Improbable.
Unrealistic. Not going to happen.
Could it?
Shortly after the
Philadelphia Eagles took the field, they
knew their fate rested in their own hands.
The Eagles needed a combination of
Tampa Bay
losing and Chicago or Minnesota doing the
same. Tampa lost to the Oakland Raiders and
Chicago al so lost—giving the Eagles an
opportunity to sneak into the playoffs with
a win against their most hated rival in a
nationally televised game flexed from 1 pm
to 4 EST because of the game's importance.
The Eagles
were defeated by the Cowboys in week two
41-37 and had a chance to win late, but it
wasn't in the cards. With all the drama
surrounding the team, Donovan McNabb and an
opportunistic defense led by ageless
stalwart Brian Dawkins took no prisoners and
trounced the Cowboys in Philly 44-6. Dallas
has lost 9 straight season ending games and
from an opening kickoff that went out of
bounds, were never in the contest.
Philadelphia has been hot and cold all
season. From a tie that typified their
season against the lowly Cincinnati Bengals
to a loss to Washington without the benefit
of a mere touchdown, no one but the Eagles
themselves thought they had a chance to
continue their season.
When
JaMarcus Russell threw a bad interception
against Tampa which the Bucs later converted
into a touchdown to go up ten—24-14,
most thought the Eagles season was a wash.
Then the young Raiders rallied behind former
number one pick Russell and a running
game--which showcased Michael Bush. The
Eagles now had the inspiration they needed
and made sure no stone was left unturned.
They scored on offense with balanced drives
which were professionally managed by Donovan
McNabb and blitzed Tony Romo from all angles
to create turnovers which also resulted in
scores.
Brian
Westbrook seemed pleasantly shocked when I
asked about the Eagles up and downs this
season: "I think now we know what we have. I
think we went out today and proved that we
can run the ball, we can throw the ball.
Donovan had another good game, saved that
turnover that I had. In the early part of
the game we played pretty well offensively
and we moved the ball on the ground and
through t he air, so for us to be able to do
that, we combined it with a great defense
the way they were playing. It was going to
be tough to stop us."
Philly is a tough
town. They expect their sports teams to win
at all costs and if they must lose, they
lose hard. They've been supportive of the
Eagles and
Westbrook,
for one, has noticed.
"Well, I
think that 12th
man was there today. And they've always been
there for us, but today, they hate Dallas as
much as every player in that locker room and
they were excited the whole game. We were
giving them something to cheer about and
they definitely supported us. If it wasn't
for them, I don't know if we could play as
hard as we did."
The Eagles
allowed no sacks, played the entire game
penalty free and had 5 takeaways—resulting
in 27 points. Demarcus Ware was shooting for
the sack record, but ended the season with
20.
Two fumbles
were forced by Brian Dawkins on consecutive
plays and both were returned for long
touchdowns—one by Chris Clemons for 73 yards
and the other by Joselio Hanson for 96
yards.
Dawkins seemed
overcome by emotion in the latter stages of
the game and one could sense a world of
pressure was lifted off both the
Philadelphia players and
its coaching staff. I
asked how this tumultuous season has brought
the team closer : "What pressure does is
build who you really are. It reveals you.
They say pressure busts pipes. It can, but
it really reveals who you are. In those
pressure situations, we came together. We
talked amongst one another and we believed
in one another. We didn't allow those
trouble situations to get us down and keep
us down. We grinded together—people wanted
us to point the finger at the offense and we
didn't do that. We helped our brothers up,
that brought us closer together and we
fought."
Improbable
