What if ? .. should keep us grounded.

[WV Cowboy]

Nobody enjoyed the Philly game more than I did.
We looked great in all phases of the game.
And to finally kick the bully's butt felt great.

But after watching the tape of the game a time or two, I realize ol' MO could have shifted a time or two early and we might not be this elated.

What if McNabb hits on that first bomb that he overthrew ? The WR did have us beat by two steps.

What if the Eagles recover Crayton's fumble on the punt return ?

What if Glenn's second foot was 1/2 inch further right and out of bounds on his 2nd TD ? (surprised that wasn't reviewed)

What if McNabb hits Westbrook down that middle seam pass, that was a TD.
He did not seem on his game at times.

Many things happened in the game that worked out for us that don't always work out that way.

We played great, but ol' MO could have shifted numerous times early on that could have impacted the outcome.

I'm not saying the Eagles would have won, but we all need to understand it was ONE WIN, nothing less, nothing more.

Bring on the Gints !
:jints:

 

[DLCassidy]

Well said.

 

[cwbyfan72]

I agree. The Westbrook miss was a sure TD, and the bomb to Lewis could have also been a TD. But as they say, thats why the players have to execute! Plus, our pressure on McFlabb was pretty good on both plays.

 

[Eddie]

What if Key didn't fumble? What if Terry Glenn caught his third TD pass on the bomb?

We'd be looking at a 40+ - 3 blowout.

The world is full of what-if's. Enjoy the game, and let the coaches worry about the What-ifs.

 

[WV Cowboy]

What if Key didn't fumble? What if Terry Glenn caught his third TD pass on the bomb?

We'd be looking at a 40+ - 3 blowout.

The world is full of what-if's. Enjoy the game, and let the coaches worry about the What-ifs.

Oh, I agree, but those examples are different, they created Key's fumble with the big hit, and they tipped the ball right before it got to Glenn causing it to hit his facemask.

 

[Hoov]

WV Cowboy - we did bring the pressure on McNabb, i noticed through when he did have opportunities he made some awful throws. How do you pass the ball 5 feet behind TO and low when he's running a quick slant. There's the westbrook pass already talked about. and plenty of dirtballs, or overthrown balls.

Wonder if it was injury or that McNabb got pressured early and was indecisive and rattled all game. Eli likely wont miss those opportunities.....then again i dont think his OLine is as good at pass protecting as eagles. So, if we bring a pass rush like last week, i think we can hurry Eli into making some poor decisions and throw into coverage, create some turnovers. But he has looked accurate when given time in the pocket.

 

[cowboyfreak]

Oh, I agree, but those examples are different, they created Key's fumble with the big hit, and they tipped the ball right before it got to Glenn causing it to hit his facemask.

I'll agree with your overall point however, I think it must be noted that:

Players make plays. Pierce made a better play than the Eagles did in recovering Crayton's fumble. McNabb was hurried by extreme pressure on the overthrow's, especially the one to Westbrook. In that one, he was forced to throw more to the center of the field due to the pressure on his left.

 

[BigDDynasty]

I agree the Eagles O-line is alot better that the Giants. I feel we will rattle Eli really good. Our D will have to execute well, while Tyson I believe will have a good day.

 

[jazzcat22]

WV Cowboy - we did bring the pressure on McNabb, i noticed through when he did have opportunities he made some awful throws. How do you pass the ball 5 feet behind TO and low when he's running a quick slant. There's the westbrook pass already talked about. and plenty of dirtballs, or overthrown balls.

Wonder if it was injury or that McNabb got pressured early and was indecisive and rattled all game. Eli likely wont miss those opportunities.....then again i dont think his OLine is as good at pass protecting as eagles. So, if we bring a pass rush like last week, i think we can hurry Eli into making some poor decisions and throw into coverage, create some turnovers. But he has looked accurate when given time in the pocket.

Ware's sack right off the get go set the tone for the defense. I believe that was a play that they had to take notice of Ware, which they did not expect that.

If our defense goes out and plays that way again, and Offense now pay more attention to Ware, freeing up someone else. Yes, it is early to say this, but that could be a BIG play of getting this defense jump started.

 

[TheGoat73]

Nobody enjoyed the Philly game more than I did.
We looked great in all phases of the game.
And to finally kick the bully's butt felt great.

But after watching the tape of the game a time or two, I realize ol' MO could have shifted a time or two early and we might not be this elated.

What if McNabb hits on that first bomb that he overthrew ? The WR did have us beat by two steps.

What if the Eagles recover Crayton's fumble on the punt return ?

What if Glenn's second foot was 1/2 inch further right and out of bounds on his 2nd TD ? (surprised that wasn't reviewed)

What if McNabb hits Westbrook down that middle seam pass, that was a TD.
He did not seem on his game at times.

Many things happened in the game that worked out for us that don't always work out that way.

We played great, but ol' MO could have shifted numerous times early on that could have impacted the outcome.

I'm not saying the Eagles would have won, but we all need to understand it was ONE WIN, nothing less, nothing more.

Bring on the Gints !
:jints:

what if the cowboys had shown up on monday instead of sunday...only 1 day later? Come on these are a lot of what ifs.

 

[dallasblue05]

The way I look at it, you can say these kinds of things about every game that is played. There are always things that could have happened, but didnt, and we came out on top as a result. I think looking at what if's doesnt really do much, because if you always look at what ifs, every team in the league would think they COULD have been undefeated. We outplayed them, plain and simple, and I think we will do the same to the giants if we use the same philosophy has we did with iggles. As BP said in the press conference yesterday, the gameplan is not the answer, it is all about execution (paraphrased), and I think that is the best thing he's said all season. You never go into a game with a bad gameplan, I'm sure philly had an excellent gameplan, but we executed way better than them and the score is a direct result of that.....not what ifs!!

 

[WV Cowboy]

what if the cowboys had shown up on monday instead of sunday...only 1 day later? Come on these are a lot of what ifs.

You are right, that is a lot of what-ifs, and all were way more logical and possible than "what if the cowboys had shown up on monday instead of sunday."

But that's my point, there were a lot of little things that had they gone the other way, the game would have taken different turns.

This was not meant to be a downer thread, or take away from what we accomplished.

I was just saying, let's keep this all in perspective, ... it only counts as one game, same as beating SF.

 

[NorTex]

You forgot this one:

What if we go for it on 4th and goal at the one and get stuffed. The Eagles would have huge MO.

Well that happened, and our defense stuffed them back. Our next play on offense we score a TD.

Moral of the story: Mo is great, but execution is the best.

 

[CoCo]

While this truly was "just 1 game" I think we're all grasping to define just what we learned in this game.

That we have now defined ourselves as a playoff caliber team? a threat to win the NFC East, threat to get to the NFC title game? the SB?

As fun and exciting as that game was for Cowboy fans I think it proves none of the above. One need only look to the previous 3 weeks to feel a bit more humble about our chances.

But I do think last weeks impressive win labels our team as "one to watch." People are intrigued, and rightly so. Its now up to the players and coaches to show we moving consistently in that Philly direction rather than the previous 3 weeks. It hangs in the balance.

 

[Paniolo22]

Ware's sack right off the get go set the tone for the defense. I believe that was a play that they had to take notice of Ware, which they did not expect that.

If our defense goes out and plays that way again, and Offense now pay more attention to Ware, freeing up someone else. Yes, it is early to say this, but that could be a BIG play of getting this defense jump started.

It was the middle push that created Ware's sack. McNabb backed into a persuing Ware because of the big push from the tackles.

 

[pancakeman]

we did bring the pressure on McNabb, i noticed through when he did have opportunities he made some awful throws. How do you pass the ball 5 feet behind TO and low when he's running a quick slant. There's the westbrook pass already talked about. and plenty of dirtballs, or overthrown balls.

Is it just me? I feel like every time I watch McNabb, he's firing easy short passes into the ground in front of the receiver. I think of him as a very inaccurate passer, but the statistics don't back me up on that.

 

[Hoov]

Is it just me? I feel like every time I watch McNabb, he's firing easy short passes into the ground in front of the receiver. I think of him as a very inaccurate passer, but the statistics don't back me up on that.

pancakeman - here's the deal with Mcnabb.

He is NOT the most accurate passer, you dont see him thread the needle and hit guys in double coverage right in the numbers.

McNabb has good stats because he runs around in the pocket and buys so much time for his receivers that they are wide open. How many times do you see him back there, sidetsep a tackle or stiff arm a lineman, than throw downfield and the target has no one within 5 feet of them, and your thinking, how is everybody so wide open all the time. Thats what McNabb gives you, and because he is throwing to someone wide open a lot he can make a throw that is within reach and they can adjust to the ball cause there is no defender right on top of them.

Anyway, this is how i see it, im not just ripping McNabb, he has a style of play that has worked for him, and he does get hot at times.....But he is not the type of QB that is going to hit the wr on the numbers in stride while they are in tight coverage. He does have good leadership qualities and finds ways to win games, so i think of him as a successful QB and a good one, but not the most accurate passer by any means.

 

[dbair1967]

I agree the Eagles O-line is alot better that the Giants. I feel we will rattle Eli really good. Our D will have to execute well, while Tyson I believe will have a good day.

I'm not sure about that...the Eagles get alot of pub for winning, but Thomas and Runyun are pretty old and overrated, and right now Shawn Andrews looks like a fat bust

the Giants are pretty well coached offensively, they dont have the most talent up front, but they are getting good production...they are running the ball well and Manning is getting time to throw

David

 

[TheGoat73]

You are right, that is a lot of what-ifs, and all were way more logical and possible than "what if the cowboys had shown up on monday instead of sunday."

But that's my point, there were a lot of little things that had they gone the other way, the game would have taken different turns.

This was not meant to be a downer thread, or take away from what we accomplished.

I was just saying, let's keep this all in perspective, ... it only counts as one game, same as beating SF.

Okay, I've gotta give it to you. This straight from the Tuna in today's press conference....

It gives you confidence to play well, but this game is about execution. And when you execute early in the game, its a great advantage. We had good field positoin for most of the game. If the situation was reversed, they would have beat us 35-10. You put yourself in a bad position in this league and you'll get beat. I don’t care who you are.