Losing to Cowboys places Eagles in a familiar spot

Posted Monday, Nov. 09, 2009 Comments   (0) Print Share Share Reprints
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BY JON MARCKS

Special to the Star-Telegram

PHILADELPHIA — It’s like old times in the NFC East, as the NFL season reaches the midway point.

In other words, the Philadelphia Eagles are again looking up at the Dallas Cowboys.

In a city where they’re still feeling the sting of the Phillies’ near miss in winning back-to-back World Championships, folks here at Lincoln Financial Field were hoping Donovan McNabb & Co. could give them a shot of adrenaline.

But after scoring on the first possession of the second half to take a three-point lead, the Eagles couldn’t seal the deal.

And following a couple of spots by the officials that denied them apparent first downs — both upheld by replay — the Cowboys responded with 10 unanswered points, then held on for a 20-16 win that moves them into sole possession of first place in the East.

While the division has pretty much belonged to the Eagles — who’ve won it five times since the turn of the century — prior to that it seemed Philadelphia was always in pursuit of the Cowboys.

Now they are again, as the Giants’ free fall has flipped the balance of power.

The backbreaker for Philadelphia came with the score tied 13-13 midway through the fourth quarter when Tony Romo hooked up with Miles Austin — who had been shut out until then — on a 49-yard scoring strike.

The Eagles countered with a 52-yard David Akers field goal, his third of the night, leaving them just 4:26 to steal the win, but with no timeouts, having lost two critical ones on unsuccessful challenges.

But when they couldn’t prevent Dallas from getting two first downs, taking it down to the 2:00 mark, the game was essentially over.

Westbrook sits

The concussion that Brian Westbrook suffered against the Redskins two Monday nights ago has cost him two games, and counting.

After missing last week’s 40-17 romp over the Giants, Westbrook returned to practice early last week.

But once he began getting headaches late in the week — even though a series of tests did not indicate concussion symptoms — the Eagles decided to err on the side of caution and held him out against the Cowboys.

It’s the first time the 30-year-old Westbrook has missed a Dallas game in his eight seasons.

For his career, Westbrook had carried the ball 178 times for 734 and seven touchdowns against the Cowboys, a 4.1 average. He had also caught 3 passes for 517 yards and two scores. Only once — in 2006 at Texas Stadium — did he reach the century mark against the Cowboys.

In addition to Westbrook, outside linebacker Chris Gocong was held out because of a sore hamstring, bringing to six the number of Eagles’ prospective preseason starters sidelined.

Already out for the season are middle linebacker Stewart Bradley (knee) and former Pro Bowl guard Shawn Andrews (back).

Receiver Kevin Curtis (knee) and defensive end Victor Abiamiri (knee) were also inactive. While Curtis and Abiamiri have been out before, this was the first game Gocong missed. Rookie Moise Fokou, a seventh-round pick from Maryland, took his spot.

Top 2009 draft pick Jeremy Maclin, who’s caught 23 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns, started in place of Curtis, while veteran Juqua Parker took Abiamiri’s spot, sacking Tony Romo on the Cowboys’ first possession.

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