It's Official: The 2009-10 Cowboys Are Better Than The 2009-10 Eagles

Is there any more that really needs to be said about this game?

The Eagles were hanging in there defensively for awhile, even amidst a stuttering offense. Despite McNabb's 1st half ineptness, Michael Vick saved the day for awhile with a long TD pass to Maclin. Then the Cowboys got the ball back. Sean Jones intercepted a Romo pass.

And before you could blink, the Cowboys had won the game. Wade Phillips brilliantly challenged it, contesting that the ball hit the ground before Sean Jones had possessed it fully. And while it looked good from far out, a closer inspection revealed that the ball indeed had hit the ground without Jones possessing it. The Cowboys took that break and drove it for a TD making it 14-7. And they never lost momentum.

This game was not because of poor Eagles execution. The Cowboys fundamentally played better than the Eagles did. They brilliantly got pressure on McNabb, forced the Eagles to use their running backs as blockers on non run plays and that in turn allowed for them to double cover DeSean Jackson and even Jeremy Maclin at times without much of a worry.

Cowboys 34, Eagles 14. They earned this win and Cowboys fans have every right to live it up and celebrate their 1st playoff win since 1996. They even earned some respect from me today, something that they previously did not have. Romo is proving he can be an elite QB. Wade Phillips is proving he can be a successful head coach in this league. The Cowboys 3-headed running back combo is as dangerous as they come in this league. Miles Austin is for real and Roy Williams was not totally useless today. Their secondary stopped the Eagles receivers like no other team has been able to do this year.

Enough on this game and let's look a bit at the future. Where do the Eagles go from here?

For starters, the Eagles had a lot of injuries, including losing Stewart Bradley, their rock star starting middle linebacker to injury during training camp, Quintin Demps during the year, Ellis Hobbs as a kick returner thus leaving us with Macho Harris in that role, and the beating our secondary took today.

They'll get a lot of key players back next year. There will be free agency, although with the uncapped year coming, there may not be a lot going on there, there will be trades, and there will be the draft. This team has a young core and it will improve. But what moves do you make? And as much of an ideal as it would be that the Eagles fire Andy Reid and bring in Bill Cowher to be their new head coach, we all know that that's not happening. Reid will be the head coach of the Eagles next year and we must go from there.

First of all, right now, I would trade Brian Westbrook. He's too fragile and too old for a running back whose game is speed and quickness and elusiveness to be effective anymore. That being said, if you can get a team to bite like the Raiders would or the Redskins would and get a really good return (3rd round draft pick or better), then go for it. Make the move. You have 2 running backs in Shady McCoy and Leonard Weaver. It will be getting something at the cost of nothing. The Eagles were 7-1 this year when Westbrook was NOT in the line-up. This team won't miss him at all. they no longer need him.

Second question, the quarterbacks. I know I said trade McNabb in the live blog, but the more I think about it, is that really the best move you can make? Yes, he is maddingly inconsistent at times, but is he your best option? Kevin Kolb had 2 impressive games this year, but he has not been tested at all with the rigors of a full season. Can you trust Michael Vick to be a full-time starter? More on Vick later, but now there is talk that teams could be targeting Kolb as a potential starting QB for their team. What happens if the Eagles get an offer for Kolb they can't refuse?

Now onto Vick. Michael Vick has just stated that he would be open to returning to the Eagles in the same role as last year, and frankly, I would be open to that. Maybe Vick should be our starter. He has his option that the Eagles will need to pick up if he wants to stay, but as he has gone along, he has proven that he can still play in the NFL and while I for one would love to see him start again in this league, maybe Philly is his calling. McNabb is just as fragile as Westbrook is, we've seen that story before, and there is just something about Vick in an Eagles uniform that looks and feels right. I know I posed the question in the above paragraph that made it sound like the answer is no, but maybe with a full load of reps in practice Vick can be the man and you can trade McNabb. Do I think that will happen? No, especially seeing as I think Reid will want to play Kolb before Vick if McNabb goes, but from a strategic football standpoint would I be against Vick being this team's starting QB on Week 1 of the 2010 NFL Season? I can't sit here and tell you that that's the dumbest idea in the world because frankly, it's not.

As far as the draft and free agency goes: Make sure Jamaal Jackson gets healthy pronto and retool that offensive line and both safeties. Macho Harris is not ready yet, Quintin Mikell is inconsistent, and Sean Jones just is not the guy. Those should be Reid's number one priorities this off-season. Sure the Eagles could use a 4th or 5th string receiver, but that should not be addressed at the start of free agency or the early portion in the draft. That's something you worry about once all the headliners are gone and you are in the 4th round of the draft.

McNabb may be a wiley old vet who can be very inconsistent, but this Eagles team does not need to be completely nuked. They have a core of very good and promising young players that can be around for awhile and they need to take advantage of that. Give McNabb better protection and he might be able to find more open receivers. He has the receivers that he's always wanted and the tight end they've always needed. He just needs to get the balls to them and a defense to make sure that he can't be outscored.

As for now, it's time to focusing all of my attention on the Flyers and Villanova Wildcats basketball. Don't look now but the Flyers are winning games again and the Wildcats may just be one of the best college basketball teams in the nation.

Oh, and pitchers and catchers report February 18.