Anthony DiBona
“Tails!” said Philadelphia Eagles safety Chris Maragos. It was at that moment, the Dallas Cowboys knew they screwed up. We all know damn well that tails never fails, sure enough, it remained undefeated tonight. The Eagles elected to receive the ball after winning the coin toss in overtime and marched right down the field to a walk-off victory.
Considering it was such an ugly game in the first half for both teams, that was a beautiful ending for the Eagles. Sam Bradford was perfect in overtime, literally. He completed all five of his pass attempts for 56 yards and the game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Matthews. Could this be a sign of things to come in Philadelphia? We can only hope so.
Heading into the game, there were a ton of questions surrounding the Eagles and rightfully so. Could Sam Bradford finally get it going? Will Jordan Matthews ever catch a football again? How will the offensive line play without Jason Peters? Can the Eagles effectively run the ball consistently?
All of those questions were put to rest tonight, at least for now. Bradford struggled in the first half but delivered when it mattered most. Matthews caught basically everything thrown his way, even if it meant taking a huge hit. Outside of a few false start penalties and one sack, the offensive line played at a very high level. Lastly, the running game was working all night to the tune of 35 carries for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
Outside of Dallas’ first offensive drive and the fluke “Hail Mary” touchdown pass to Dez Bryant, Philadelphia’s defense balled out once again. Rookie inside linebacker Jordan Hicks continued to make plays all over the field, including a clutch pick-six to give the Eagles a lead in the fourth quarter. Hicks apparently loves playing against the Cowboys, he’s been their archenemy this season…and he doesn’t seem to mind at all.
Pointed out to Jordan Hicks that Dallas must not like facing him by this point. "I guess that's their problem," he said.
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) November 9, 2015
Speaking of the defense, let’s talk a bit more about those awful penalties against Eagles cornerback Byron Maxwell down the stretch. When the Cowboys were basically down for the count, the refs gave them new life with two highly questionable (no, not the awful ESPN show) penalties. I honestly thought Twitter was going to explode after the second “penalty” called against Maxwell. He was basically going for an interception on a poorly thrown ball to Bryant and was called for pass interference.
Besides the two awful calls against him, Maxwell has really put together some impressive performances lately. After a rough start to the season, Maxwell has rebounded in a big way. He’s starting to look much more like that top cornerback the Eagles thought they were signing to a mega deal. Speaking of expensive contracts…
HELLO DEMARCO MURRAY! 24 total touches for 161 yards and a rushing touchdown for Murray on the night. It was clear in overtime that he really wanted to beat his former team in their own stadium. He was playing with a bit more fire in last night’s game, it was evident from the start. Murray was stiff arming defenders as he finished runs and made cuts that we weren’t used to seeing him make this season. Tonight’s performance by Murray is exactly what the Eagles paid all of that money for.
All in all, it wasn’t a pretty win for the Eagles…but it was an extremely important one. Now the Eagles are sitting just a half of a game behind the New York Giants for first place in the NFC East. While the Eagles have it fairly easy throughout the rest of the regular season, the Giants still have to face four teams that currently have a 5-3 record or better, including the undefeated New England Patriots next week and the Carolina Panthers in week 15.
Now the Eagles will head back home for their next two games against the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Then they’ll feast on the 1-7 Detroit Lions for Thanksgiving dinner. The road certainly looks much more favorable for the Eagles down the stretch, when compared to the Giants’ path to the playoffs. Now it’s up to them to get the job done and last night’s win was a huge step in the right direction.
Don’t forget, one more thing…tails never fails!
Tails never fails! Great team win tonight! #FlyEaglesFly
— Chris Maragos (@ChrisMaragos) November 9, 2015