Cowboys Finally End Playoff Win Drought

And to give you an idea on how long this drought was, I was working at a deli at Tom Thumb the last time the Cowboys won a playoff game.

I remember because I was listening to the entire game. So it's actually been about 15 years since I've actually watched the Cowboys win a playoff game. Which in my case, it was Super Bowl XXX.

Getting back to the here and now, I wasn't really surprised in the least by the result. OK, a little bit, since I called it 24-10 in favor of the Cowboys. They had 27 by halftime and that was largely due to the Eagles self destructing with critical turnovers at the end of the first half.

But the domination? Nope. Not in the least.

The 7-0 record that the Eagles had brought into Cowboys Stadium tonight in opening playoff games in the Andy Reid era meant absolutely nothing. That record was built largely through a unit that was truly feared and a mastermind of a defensive coordinator.

The last two weekends, the Cowboys showed no fear of this unit while their own defensive unit is going to give Mr. Noodle and Brett Favvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvre many things to worry about next weekend.

But that IS for next weekend.

Tonight, the Dallas Cowboys organization and it's fans get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. And 44-6 truly has been erased from the consciousness of this team. I can't tell you how big of a mental hurdle this was and important it was to clear it.

A few other thoughts:

* I hate to start off with officiating, but the Eagles and Cowboys set an NFL record for combined penalties with over 240 yards. And I'm convinced that Ed Hochuli's crew actually set out to set the record by calling every chintzy penalty that they could, starting with that joke of an offensive pass interference penalty against Jason Witten. It reminded me of the ridiculous PI call on Witten in the first meeting against the Eagles.

And they capped off a dreadful performance in the first half by waiting a good 3 to 4 seconds after the play clock had expired. Had the Eagles' defense not pointed this out, I'm convinced they would have missed the call completely!

* I suppose you could call this a turning point if only from the standpoint that it marked the point in the game where things started to roll downhill for the Eagles. Even if they get this call, I'm still convinced Dallas comes back and wins rather handily.

But Philly had just tied the game on a catch and run by Jeremy Maclin (on a play where he pushed off to gain separation on Mike Jenkins). After the ensuing kickoff, Tony Romo's throw to Miles Austin sails high and the pass appears to have been picked off by Sean Jones at the Dallas 34. He gets up and runs another 20 yards before getting pushed out of bounds.

Wade Phillips pulls out the red flag, waits a few moments to let his coaches upstairs look at the play, and he decides to challenge it. Ed Hochuli looks at the replay, determines the ball hit the ground AND that Jones used the ground to gain control of the ball.

With a second life, Romo leads the Cowboys 85 yards in 10 plays culminating with a Tashard Choice TD to retake the lead. Dallas tacks on 13 more points unanswered in the second half and puts it in cruise control from there.

Again, I still think Dallas would have won the game. But I'd be lying if I told you I wanted to test that theory.

* Make that 13 times out of 20 that one team's been able to sweep a divisional rival twice in the regular season and then been able to cap it off with a third win in the playoffs. Sooner or later, people will realize it's not that hard to beat a team three times in one season.

* I still think Chris Collinsworth is a moron. But he's 100 times better than Joe Thiesmann, who NFL fans had to suffer through during NBC's early game today. Not to mention, Tom Hammond makes me want to gargle lighter fluid every time I hear him

Anybody got a match?

* I'll give Mike Jenkins a pass for fumbling after he picked off McNabb in the third quarter. But I won't be so forgiving for Ken Hamlin.

Seriously, what the f**k was he thinking tonight? First, he nailed a defenseless Brent Celek on a completely unnecessary hit. Then he got into it with Jeremy Maclin, picking up 30 yards in penalties all because of his stupidity, on the lone Eagles' TD drive of the second half.

I expect Roger Goodell to dock him at least $7,500 for his hit on Celek in the first. If not more.

* Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban grabbed some headlines earlier this week when he blasted the NFL's decision to schedule tonight's Eagles-Cowboys game opposite the Jazz-Mavericks game. Yes, he's right that the NFL doesn't give a whit about the little Mavericks.

But so what? The NFL's job is to find the most appealing matchups of the first two weekends of the playoffs for it's broadcast partners and schedule them accordingly.

Which along those lines, there's rumblings that the Cowboys-Vikings game could be scheduled in the early game timeslot next Sunday.

The Mavs are also playing on Sunday as well at Toronto. Guess what time the game tips off? Oh, at about the same time the Cowboys and Vikings could be playing each other.