Eagles-Cowboys Notes: The Ruling On The Field Of Life Stands. Walt Coleman Sucks

> I hate night games involving my laundry. Any infuriating outcome will sit with you like bad late night diner food, and keep me up for hours. I'm not saying that I have nervous energy watching these games, but I did an astounding amount of busy work with my hands -- writing, folding laundry, clerical tasks, etc., etc. All to make sure I didn't absent-mindedly eat my way to obesity, or paint the walls with blood from my fists.

> I also hate games where you have Ref Boning. Sure, a better team overcomes the problem, and it's not like my laundry played a great game tonight. But with even competent officiating, they have the ball at midfield with a fresh set of downs and some timeouts in a tie game. With the insane spot that was a de facto turnover, the game turned. Period. End of statement.

> In the second quarter, just after the two minute warning, the Cowboys stopped the Eagles on a short third down with a dive to Weaver, and it's one of those small plays that was actually huge. Becuase of the failed conversion, the Cowboys got the ball back after a successful Akers field goal. After giving up a big crossing pattern completion to Patrick Crayton, the Cowboys were able to get the field goal back, and had a number of chances from in tight. Sure, defending the Crayton play is a huge deal, but so is the failed conversion... because without it, you might get four more points, and keep three off the board from Dallas not getting the ball back before the half. And the fact that I notice these things, but that the announcers do not, just kind of drives me nuts, really.

> The NBC mouth jobbers kept going back to last year's game, where the Eagles ended the Terrible Owens era with one of the most delightful wins of the Reid Era. The trouble, really, is that the teams really aren't the same. The Eagles have changed their offensive personnel to an almost absurd degree, both at the lines and the skill positions. The Cowboys tossed out a half dozen guys, not the least of them being Terrible, and the rivalry just doesn't feel the same without him.

For the Eagles under Reid, Dallas is not (usually) the measuring stick. New York is.

> Some actual running plays tonight, and a continuing role for Leonard Weaver running the ball. I don't know if this is just a matter of keeping LeSean McCoy's responsibilities manageable, or his legs fresh. But still, to be encouraged. A man can dream that Cap'n Andy has learned the Oakland Lesson well.

> Some absurd flags in the second half. The first being a holding call that negated an Ellis Hobbs kickoff return -- Moises Fokou, how do you hold when you are being pancaked? The second for taunting on Jason Avant on the Brent Celek touchdown, and frankly, if the networks refuse to show celebrations, I don't see how you can penalize for them. The third being for an unsportsmanlike on Asante Samuel after making a great open field tackle on Marion Barber. I respect Barber more than just about anyone else on the Cowboys roster, and you can not taunt him. He's a man. Stop coddling him. And the false start call on Jason Peters, after the blown spot on LeSean McCoy... well, Ref Boning began early.

Oh, and thanks, NBC, for never reviewing whether or not Felix Jones fumbled on the play where Samuel went off. In a long chain of questionable ref calls, why see if there has been another, when we can just shoehorn in more ads?

> The terrible Roy Williams actually had a nice night tonight for Dallas, further proof, not that anyone needs it, that the way to attack these corners is with size. It also didn't help, of course, that Samuel missed a lot of snaps, but for the first time in all of the Cowboy action I've seen this year, Williams actually looks like someone who should be in the NFL.

> Honestly, if I'm running the Cowboys, Barber does not get half of the carries, even with his Salt It Away moment tonight, and I don't throw the ball twice as often as I run it. The single best group of offensive players for Dallas line up at running back, and they don't take advantage of them the way they should.

> I've been less than kind about Jason Peters' work this year, with the hope that over time, he'll learn the system and McNabb's tendencies and be the standout tackle they need him to be. But now that I've seen what happens when he's off the field, I'm ready to reconsider. There's a big drop-off there.

> I like the Eagles weapons... but life would be so much easier if (a) McNabb were more accurate, and (b) the young wideouts were less prone to tipping balls. I have enough stress in my life, really.

> On fourth and inches on the Dallas 45 with 11:42 left, Reid went for it with a QB sneak and got a terrible spot, just another awful moment from the refs, forcing a challenge. The replay shows McNabb riding on someone else's leg, and the ball should be spotted significantly ahead of where it is, but nope. I know I'm biased here, but I can't wait to not see Walt Coleman anymore, really. The replay clearly shows a blown call, and the NBC mouth jobbers just excuse it. I don't often curse out loud at my television, or cry that the refs cost them a game, but that just happened. URGE TO KILL RISING.

> After the Ref Boning, on some level, I don't even really want to watch this game anymore; I knew how the rest of it was going to go. And then Austin broke loose on a Romo pump fake, destroying the never breaks until it matters Sheldon Brown, giving Cris Collingsworth an orgasm and the Cowboys seven points, and I want to smash my head in with a hammer. It's kind of nice to know that I can still hate this much, really, I've been thinking that I'm getitng soft in my old age.

> On the next drive, Coleman calls a defensive hold, then announces it against the offense even as he's marking it off. Special, really. Did you have money on the road team, Walt?

> On consecutive plays, Celek and McCoy drop good throws from McNabb to set up third and 10, and then he's tripped on a desperation tackle before being able to get clear for a saving first down scramble. Akers connects from 52 yards away while Collingsworth and Michaels, and seemingly the rest of the world, destroys Reid for refusing to just go for it on 4th and long. There's 4:27 left, which means that the defense has multiple chances to get the ball back, but it's all on the coach for not going for it. I know that many of you out there want Reid to lead You Crap this week, but I'm not seeing it. The field goal has value in that situation, in that your late touchdown avoids the coin flip that is overtime. It's not on Reid that the defense can't get a stop.

> Marion Barber and Jason Witten went old school and closed the game, and I don't want to hear about how timeouts lost this game for the Eagles. The refs, the inability to decisively convert in short yardage, the failure to stop Austin on the double move, the defense's inability to stop the Dallas ground game, and the clinching throw to (of course) the tight end. That's a lot more telling than the lack of timeouts.