"And It Just Got Worse" (Warning: the possibly incoherent ramblings of an angry fan)

"And it just got worse." As he always does, the legendary Merrill Reesesaid it better than anybody else could have. What else was there to say about Terrell Owens, public enemy number one in Philadelphia, scampered for 45 yards on a catch and run from Tony Romo early in the third quarter to increase Dallas' lead to 28-7. And it got even worse from there. The final score was 38-17, and it was not that close. The Eagles scored their second touchdown with 5:51 left in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard pass from Donovan McNabb to Hank Baskett. To put that into perspective, Brad Johnson was quarterbacking the Cowboys at this time, as Dallas head coach Wade Phillips decided the game was getting a little too scrappy to put his $67.5 million dollar investment after going completing 20 of 25 passes for 324 yards and 3 TDs. Romo did throw an interception, as Lito Sheppard jumped in front of a pass intended for Patrick Crayton, but it did not matter as Donovan McNabb turned the ball back over when he threw a ball into double coverage and it was caught by Ken Hamlin. The Cowboys went on to score a Touchdown after three straight runs up the middle by Marion Barber, who, inexplicably, is still not the Cowboys announced starting running back, despite having more carries, yards, touchdowns and yards per rush than Julius Jones, who still tops the team's depth chart.
Not much can really be said about this prime-time beat-down. The Cowboys proved they are the class of the NFC. The Eagles proved they are not contenders. Tony Romo proved to be worth every penny on his new contract, which pays him more than any other QB in the conference. Andy Reid proved he is incapable of leading this team and preparing them to play. And now the Birds stand at 3-5, with 3 losses in the division, and virtually no hope of a playoff birth. Unlike most weeks I am not going to put this game under a microscope and analyze what exactly went wrong. Honestly, the reason behind this is because the story of last night's game was simple: A pretty good team but a very bad team. Sure there were plays that may have shifted the momentum. Had McNabb not decided to force a ball into double coverage over the middle while attempting to run a two-minute drill right after Lito Sheppard intercepted Tony Romo and gave the offense a chance to tie the game before halftime, maybe this could have been a contest. Maybe if the Eagles had decided to establish the running game early then McNabb would not have fumbled after being sacked on the first play from scrimmage and spotted Dallas an easy 7-point lead within the first five minutes of play. But it all may not have mattered.
As the New England Patriots proved in the hour-or-so leading up to the Dallas/Philly matchup, talent is what matters, and the Cowboys are by far the most talented team in the NFC, and easily the more talented team on the field last night. Jason Witten took a bone-crunching hit and had his helmet torn off but managed 20-yards after contact because he is an excellent tight end, far better than anybody on the Eagles. Terrell Owens broke tackles and out ran the entire defense en route to a 45-yard touchdown reception that reminded an entire city why we loved him so much. Tony Romo escaped at least one sack on every drive and found open receiver after open receiver for big gains (in an oh-so-very young-Donovan way) on supposed "broken plays". Playmakers. Dallas has them on defense, too. Anthony Henry recorded his NFL-leading fifth interception last night. DeMarcus Ware recorded 1.5 of his 7 sacks last night. Ken Hamlin recorded his third interception of the season when he ended the Eagles' again futile attempt at a two-minute drill. Greg Ellis has 5.5 sacks. Players pitching it from every position. That has been the difference this season and it will continue to be the differnce until a change in personnel philosophy is made. Other teams draft players and sign free agents to make their team better, while Philadelphia drafts and signs low-cost players who will fit "our system". The system is clearly malfunctioning. It has become quite apparent that the Eagles aren't able to plug any player in to any position and get the production that a player with more talent was able to provide. Dhani Jones for Carlos Emmons? Reggie Brown for Terrell Owens? Winston Justice for William Thomas? Sean Considine for Michael Lewis? Matt McCoy for any other linebacker in the history of football? Even Kevin Curtis, who has been moderately productive this season, provides nothing close to the threat that was Donte` Stallworth. The list could go on.
While under-whelming under-achievements cannot be sole blamed on the coaching staff, namely head coach Andy Reid, it must be pointed out that this is Reid's team. Reid chose every single player on the roster because he felt they could fill a need for this team. Few of them have. What's worse is that it seems Reid has lost the ear of his players. Watch the games. Who is playing at the highest level they can? Westbrook? Yes. Dawkins? Obviously, although he's missed substantial time. Trent Cole? He looks like he's hustling on every snap. Jon Runyan? Sure, he's always been a gamer, but he's hurt and aging. Sheldon Brown? He's been one of the lone bight spots of this team. Who else? I hate to questin a player's heart, for I have no idea what is going on internally, but if anybody else is playing to their full potential they do not belong on an NFL roster.
No good can be taken from the loss to Dallas. Change must be made. The only positive I saw Sunday night was from the crowd, and their mass-exodus early in the third quarter. But that is not enough. The only way to convince the front office that to attack all they care about, their wallets. While an all out Eagles boycott will never happen, some measures need to be taken by the fans that will wake up Jeffrey Lurie and make him realize something needs to be done. Fire Reid. Fire Marty. Fire Joe Banner. Cut McNabb. Cut Jevon Kearse. Do something that will prove to us you care half as much as we do. That, of course, is a lie. But create the illusion. Create a winner again. You did it before. But that process will be a long road. The future at QB is a project. There are no playmakers in the receiving corps. The O-Line, specifically Thomas and Runyan, will be gone by the time Kold develops. Ditto for Westbrook. The D-Line is young, but Kearse and Darren Howard are simply warm bodies. Takeo Spikes is solid but will be gone long before this team is great again. Gaither is not a middle linebacker. Gocong is developing, but doesn't seem to have a nack for big plays. Considine is useless. The great Brian Dawkins will retire without a championship ring. This team has no prospect of getting better and now with eight games to play and virtually nothing to play for (except individual jobs), every fan who emerses themselves in this team and plans their Sunday around the game and bleeds green and hates Dallas and would die happily as long as it were one day after a Super Bowl victory must ask themselves, how much worse will this get?