how bout them cowboys

some musings from MNF...

• Had Roy Williams not made the pick and the Cowboys not won, Bledsoe would not have been the reason for the loss. Both the offensive and defensive lines got their butts kicked all game long... with maybe the exception of the late TD drive.

• The Cowboys play calling looked very predictable. Run on first down - get stuffed. Pass on second and third down.

• Give Keyshawn the damn ball 8-10 times. He knows what to do with it, and I don't think anyone can question his ability to go over the middle and take a hit...a la Michael Irvin.

• Some props to John Madden for hearing "look for the shovel [pass]" from the Cowboys' linebacker prior to the Eagles running it and the Cowboys stuffing it.

• McNabb didn't look like he was hit that hard trying to make the tackle on Roy Williams, though his pride probably took a big hit. Yeah, I know he's got a sports hernia, but he took bigger hits while scrambling during the game.

• Despite the pick, McNabb is not the goat. He played well most of the game until getting hurt. His INT and Bledsoe's cancel each other out. If the Eagles' WRs don't drop eight balls, there may have been a different outcome and the Eagles may not have been needing to throw at that point.

• The Cowboys deserve to win a game like that after the Redskins and Seahawk debacles.

• Marion Barber getting the lion share of carries scares me. I’m perplexed as to why Julius didn't start or get more carries as he seemed not to be hampered by the ankle and Bill himself has pointed out, Jones is "a more elusive back" than is Barber. But most importantly, Jones doesn't put the ball on the ground. Barber fumbled twice that I saw along with bobbling an exchange from Bledsoe. Barber's fumble on the last drive when they were trying to run out the clock could have been huge in two ways. First, if the Eagles recover, they're already in FG range and most likely win. Second, Barber was on his was to a first down that would have basically ended the game until a weak arm tackle knocked the ball loose. That's something you can’t have on a team looking to advance into the playoffs.