Jusl89
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From http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100108:
"Eagles (+4) over COWBOYS
Key Player: Donovan McNabb. And not just because Philly isn't as good as Dallas and needs three or four big plays to steal this game. Can you think of someone who defined the NFL Hyperbole Decade better than McNabb? He stinks! He's great! He can't win the big one! He's getting better in the clutch! He has no heart. He has a ton of heart! He needs to go! He needs to stay! I can't remember a more polarizing NFL career. Because he stunk last weekend, it seems logical that he would play well this weekend … right?
Possible Playoff Doppelganger: Eagles-Cards from last year. Back and forth, big plays galore, big passing day for McNabb, team that scores last wins … only this time, we'll also be treated to dozens of shots of Jerry Jones making the "I Know I'm On TV Right Now, But I Need To Look Cool, So I'll Just Crane Forward And Jut Out My Chin" face.
Possible Tragic Figure: Embattled Dallas Kicker du Jour. I can't even keep track anymore.
Hero You Might Not Have Expected: Andy Reid. Part of me wonders if he played a little possum last week. Hey, Wade, show me everything you have, I'll keep it relatively simple and take some shots downfield, and if it doesn't happen, we'll unleash the real playbook and all our blitzes next week. Could a guy who holds challenge flags like hand grenades and stares at the 2-point conversion chart like it's written in Swahili also have a devious/ingenious side?
Relevant E-mail No. 1 (from Wayne H. in Fullerton): "Thanks for reminding me not to get my hopes up about Reid and McNabb after I already got my hopes up about Reid and McNabb in the playoffs for the eighth time in 10 years."
Relevant E-mail No. 2 (from my buddy Sal, a Cowboys fan): "Just my luck -- we play so well that Phillips keeps his job, then the Commanders hire Shanahan, and now watch us blow this Eagles game."
Relevant E-mail No. 3 (from Ryan in New York): "I'm sure you've seen Greg Garber's column. What you may not have noticed is that in addition to Andy Reid, his three disciples with head coaching jobs (Childress, Harbaugh, Spagnuolo) all fall in the bottom 10 of that list. Of course as an Eagles fan, I need to rush to point out that 3 of the 4 of them are also in the playoffs."
This Game As a "Jersey Shore" Character: Snooki. She might get punched, she might throw up, she might eat a foot-long pickle, she might take over a dance floor and do splits while wearing a thong. Relatively unpredictable, always exciting.
Theories in Play: Besides the obvious (after three weeks of getting massaged by the media and raising expectations, the Cowboys are clearly eligible for a Ganz moment), I brought up the Saturday Night Phenomenon in last year's Round 2 column while previewing Cards-Panthers. Starting with the "Snow Game" (what Patriots fans call "The Tuck Rule Game"), I noticed that one Saturday night game was memorable every postseason; the underdogs had covered the previous five in a row; and 10 of the 17 Saturday-nighters were memorable in some way. Then I wrote ominously, "If you like the Panthers, you'd better really like them. Well, I really like them."
(Important note: After nine-plus years at ESPN.com, we're nearing the point that I could release one of those 365-day calendars in which every time you flipped to another day you'd see another embarrassing moment from my column archives. I'm probably about 23 more days away from completing it. Let's make up one bad prediction just to cross today off: "I don't care how bad this looks for Conan O'Brien, I think losing 'The Tonight Show' is gonna be the best thing that ever happened to him.")
You know the rest. Jake Delhomme threw so many interceptions that I honestly can't remember what the final number was. (Five? Six? Seven?) That made for six straight Saturday night underdogs and 11 of 18 memorable Saturday-nighters. Throw in the lack of home-field advantage, Dallas getting too much love from the media, Philly edging into "Nobody Believes In Us" territory, Dallas' never-ending kicker issues, Wade Phillips being Wade Phillips and the simple fact that it seems far-fetched that an explosive, hit-or-miss offense like Philly's would shoot blanks for two weeks in a row … I mean, at the very least, couldn't you see this one coming down to the wire? I want the points.
The pick: Dallas 33, Philly 31 (Eagles cover)."
"Eagles (+4) over COWBOYS
Key Player: Donovan McNabb. And not just because Philly isn't as good as Dallas and needs three or four big plays to steal this game. Can you think of someone who defined the NFL Hyperbole Decade better than McNabb? He stinks! He's great! He can't win the big one! He's getting better in the clutch! He has no heart. He has a ton of heart! He needs to go! He needs to stay! I can't remember a more polarizing NFL career. Because he stunk last weekend, it seems logical that he would play well this weekend … right?
Possible Playoff Doppelganger: Eagles-Cards from last year. Back and forth, big plays galore, big passing day for McNabb, team that scores last wins … only this time, we'll also be treated to dozens of shots of Jerry Jones making the "I Know I'm On TV Right Now, But I Need To Look Cool, So I'll Just Crane Forward And Jut Out My Chin" face.
Possible Tragic Figure: Embattled Dallas Kicker du Jour. I can't even keep track anymore.
Hero You Might Not Have Expected: Andy Reid. Part of me wonders if he played a little possum last week. Hey, Wade, show me everything you have, I'll keep it relatively simple and take some shots downfield, and if it doesn't happen, we'll unleash the real playbook and all our blitzes next week. Could a guy who holds challenge flags like hand grenades and stares at the 2-point conversion chart like it's written in Swahili also have a devious/ingenious side?
Relevant E-mail No. 1 (from Wayne H. in Fullerton): "Thanks for reminding me not to get my hopes up about Reid and McNabb after I already got my hopes up about Reid and McNabb in the playoffs for the eighth time in 10 years."
Relevant E-mail No. 2 (from my buddy Sal, a Cowboys fan): "Just my luck -- we play so well that Phillips keeps his job, then the Commanders hire Shanahan, and now watch us blow this Eagles game."
Relevant E-mail No. 3 (from Ryan in New York): "I'm sure you've seen Greg Garber's column. What you may not have noticed is that in addition to Andy Reid, his three disciples with head coaching jobs (Childress, Harbaugh, Spagnuolo) all fall in the bottom 10 of that list. Of course as an Eagles fan, I need to rush to point out that 3 of the 4 of them are also in the playoffs."
This Game As a "Jersey Shore" Character: Snooki. She might get punched, she might throw up, she might eat a foot-long pickle, she might take over a dance floor and do splits while wearing a thong. Relatively unpredictable, always exciting.
Theories in Play: Besides the obvious (after three weeks of getting massaged by the media and raising expectations, the Cowboys are clearly eligible for a Ganz moment), I brought up the Saturday Night Phenomenon in last year's Round 2 column while previewing Cards-Panthers. Starting with the "Snow Game" (what Patriots fans call "The Tuck Rule Game"), I noticed that one Saturday night game was memorable every postseason; the underdogs had covered the previous five in a row; and 10 of the 17 Saturday-nighters were memorable in some way. Then I wrote ominously, "If you like the Panthers, you'd better really like them. Well, I really like them."
(Important note: After nine-plus years at ESPN.com, we're nearing the point that I could release one of those 365-day calendars in which every time you flipped to another day you'd see another embarrassing moment from my column archives. I'm probably about 23 more days away from completing it. Let's make up one bad prediction just to cross today off: "I don't care how bad this looks for Conan O'Brien, I think losing 'The Tonight Show' is gonna be the best thing that ever happened to him.")
You know the rest. Jake Delhomme threw so many interceptions that I honestly can't remember what the final number was. (Five? Six? Seven?) That made for six straight Saturday night underdogs and 11 of 18 memorable Saturday-nighters. Throw in the lack of home-field advantage, Dallas getting too much love from the media, Philly edging into "Nobody Believes In Us" territory, Dallas' never-ending kicker issues, Wade Phillips being Wade Phillips and the simple fact that it seems far-fetched that an explosive, hit-or-miss offense like Philly's would shoot blanks for two weeks in a row … I mean, at the very least, couldn't you see this one coming down to the wire? I want the points.
The pick: Dallas 33, Philly 31 (Eagles cover)."
