Thoughts on Dallas Week and other things

Lots of talk this week about the Eagles season being on the line Sunday Night against Dallas. And to be honest, as much as I hate to say that any game in the first half of the season is a absolute must-win....I have to agree.

The Eagles are 3-4, the Cowboys 6-1 (Giants 6-2, Redskins 4-3)...A loss against the Cowpukes on Sunday, at home, would put the Eagles in a near-insurmountable hole: 4 games behind the 'Boys, with 8 to play and 0-3 (including 2 homes losses) against the NFC East. Even for an devout football optimist like myself...that is a bridge too far (as far as playoff hope goes).

But I tell you what. Dawkins will be back and that alone should give the Eagles an injection of emotion and energy. And another thing, 4-4, just two games back of the front-running Cowboys and Giants, with 8 to play....sounds a whole lot better doesn't it? Dawkins return will allow "Q" to return his special teams captaincy, so hopefully, those teams get a boost on Sunday Night as well. And let's face it - the Eagles will need to bring their "A" game in every facet to prevail in their biggest game of the year (so far). Well to be honest, they need to win Sunday just so that they get to have "big games" later in the season.

In other news:
The Eagles ended the Matt McCoy experiment this week. No big impact there. The idjit decided to level Minnesota's punter in the third quarter last Sunday, just as the Eagles were poised to take-over inside Viking's territory after nice defensive hold that forced the Vikes to punt from their own end-zone. So instead of taking possession at the Vikings 45, the Eagles were pushed back to their own 40. And Dawk was pissed. The cameras followed his raggin' out McCoy and then yelling "FUCK" on the sidelines after the call. Now Westbrook bailed McCoy out by delivering a 25yd+ screen on the next play, but the damage was done. More telling, no one, and I mean NO ONE, came to his defense. Dawkins was on 950 AM talk radio the next day discussing the "message" the coaches were sending. MESSAGE RECEIVED.

Of more concern - both of coach Andy Reid's sons are going to be spending some time in jail now. AR missed practice on Thursday to attend his sons' sentencing. Both got 23-month sentences. And judge laid in the Reid household as well: A judge who sentenced Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid's sons to jail on Thursday likened the coach's home to "a drug emporium" and questioned whether his adult sons should live there, given their drug problems.

Look, I don't give a crap about his private life. But I worry that this is going to be a distraction to the head coach right before the biggest game of the year. I mean, if we get out-coached, out-smarted, and do what we've done in our losses this year (you know the mantra: a stubborn lack of adjustments, poor clock-management, wasted time-outs) - then I don't know how there would be any other conclusion to come to other than: Andy Reid is distracted and perhaps he needs to step aside or shed some duties. The burden must be incredible. But I am not all that comfortable with the idea that my football hopes (as well as those of the greater Philadelphia metropolitan region) rest on a mind troubled by the drug-addled downfall of two of the head coach's sons.