Johnson |
1 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
T. Romo |
2 |
-2 |
0 |
-2 |
Receiving |
|
REC |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
T. Glenn |
7 |
118 |
2 |
38 |
J. Witten |
7 |
80 |
0 |
19 |
K. Johnson |
6 |
47 |
0 |
11 |
P. Crayton |
2 |
30 |
0 |
19 |
L. Polite |
1 |
12 |
1 |
12 |
T. Thompson |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
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Fumbles |
|
FUM |
LOST |
REC |
YDS |
P. Crayton |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
K. Johnson |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
B. Pierce |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Kicking |
|
FG |
LG |
XP |
PTS |
J. Cortez |
4/4 |
45 |
3/3 |
15 |
Punting |
|
NO |
AVG |
I20 |
LG |
M. McBriar |
2 |
41.0 |
1 |
43 |
Kickoff Returns |
|
NO |
AVG |
TD |
LG |
T. Thompson |
3 |
29.0 |
0 |
40 |
|
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Punt Returns |
|
NO |
AVG |
TD |
LG |
P. Crayton |
7 |
12.0 |
0 |
25 |
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Defense |
|
T-A |
SCK |
INT |
FF |
B. James |
6-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
R. Williams |
4-0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
A. Henry |
3-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
T. Newman |
3-0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
S. Shanle |
3-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
K. Burnett |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
J. Ferguson |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
B. Pierce |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
W. Pile |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
T. Copper |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
K. Davis |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
A. Glenn |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
L. Glover |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
J. Ratliff |
1-1 |
0.5 |
0 |
0 |
D. Ware |
1-0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
G. Ellis |
0-1 |
0.5 |
0 |
0 |
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Next game; Sunday October 16th in Dallas against the Giants. The Giants are in 1st place in the NFC East with a 3-1 record. The Giants beat the Cowboys twice last year and appear to be a solid contender for the NFC east crown. The Cowboys would like to play as well as they did this Sunday to prove that this was NO fluke and that they are for real!
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