A late Donovan McNabb fumble while the Eagles had the ball in Dallas territory proved to be the pivotal play in a wild, back and forth Monday Night Football game that the Eagles dropped to the Cowboys by a score of 41 - 37.
When McNabb fumbled, the Eagles were leading by 3, and had just had a long kickoff return from rookie Quinton Demps put the ball into Dallas territory. Just as it looked like the Eagles were poised to at least put up another field goal, a botched handoff lay on the turf to be picked up by the Cowboy defense.
The Cowboys then took possession and drove the ball right down the field, eventually scoring the winning touchdown on a 1 yd Marion Barber run.
This game between 2 bitter rivals started out innocently enough, with the Eagles taking the ball and driving for a field goal, and then got goofy on the next possession where Tony Romo hit Terrell Owens with a 72 yd bomb to put the Cowboys ahead 7 - 3.
After another Akers field goal, the Cowboys returned the subsequent kickoff for a touchdown as rookie Felix Jones took it to the house to make it 14 - 6 Dallas.
Late in the 1st quarter, the Eagles benefitted from Asante Samuel's first Eagle interception as well as a fluky pass interference penalty to give the Eagles the ball at the 1, where, after a false start, Brian Westbrook caught a 6 yd pass from Donovan McNabb to pull within 1.
The next possession, after a botched Dallas kickoff return that pinned the Cowboys deep in their own territory, Tony Romo somehow managed to drop the football all on his own in his own endzone. Romo gathered the ball in his own endzone and was looking at his options, when Brian Dawkins busted in and knocked the ball away from Romo, causing a fumble ultimately recovered in the end zone by Chris Cocong for a touchdown and a 20 - 14 Eagles lead.
The next possession, the Cowboys methodically drove the ball down the field for yet another Terrell Owens touchdown, this time from 4 yds out to go up by a point.
The following possession by the Eagles could have been one of the most controversial ones of the year had they not scored on it. Eagles' rookie DeSean Jackson gathered in a Donovan McNabb pass and was coasting in for a touchdown, when, he inadvertantly flipped the ball before he went into the endzone. The ruling by the officials gave the Eagles the ball at the 1 yd line where Brian Westbrook took Jackson off of the hook, by punching the ball into the endzone for a 27 - 21 Eagles lead.
The two teams traded field goals as the half ended, with Eagles leading 30 - 24.
After an exchange of punts to open the 2nd half, the Cowboys struck first on a 17 yd pass from Tony Romo to Marion Barber. Barber earlier had a 20 yard burst to go with a Trent Cole roughing penalty that put the Cowboys in position in Eagle territory. The Eagles answered with a drive of their own that culminated in another Brian Westbrook touchdown as the 3rd quarter was ending to make the score 37 - 31 Eagles.
After the Cowboys drove and settled for a field goal to start the 4th quarter, the Eagles could have really salted the game away with another touchdown. Instead, we got the McNabb fumble and a hearty handshake.
Notes:
- Yup, still hate TO.
- Brian Dawkins....burnt on the TO slant for a TD and again on a post route from Jason Witten on the winning Cowboy drive.
- Sean Considine.....bit HARD on the Tony Romo shoulder fake on the 72 yd bomb.
- Speaking of the TO bomb....hey LEE-toe...what happened?
- Donovan....please learn to throw the ball away a little sooner. This indecision twice cost them on their final drive.
- DeSean Jackson....we love you and all, but don't EVER pull that stunt again.
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