Bower | January 3, 2010 | 7:21 pm
Dallas Cowboys 24, Good Guys 0
My maiden post (i.e. pissed off rant) will outline the three ways you knew this game was over before your dinner got cold:
- McNabb’s inaccuracy: missed Jackson on a sure TD and missed a wide-open Maclin (albeit arguably catchable despite being a shitty throw) for a possible TD (at least a first down and a long gain). After the Jackson miss, we were treated to Donovan’s now-irritating “aw shucks” smile. On both occasions, the Eagles could have grabbed some much-needed momentum.
- Much like this season’s second game against the Giants, zero pass rush. The difference today was, obviously, they couldn’t get away with it. Romo was way too comfortable; the first time he was touched resulted in a feeble head slap/personal foul/roughing the passer call that moved the ball another 15 yards.
- Andy’s time management and play-calling: c’mon, how many more times do we need to witness the brutal clock management? With the first half winding down, the offense looked confused and moved without any urgency. During one sequence, in their time-honored tradition, they let a good 20 seconds run off the clock and then called the time out – half over. The Eagles then move the ball down the field fairly effectively to open the second half, only to line up for a 53 yard field goal attempt. With the game slipping away, but not yet out of hand, why not run the ball on third down and then run or pass on fourth down to try to pick up the two yards needed for a fresh set of downs?
So there it is. One drive into the third quarter and it was clear that this game was over. All before dinner time, all before your meat and taters got cold.
Over the years, I would consider myself an apologist for the Reid/McNabb regime, but how can the Eagles come out so uninspired for this game? Win and get the bye. Win and host a game. I hope I’m wrong, but based on today’s body of work, we could be in for more of the same next weekend.
Read my in-game tweets of dejection and despair here.
