SportsFullCircle

In perhaps the most exciting game of the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys have defeated the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 41 to 37 at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The lead changed seven times during the course of the game, and the Cowboys came out on top after the final lead change.

Cowboys QB Tony Romo completed 21 of 30 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns, but threw one pass to Philadelphia’s Asante Samuel. As for Donovan McNabb, he went 25-for-37 for 281 yards and one touchdown to Brian Westbrook, which was set up by the Asante Samuel interception. Westbrooks also carried the ball 18 times for 58 yards, finding the endzone two more times.

In the first qurater, David Akers kicked a 34-yard field goal to put the Eagles up 3-0. The Cowboys answered back immediately when Tony Romo threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Owens. Another David Akers field goal brought the Eagles to within one point, but on the insuing kickoff, Felix Jones returned the ball 98 yards for a Dallas touchdown.

The Eagles got off to a fast start in the second quarter after the Asante Samuel interception at the end of the first quarter. McNabb’s pass to Westbrook brought Philadelphia to within one point again. On the insuing Dallas possession, Tony Romo fumbled the ball in the endzone, picked up the ball, but fumbled it again; Eagles linebacker Chris Gocong recovered the ball in the endzone for an Eagles touchdown and a 6-point lead. Tony Romo rebounded on the next drive, leading the Cowboys 56 yards down the field for a Dallas touchdown and a 21-20 lead.

Philadelphia answered right back with a Brian Westbrook 1-yard touchdown run and a 22-yard David Akers field goal. At the end of the first half, Nick Folk converted on a 51-yard field goal to bring the Cowboys to within 6. The score at the half: Philadelphia 30 Dallas 24.

In the third quarter, neither team could do much with the ball on their first possessions. However, midway through the period, Marion Barber caught a 17-yard pass from Tony Romo to put the Cowboys back up by one point again.

In the 4th quarter, another 1-yard Westbrook touchdown put the Eagles ahead 37 to 31. However, the Cowboys answered immediately with a 47-yard field goal from Nick Folk.

On the insuing kickoff, Eagles FS Quintin Demps returned the ball to the Dallas 45-yard line. Three plays and twelve yards later was the turning point of the game as Donovan McNabb attempted to hand off the ball to Brian Westbrook. McNabb had retracted the ball for a split second before attempting the hand-off to Westbrook, causing miscommunication and a fumble…that was recovered by Dallas tackle Jay Ratliff. That lone turnover of the game for Philadelphia cost them big time as the Cowboys responded with a 67-yard drive that ended with a Marion Barber 1-yard touchdown run.

A Philadelphia 3-and-out gave Dallas the ball with 3:09 to go in the game. However, on a 3rd-and-3, the Eagles blitzed, forcing Romo to overthrow a wide-open Marion Barber. Dallas punted, giving Philadelphia one last chance to score the winning touchdown.

Starting from their own 22-yard line, The Eagles worked their way to their 49-yard line after a Jay Ratliff 15-yard facemask penalty. However, two sacks, an incomplete pass, and a failed hook-and-ladder-and-ladder later, the Eagles could not get another first down to keep the game going.

Both teams combined for 717 yards of total offense in the game.

The difference in this game was the red-zone efficiency for both teams. Dallas made three trips to the red zone and scored touchdown on all three trips. As for Philadelphia, they found the red zone five times, but only scored three touchdowns out of those five trips.