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Week 15 Game Recap: Philadelphia Eagles 10, Dallas Cowboys 6
What you need to know
| Philadelphia Eagles |
In what's sure to be a hot topic in the fantasy football community, on a late fourth quarter run by Brian Westbrook, instead of taking it in for an easy 25 yard score, Westbrook ran for 24 yards and willingly knelt down at the Cowboys one yard line to allow them to kill the clock. It was the smart football move as the Eagles sat on the ball and killed the clock for a four point victory. But he likely didn't make his fantasy owners very happy as that play is sure to negatively impact a lot of playoff outcomes in leagues around the globe. To his credit, Westbrook did carry the ball 18 times for 81 yards, while catching nine passes for another 63 yards through the air before that point.
Upon first glance Donovan McNabb's box score will not tell the whole story as he only passed for 208 yards with a single touchdown. But this was definitely one of McNabb's best performances of the season, as he frequently eluded the swarming Cowboys pass rush either buying himself time in the pocket, or calling his own number and scrambling up field. McNabb turned back the clock, carrying the ball nine times for 53 yards, and had two big gains of 17 and 28, showing that trademark mobility of the past. Though his time with the Eagles may be coming to and end, he showed that there's still plenty left in the tank, despite a lack of gaudy numbers.
| Dallas Cowboys |
The Tony Romo to Terrell Owens connection simply could not get on track in this game. Despite 12 targets to Owens, he only came down with two of them for 37 yards in what must have been an especially disappointing effort considering it was against his ex-team, the Eagles. Romo suffered inaccuracy issues throughout the game, and the fact that he injured the thumb on his throwing hand certainly didn't help that, though he did stay in the game. Owens was the target on all three of Romo's interceptions. On the bright side, singer Jessica Simpson was seen in her seat donning a pink Romo jersey, cheering for the Cowboys quarterback. Fox didn't hesitate shamelessly panning to her frequently, though admittedly she was a sight for sore eyes after watching the out of sync Cowboys offense for 60 minutes.
What's quickly becoming an unstoppable force for the Cowboys, Jason Witten once again put the team on his back in a close game. It wasn't enough to win, but you can't take anything away from him as he caught eight of his ten targets for 113 yards and was basically the only Cowboy player on offense making plays. The new number one tight end in fantasy football keeps getting it done, and has the utmost confidence of his quarterback.
As usual Julius Jones opened, and Marion Barber closed, with them essentially splitting series in between. It didn't matter though, as they only totaled 37 yards between them on seven carries a piece. Jones was especially bad with only five of those yards.
What you ought to know
| QB Donovan McNabb, Pass: 23 - 41 - 208 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 9 - 53 - 0 |
Donovan McNabb completed 23 of 41 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. McNabb also carried the ball nine times for 53 yards, with long gains of 17 and 28. McNabb did not really attempt to stretch the field instead content on dumping the ball off to Westbrook, and working short and intermediate routes to his receivers. Though statistically his performance would appear underwhelming, McNabb actually played a strong game continuously avoiding the fierce Cowboys pass rush, while buying himself time in the pocket on what seemed like every play.
| RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 18 - 81 - 0, Rec: 9 - 63 - 0 (11 targets) |
Brian Westbrook carried the ball 18 times for 81 yards, while catching nine passes for another 63. Westbrook had a difficult time getting much going throughout much of the game, but he turned it on in the fourth quarter with long runs of 29 and 24. Westbrook would have had an easy touchdown late in the game, but rather than take it into the end zone, he willingly knelt down at the one yard line to allow the Eagles to kill the clock for the win. As usual Westbrook remained the focal point of the Eagles offensive attack.
| WR Kevin Curtis, Rec: 5 - 40 - 0 (9 targets) |
Kevin Curtis caught five passes for 40 yards on nine targets. Curtis was targeted on a deep pattern down the left sideline once in the third quarter, but otherwise was only used on short and intermediate routes with the Eagles offense not looking down the field very often.
| WR Reggie Brown, Rec: 4 - 35 - 1 (8 targets) |
Reggie Brown caught four passes for 35 yards on eight targets. He accounted for the only touchdown of the game when Donovan McNabb found him wide open short over the middle for a one yard score. Brown was targeted once deep, but otherwise was used on short and intermediate patterns as the Eagles passing game rarely attempted to stretch the field.
| TE Brent Celek, Rec: 3 - 50 - 0 (4 targets) |
Brent Celek, normally the Eagles third tight end, found himself starting for them in this one. With LJ Smith injured, Matt Schobel started the game. But once Schobel was forced from the game with a head injury, Celek got a shot at extended playing time. Though underwhelming athletically, Celek made the most of his opportunity catching three of his four targets for 50 yards. His biggest play of the game came on a target down the deep middle of the field for 29 yards, eventually setting up an Eagles field goal.
| TE Matt Schobel (1 targets) |
Playing for an injured L.J. Smith, Schobel started the game at tight end for the Eagles. He did not last long however, as on the Eagles first offensive series Donovan McNabb targeted Schobel deep down the middle and Cowboys safety Ken Hamlin laid a hit on Schobel to the helmet that would force him from the game. He did not return.
| PK David Akers 1 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 4 points |
David Akers missed a 47 yard field goal attempt off the outside of the left upright in the first quarter. There was plenty of leg as it hit more than halfway up the post. He did later successfully convert a 22 yard attempt, as well as his only convert attempt.
| PHI Rush Defense |
The Eagles only allowed a total of 53 yards on 15 carries for an average of 3.5 yards per carry. With the exception of a 16 yard Tony Romo run, the Cowboys were completely bottled up on the ground in the game. Not finding any success on the ground, this forced the Cowboys to go to the air frequently, which obviously had a negative effect on the entire offense, as Tony Romo had trouble getting much of anything going through the air either.
| PHI Pass Defense |
The Eagles allowed Tony Romo to pass for 214 yards on 13 of 36 attempts for a terrible 36 completion percentage. The Eagles were able to get to Romo three times for a sack, and provided an above average pass rush. Romo was inaccurate throughout the game so much of the ineffectiveness can be attributed to his own poor play and not necessarily the Eagles playing outstandingly, though to their credit they shut Terrell Owens down which is no small feat. They could not stop Jason Witten as he caught 80 percent of his targets, but it didn't matter as no other Cowboy did much.
| QB Tony Romo, Pass: 13 - 36 - 214 - 0 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 1 - 16 - 0 |
Tony Romo completed only 13 of 36 passes for 214 yards with three interceptions. He did not have any touchdowns on the day, and gained 16 yards on the ground. Romo struggled with the Eagles pass rush throughout the game, and came just short on a couple of long plays to Owens on overthrows. Romo's only completions of the first half were to his tight ends. Romo injured the thumb on his throwing hand in the third quarter, and though he stayed in the game he struggled with inaccuracy from that point forward.
| RB Julius Jones, Rush: 7 - 5 - 0 |
Julius Jones started the first Cowboys offensive series but ran for only five yards on seven carries. As the game went on, Marion Barber was used more frequently. The Eagles rush defense shut down the Cowboys running game, and as a result the Cowboys didn't feature the running game much in the second half. Jones had a nine yard carry nullified by a penalty.
| RB Marion Barber III, Rush: 7 - 32 - 0 (3 targets) |
Marion Barber carried the ball seven times for 32 yards, and was targeted on three passes not catching any of them. Barber started the game in the second series as usual, but didn't find a great deal of room to run as the Eagles rush defense completely bottled up the Cowboys running game. Barber saw most of the late game action, but the Cowboys offense did not feature the running game much.
| WR Patrick Crayton, Rec: 2 - 54 - 0 (3 targets) |
Patrick Crayton started the game opposite Terrell Owens, but did not catch a pass until the second half. He finished the game with two receptions for 54 yards on three targets. Crayton's biggest play of the game came on a 41 yard pass where Romo found him streaking down the deep right sideline for the long gain. Otherwise Crayton did not make an impact.
| WR Terrell Owens, Rec: 2 - 37 - 0 (12 targets) |
Terrell Owens caught only two passes for 37 yards on 12 total targets. Tony Romo just missed Owens on a few deep routes that were just overthrown, and his numbers were not helped by Romo's inaccuracy, though ironically Owens did not have a catch until late in the third quarter when Romo had already injured the thumb on his throwing hand. Owens was the target on all three Romo interceptions, one of which was in the end zone.
| WR Sam Hurd (6 targets) |
Sam Hurd played as the slot receiver, and though he put up zeros in the box score, was used frequently throughout the game. Hurd was targeted six times, twice as many as starter Patrick Crayton. In the first quarter Hurd had what looked like a 30 yard reception, but it was ruled incomplete after the ball popped out when he hit the ground. The Cowboys challenged the call, but the call was upheld and remained an incompletion.
| TE Jason Witten, Rec: 8 - 113 - 0 (10 targets) |
Witten had another great game, putting the Cowboys passing game on his back once again for 113 yards on eight receptions. With Romo struggling to get the ball to his wide receivers throughout the game, Witten remained Romo's most effective target and was practically the entire Cowboys offense. The longest play of the game came in the second quarter where Romo found Witten deep over the middle. After breaking a tackle, Witten ran another 20 yards for a total gain of 53, eventually setting up the first points of the game, a Nick Folk field goal. Witten was targeted ten times.
| PK Nick Folk 2 - 2 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 6 points |
Nick Folk hit both of his field goal attempts from 33 and 23 respectively.
| DAL Rush Defense |
The Cowboys allowed 134 rushing yards on 27 attempts for an average of five yards per carry. They did a good job of shutting Brian Westbrook down until the fourth quarter, where Westbrook had two separate gains of 29 and 24. They did a poor job of keeping Donovan McNabb in the pocket, as McNabb had one of his most successful running games in quite some time, carrying the ball nine times for 53 yards, with longer gains of 17 and 28. It was a good effort until the fourth quarter where they allowed Westbrook to finish off the game.
| DAL Pass Defense |
The Cowboys allowed Donovan McNabb to throw the ball for 208 yards on 23 of 41 attempts. For the most part, McNabb worked the short and intermediate routes to Westbrook, and did not attempt to stretch the field. Coverage appeared to be tight down the field, as the longest receiving gain of the day was an 18 yard dump off to Brian Westbrook. The Cowboys presented a relentless pass rush that sacked McNabb four times, and hurried him numerous others. Against a normal pocket passer it would have been worse, but McNabb showed excellent presence in the pocket frequently using his legs to buy himself more time than he should have had. The only touchdown of the game was a short one yard score through the air to Reggie Brown on what appeared to be a defensive breakdown.
