The Eagles have arrived. In case you missed it, the Eagles passing offense made the Cowboys look silly, and cruised to 34-7 victory. The game was essentially over at halftime, with the Eagles leading 27-0, partly thanks to their offense. The last two weeks, the Eagles have started off fast, got on the board early, and ironically, they ended both 
games on top. As an evaluator, it’s really tough to pick out any negatives from a passing game and an offense that put up 27 points in the first half.
In short, they did a phenomenal job. The game plan was good, and included balance. This kept the Cowboys on their heels, and let the Eagles consistently drive the ball down the field. Michael Vick had one of his best games of the season, completing 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards and 2 TDs. However, this did not tell the whole story. Vick was great at the pre-snap, and it seemed that the Eagles gameplan had all the right calls to counteract what Rob Ryan was doing with his defense.
Some of the same strategies that were used against the Redskins were used against the Cowboys. They dominated time of possession. This included handing the ball off to the best player on offense, LeSean McCoy. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but the Eagles actually used the run to set up the pass. Reid knows the special talent that he has with McCoy, and he McCoy proved that to a national audience on Sunday night.
Coming into the game, the Dallas defense was 1st in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game, last night, they 
gave up 211 yards on the ground, a season high. McCoy broke Cowboys defenders ankles all night, and continues to prove why he should be in the same conversation as one of the best backs in the league. McCoy is a big reason as to why the passing game was so efficient.
Michael Vick was able to complete short passes, and literally carve out the Cowboys zone with passes over the middle. These timing routes caught the Cowboys off guard, and led to many first downs and big gains. Notice the top two Eagles pass-catchers of the night, were Brent Celek and Jason Avant. Celek vs. any of the Cowboys LBs was a huge matchup nightmare for Dallas, which the Eagles took advantage of. Celek had his best game of the season; his blocking was on par, and his route running superb. He led the team in catches with seven, yards with 94. He also added a touchdown, where Vick fired it to Celek with pinpoint accuracy.
Confusion was aplenty on the Cowboys defense. Vick spread the ball around all night, connecting to six different receivers, which led to the confusion. The Eagles have so many things they can do, so how can you defend them? The Cowboys were conservative, and were determined to limit the big plays. Their safeties were constantly dropping back in coverage, giving the Eagles room to work the middle of the field. With their speed and weapons, this was no problem.
I’m giving the game ball to the Eagles offensive line. As a unit, the offensive line had a tremendous game. Vick was rarely hit, and they gave he had time all game to get deep in the pocket, read the defense and strike. They just played outstanding and manhandled the Cowboys at the line of scrimmage. Very few times, unlike early in the season, did I see protection break down.
The Cowboys brought the blitz, and the Eagles offensive line weathered the storm. It’s obvious that this unit is jelling together, and the scary thing is that they can get even better. They are slowly developing into one of the finer offensive lines in the league.
This line is anchored by Pro- Bowl LT Jason Peters. He continues to be a dominant force, and fans can finally see why the Eagles traded a 1st round pick for him. Yes, he does have an occasion penalty, but he is one of the best players at his position. He had a great block on the 1st TD, on a screen to Maclin, setting his man to the outside, and giving Maclin an easy lane to six.
The only negatives (if any) had to do with the inconsistent play of guard Danny Watkins and Jason Kelce in pass protection. A couple of times, Watkins was beaten badly beaten, which almost led to sacks, luckily Vick ran out of harm’s way. There were a couple of plays that made my heart jump, but this is to be expected from a rookie. He has his mistakes, but Watkins is very physical, and is getting better with every game that he plays. He will get there. Kelce also made some mistakes with the botched snap, and the penalty. These were minor mistakes that are okay for a rookie to make. He played very well, and held his own at times.
The Eagles passing game was very effective. Vick was very accurate, recognizing coverages and reading the blitz in the pre-snap. He also had a great night in terms of decision making and getting the ball out of his hands. The offense was able to get on the board early, and use balance to drive down the field. The pass protection was great, and I loved that they are getting Celek more involved in the offense. Let’s give the Eagles the credit they deserved.
At times, it was too easy out there. If Vick gets the time in the pocket, and the Eagles can run the ball, Vick has the potential to carve up defenses like he did tonight. I truly believe that the Eagles can play with anyone if they use balance and limit the turnovers and mental mistakes. The Eagles passing game was clicking on all cylinders last night. You can’t get much better than that. Good all around, except if you’re a Cowboy.
FINAL GRADE: A
A+
Michael Vick…..Told you Kevin Kolb was ass when they drafted him.
Songs, and you get an F, for saying the Eagles would lose this game…oh yea, the coaches did a hell of a job too! I really dont have much to say, the way the team played and the way the coaches coached, it speaks for itself! Great win, now lets get ready for the Bears!
Is interesting to note that avant has more catches than desean and almost as many yards.With the eagles leaning on shady more and maclin looking to be the better all around threat wonder what it all means for deseans contract/future here.It seems like he is going to want to much money just to be a deep threat guy.Desean does not seem that great returning punts this year either.I could see the eagles going with maclin,avant,smith,and cooper next year and spending the money for desean elsewhere.
Yeah kolb is a fraud.Arizona was a bunch of dumb asses for trading for him.
Don’t underestimate Desean. Eventhough his numbers don’t show it, he opens up the defense which allows McCoy and the WRs to be as open as they were last night. The Cowboys were 2 cover deep trying to take away Desean’s speed, and thats why Celek went wild.
I think Reid is a great game planner as evident by his 13-0 after bye record. Eagles should lighten up Reid’s overall responsiblity and allow him to focus on game planning week in and week out.
People just don’t get it. This offense is not the same without DeSean. He requires double coverage. Any player can be shut down. If the defense moves 8 into the box, Shady gets shut-down.
Because Jackson has burned the Cowboys previously, they took him out of the game, which helped open holes for Shady, created space in the middle for Celek and Maclin, and even created situations for Vick to run.
Every defense game plans for DeSean Jackson. They all know that he can/will kill you.
Don’t let the stats fool you.
Game ball to O Line – wait – you can’t start two rookies next to each other – wait – Kelce used to be a fireman – wait – wasn’t he supposed to be NFL ready –
sorry – I am almost getting carried away – I guess after getting mocked for 4 weeks and preaching for all the be patient and let the team gell – it feels good to be proven right – aahhh, yeah, feels good!
This game reminds me of the game against Atlanta last year, in which McCoy had 21 carries, Eldra Buckley had 12, and DeSean Jackson had two huge runs (double reverses).
The Eagles ran the ball 38 times and Kolb threw only 29 passes.
Several long runs early in the game enabled Kolb to have a big day.
Two reverses by Jackson slowed John Abrams and the rest of the defensive line, which enabled Kolb time to pick the secondary apart.
It was a great performance by both Reid and Kolb.
The down side is that in the very next game, against the Titans, Reid blew a 13-0 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the first half because he reverted to his old ways. From that time on, he threw the ball 93% of the time. We eventually lost 39-13, while our offense went 3-and-out over and over again, which allowed Kenny Britt to score 3 TDs.
Has anyone heard from Kenny Britt since?
It took Reid 8 years to learn that he needed real receivers. Has he finally learned in his 13th season that he needs to run the ball and employ a short-to-medium range passing attack, so that his QB can stay healthy?
Navy
Kelce was a turnstile. However, Reid finally did the right thing. He called screens and ran the ball to slow down the pass rush.
Don’t let reality get in the way.
Yes, Navy – You’ve gotten carried away. There is more than one way to stop a defensive line. Both rookies are excellent in the run blocking, but both are very weak in the pass blocking.
Kelce was a turnstile – are you kidding me – he did a great job against Ratcliff – dude – your hate blinds you – your despising of everything Reid related distorts your view of the world – how many tackles did Ratcliff have last night – wait – 1 Ratcliff had 1 tackle – so this would be the first time in history a team that had a center for a turnstill had an RB that rushed for 185 yards, put up 500 in offense – as for the screens – the eagles screened behind Ware becuase the blitzes come from the outside – did you not watch a game with volume – Cris Collingsworth actually pointed that out – the announcer actually informed you EXACTLY what the eagles were doing and why – most of the screens were inside – whcih meant Kelce had to block Ratcliff and not release downfield –
so Drum – I assure you – 500 yards offense, 30 first downs, 200+ yards of rushing, 21 of 28 passing, scoring on first 6 drives – yeah – turnstile – let me find that reality…………
Navy, you sarcastic, funny man! LMFBO! It’s one game. Take a chill pill! BTW, Kelce & Watkins are not good at protecting Vick. Utilizing Shady, Celek & screens did. They are decent run blockers, though. Peters & Herremans are non-problematic. I liked what I saw yesterday, especially against the Cowdungs. BTW, I loved watching Ryan eaat his own $#!t. Bigmouth, stooge!
You must not have read my post above, regarding the Atlanta game last year. “It was a great performance by both Reid and Kolb.”
How is that being blinded by hate?
Many could say that Peyton Manning had a “great line” because of the number of the few number of sacks he suffered, but ahhhh, there’s more to the story, isn’t there.
Yes, he was a turnstile, but again, there is more than one way to slow a pass rush. Reid did it against Atlanta for Kolb and he did it again last night.
If you don’t understand the nuances of the game, don’t just make things like I’m “blinded by hate.” That only shows that you can’t read.
Drummer – You can’t have it both ways “Kelce was a turnstyle – Reid called screens” – now tell me, what’s an OL’s job on a screen – is it not to let the DL by you to get to the second level? So Kelce does his job on a play, and you bust him for not doing what would have been his job on a different play? That’s assinine!
You are right drummer – you are one insightful ‘nuanced’ MOFO – Drum will hearby be know as “Mr Nuance’ thanks ‘Mr Nuance’ for keeping it real –
all those years of being an O Line coach I guess we have different ‘nuanced’ definitions of turnstile – I will try to figure out how an All Pro NT turns a rookie center into a turnstile and the team still has 500 yards of offense – typically when the center is getting ‘turnstiled’ the NT completley disrupts the O – but hey – Mr Nuance – I will take you word for it and we can leave it at that –
Kelce got turnstiled this week all – and I hope like hell he gets turnstiled again next week cuase man – those results were awesome! Sure you don’t want to try just a sip –
DCar – just for today I will be ‘unchilled’ back to reality and the Bears tommorrow
Hey – shout out the Celek and Harbor – I love that formation where they start in the BF and then line up outside the tackles – those guys were blocking and catching – there is the Celek we gave the big extension to –
oh yeah – how that short yardage O look last night –
I agree, you can’t find much to bitch about yesterday. Other than the late game brain fart for Coleman, that was the most complete game they’ve played, since the middle of last year.
by the headlines of these articles you would think the eagles just won a super bowl, it is one game, a much needed one game, and there will be many more much neededs down the road, anyone who claims vindication for supporting reid by this one game , well you know who you are, but for the rest of us we will see, but it was sure nice to bust the cowboys and their fraud fans
NFC East Rankings by position/unit
Q
Mike
Eli
Romo
Mark Rypien
RB
Shady
Bradshaw
Dorsett
Riggins
Wide
Maclin
Snax
Dez
Austin
Gary Clark
Oline
Eagles
Giants
Skins
Girls
Dline
Giants
Birds
Skins
Boys
Corner
Nmandi
Hall
Webster
Asanta
Jenkins
Safety
Landry
Phillips
Allen
Mike Zordich
If you still think Reid should go…stfu…the players play for this guy and its obvious they’re gonna ride Shady until Mike needs to be Superman.
Erock – are these your rankings or did you get them from somewhere?
Erock???????????????? WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was those rankings your attempt at humor? LMFBO! Yes, Reid does still need to go. It was 1 f^#@ing game. 1 game does not a season make! They are 3-4, & still not a playoff team, with the same flaws. They game planned around them this week. Don’t get carried away.
I disagree…..they are a p-off team. Wonder if Saints fans are saying the same thing after the throttling they got?
Im just posting something other then neagative yack. There my rankings.If your questioning the wides i can see Dez ranked higher then Desean…he just blows the roof off coverage. And Dez b’d up last night when Nmandi took his lunch early.Desean has done more as well. Maclin is the most compelte wideout in the Division. Ill bump Nicks up too,he’s #3.
dcar – you know how many playoff teams there are in week 8? 0! Forget about the playoff, beat the bears. That’s all that matters.
You do know that Rypien, Dorsett, Riggins, Clark haven’t played in 10+ years & Zordich is our secondary coach, right!? LMFBO!!! BTW, the Saints didn’t get throttled, stop exaggerating. They did put up 60+ last week. REMEMBER! They are 5-3 in first, we are 3-4, tied for last.
Schill, agreed, was just making a point.
Now, I realize my frustrations.
We all know what this team can be but Andy Reid get brain farts finding ways to lose it for us.
Last night proved that if you run the ball, use the instant replay system effectively, with good clock management…this team can contend.
But, will we abandon the run game down the stretch?
How many times have we asked that question?
I’ll stay in reserved mode for now.
Once Reid show he’s over his past gaff’s consistently…I’m reserved
Songs – you are a parasite – your frustration is you don’t understand football, being a fan, and that you are constantly wrong – please keep making your stupid predictions that the eagles are going to lose – its working for us – everything you predict – the exact opposite happens – keep at it –
Yes i realize that tool.Its humor in the ratings.Noone on there teams deserves to be ranked so i took some names of the all-time greats from there squad.
Paulman’s NFC Rankings after Week 8
#1) Packers (7-0) – Clearley the best all around team in the NFL
#2) 49ers (6-1) – Are starting to feel it, not only winning, but starting to dominate teams
#3) Lions (6-2) – Broncos and amatuer QB Tebow was the perfect opponent for them coming off 2 tought losses at home
#4) Giants (5-2) – Not a very impressive game vs the Dolphins, but they won and hold 2 game advantage in the NFC East (Now comes their very difficult part of their schedule so we will see how good they really are or are not)
#5) NO Saints (5-3) – A all-around poor effort versus the hapless Rams drops them, their Defense is stearting to leak some holes and their OL Play has also been struggling lately as Brees has been getting hit a lot recently
#6) Bears (4-3) – Winners of 2 in a row on the road and then have Bye week leading up to the Eagles contest next Monday night
#7) Falcons (4-3) – Also Winners of 2 in a row and coming off a Bye Week for theri 2nd half to the Season
#8) TB Bucs (4-3) – Impressive 1 week, no so the next, had a Bye week so lets see how this young team repsonds
#9) Eagles (3-4) – Digging themselves out of the early season hole, winners of 2 in a row but must keep it going and have a great shot to get right back into the mix if they beat the Bears next Monday Night
#10) COwboys (3-4) – Blew a big chance by getting manhandled by the Eagles, have a favorable schedule but see lots of Egos and headaches for them as the Season continues, their OL is still a weak spot as their Seconday is and will get exploited RB D Murray does appear to be the real deal and he will be featured back for the remainder of the season as Felix Jones is injured and they cut Tashard Choice.. It’s Murray’s job
#11) Redksins (3-4) – Injuries are mounting (no LT,LG, no Hightower, no Cooley, no Moss and this was an Offense who was challenged to begin with
#12 thru 16 are all teams who are just not very good Vikings, Seahawks,Panthers, Rams and Cardinals and will be playing lots of young players for the remainder of the Season as the plan for the future though I do believe that the Vikings and Panthers will make some noise and be tough outs and may decide on who makes it in as a wildcard since they have lots of their own Division games left and the Vikes can play spoiler for Detroit,Chicago, while the Panthes play spoiler for the TB Bucs,Falcons or Saints since they they all have games versus each other left to play..
Just to nitpick here and to air out my 1 bitch of the game but it’s somwthing I hate to see and saw it 2-3 times in the game once the Eagles were in the Red-Zone.. ..
Stop with these passes short of the End-Zone.. Why don’t the Eagles throw the ball “in the end zone” and not to WR/RB who are at the 6yard line or 3 yard line.. Run routes in the end zone and then throw the ball to them (like Celek’s route) but the quick out to D-Jax and the wheel route to FB Schmitt on a 3rd Down cannot be the best option and won’t beat the top Defense’s and then you end up settling for FG (3 Pts)..
Agreed – that was a terrible 3rd down play call – I like the stretch play to McCoy let him find the seam – 3rd down – get into the EZ – where has Riley Cooper been?
He played a little but I don’t think a ball was thrown his way.. I would think once inside the 10-15 yard line, he would be in there for his size..
Don’t really need Jackson’s speed – would be nice to see a formation w/ 2 TEs and Cooper……..