Eagles Outlast Cowboys 30-27

Let’s start with the bad news: The Eagles have defeated the Cowboys, leaving them solely in first place atop the NFC East for the time being. A team with the pride of the Giants always wants to win their division outright, but I doubt too many people would have complained if the Cowboys had taken this game.

Now some good news:

"The Cowboys (4-9)… picked off the usually impeccable Vick twice (once by inside linebacker Bradie James and once by strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh), sacked him twice (once by Scandrick on a blindside blitz and once by nose tackle Jay Ratliff), hit him plenty and held him to just 16 yards on eight runs…via fanhouse.com."

The Cowboys do not have the talent to match the Giants defense, yet they put up a strong performance against Michael Vick. They did this in part by coming out of the gate strong and focusing their efforts in shutting Vick down. If their offense had taken shots downfield against the young corners, they could have come away with the win. But then they were missing their strongest receiver in Dez Bryant and have yet to provide a solution for Miles Davis and his butterfingers. With some of the Giants starters coming back on offense, not to mention tonight’s game against Minnesota under their belts, this unit should be stronger and more dynamic than ever.

And what’s to come: Shutting down Michael Vick was not enough to stall the Eagles offense, and it certainly won’t be enough for the Giants to walk away with a win. When Vick was able to make the big throws last night, he was able to count on DeSean Jackson and his 216 yards from scrimmage. When Vick couldn’t run, he turned to LeSean McCoy, who gained 153 rushing yards. In short, this will be an all hands on deck battle for the Giants, where everyone will need to be at the top of their game. This is a playoff-quality matchup, and we will find out everything we need to know about the Eagles and the Giants after this week’s game.

But first thing’s first. The Giants have a big game tonight against the Vikings. Consider the following: As reported earlier today on this site, Eli Manning has not defeated the Vikings in all of his four games against them. This includes last year’s 44-7 meltdown to end the season. Needless to say, the Giants are seeking revenge. Last night the Eagles were also looking for revenge against the same Cowboys team that beat them three times last year, including the wildcard round of the playoffs. They sought revenge, and they got it. The Giants need to do the same tonight, then take that mentality home to face the Eagles, the same team that beat them earlier this year, and knocked them out of the playoffs two years ago. If they play as they have been in recent weeks, there will be no stopping them.