Let's hope Donovan McNabb's $6.3- million salary isn't all invested in the stock market. If so, he surely would have had an extra bad case of the Mondays.
The Philadelphia Eagles and their explosive offense, led by veteran QB McNabb, did their job when it came to scoring points against the Dallas Cowboys in the Monday Night Football thriller. In fact, the Eagles dropped 37 points on "America's Team."
For that reason, the 41-37 loss to their biggest rival was undoubtedly a heartbreaker for the Eagles. They eclipsed the 35-point mark for the second straight week and hoped to make a statement in the tough NFC East division, which also contains the 2-0 defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants.
The heavyweight matchup was as close a game as you'll ever see, with seven lead changes and a time-of-possession differential only 58 seconds away from even. Both sides collected over 300 yards of total offense, the Eagles with 337 and the Cowboys with 381. The number of first downs for each team were nearly identical — Dallas had 19 and Philadelphia had 20.
Clearly the stats were equitable. So what gave Dallas the edge? In a word, performance in the clutch. The Cowboys converted on nearly two-thirds of their third-down opportunities, compared to a little over one-third by the Eagles.
In addition, following a Philly field goal, which made it 30-21 with only 45 seconds left to play in the half, the Cowboys' leader, quarterback Tony Romo, took the field ready to jump on a relaxed Eagles defense. He quickly cashed in on this opportunity by connecting with TE Jason Witten for a 42-yard gain to set up a 51-yard field goal for kicker Nick Folk, which he converted.
The score at halftime was 30-24, the second-highest scoring first half in Monday Night Football history.
The second half provided much of the same as the lead swayed a few more times, ending with a failed multi-lateral fourth-down pass attempt by the Eagles late in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys' offensive weaponry, primarily consisting of the Romo-to-WR Terrell Owens duo that connected for two touchdowns, was just strong enough to outlast the Eagles.
But NFC fans who are dreading their teams having to face the Cowboys and Eagles can find comfort in the fact that the defenses for these two teams were relatively lackluster. The Eagles were able to score virtually at will without their two best wide receivers, Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis, who are both out due to injuries.
Next week, if the Pittsburgh Steelers can stifle the Eagles' potent offense, there is a good chance that Philly will fall to 1-2 considering its porous defense. Likewise, the Cowboys will have their hands full with the 2-0 Green Bay Packers, who are fresh off a 48-25 closer-than-the-score-indicates win over the Detroit Lions Sunday.
In the AFC, the story comes not from a great game-winning play, but rather from a poor, game-losing call by referee Ed Hochuli. In a play reminiscent of the "tuck rule" controversy in the infamous "Snow Bowl" en route to the Patriots' first of three Super Bowls, Denver Broncos QB Jay Cutler's fumble into the arms of a San Diego Charger linebacker in the late stages of his game was ruled an incomplete pass.
Despite the almost immediate realization that the call was wrong after Hochuli blew his whistle, NFL rules do not allow for possession to change to the rightful team after an incomplete pass call. Instead, the Broncos stayed alive, scored a touchdown and subsequently won the game on a gutsy two-point conversion play.
As a result, the Broncos sit 2-0 atop the AFC West while the 0-2 Chargers are stuck cleaning the cellar and fuming at the incompetence of Hochuli. In response, the League has expressed a possible interest in changing the rule after this season.
Although this weekend of football certainly left fans glued to their television screens — considering more than half of the games were decided by less than a touchdown — next week promises to be even better. With only two weeks of the season in the books, the league's landscape is only just beginning to come into focus.
