the Eagles would double Terrell Owens. No way they wanted him to beat them. So the best way to free up Owens was to make the Eagles pay for so much coverage. And they did by running the ball effectively, causing the Eagles to start dropping an eighth guy in the box and even having to start blitzing their safeties,
"That's a great feeling," Garrett said of forcing a defense to commit more people to stopping the run. "Now we got a chance to get the ball to more people."
Sound familiar? Back to the not-so-old days when the Cowboys once dominated the Eagles? Really, they once did?
Why, the Cowboys' domination became so frustrating to the majority of the 67,688 people here that nearly half had headed home at the end of the third quarter and virtually the rest by the time Nick Folk's field goal upped the score to 38-10 with 9:57 still remaining.
Poor folks, they just couldn't stomach reality nor the beating the Eagles took in front of their own eyes or the beloved Iggles falling to 3-5 and a whopping four games behind the NFC East-leading Cowboys. And surely not having to watch Owens trample on just what might be the Eagles' 2007 season grave.
How sound was the beating?
The 38 points the Cowboys scored was their third-highest total in a 96-game history with the Eagles, and matched the second-most they had scored against the Eagles since 1969.
They slapped McNabb with a 64.0 QB rating, allowing him to connect with his wide receivers for only 10 of his 24 completions and average 5.7 yards an attempt.
And the 434 yards of offense piled up were the third-most this season, and this against a defense that was supposed to be coming into its own and getting better with the return of their inspirational leader Brian Dawkins. Well, maybe Dawkins should have done less talking mic-ed up before the game, along with this rather silly chest-thumping of the ground while down on all fours during his introduction as if he was going to be this fading team's savior.
Times, just maybe they are a changing.
"This was a big step forward to win here," said Phillips, a newcomer to this side of the series but not unknowing of what had taken place the previous eight years. "I understand this is the most points we've scored here since 1971.
"It's still only half the season, but we still have the second-best record in the league - not the conference, the NFL."
The Cowboys also have a team which is growing up before your very eyes. Intimidated by the so-called hostile environment? Ha, did you see what happened the first play of the game? Maybe their confidence grew when those Philly fans didn't even have strong enough arms to properly egg the buses on the way in, their tosses falling woefully short.
Did you see what happened after Romo's ill-advised throw near the goal that was intercepted by Lito Sheppard? Instead of an oh-no-here-we-go-again response, the Cowboys' defense responded with Ken Hamlin picking off a McNabb pass to set up the Cowboys for the touchdown that quieted this crowd for good and gave the Cowboys a 21-7 halftime lead.
These guys are maturing. They are learning to keep their composure.
"This is not an easy place to play," Romo said, "and our guys are showing they can handle this."
That's what good teams do, and this is a good Cowboys team, just maybe getting better.
Anyone want to argue?
