The Garcia That Won On Christmas
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by user Christof
Five weeks ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were left for dead. Their star quarterback, Donovan McNabb was just lost for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. The loss that day left the club sitting with a record of 5-5.
The following week, the Eagles played the Indianapolis Colts and was blown out. If anyone had hope for a turn-around, the Colts game eliminated it. Even I thought the rest of the 2006 season was all about draft positioning.
This is, however, the NFL of[2006, and that means no team is dead until they are officially eliminated from the playoffs. Four weeks ago, the Eagles played the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night. They won the game, which surprised many fans. But hope was still non-existent because the Eagles faced a 3-game road trip, against teams from the NFC East.
The first game in this historic road trip was against the Washington Redskins. The game was a typical, NFC East type of game. The Eagles, nonetheless, pulled out a victory. To be honest with you, the Birds did not deserve to win that game, but a win is still a win.
The next road game in this streak was against the New York Giants. The Giants earlier this season came back from a 17-point deficit to win in overtime against the Eagles. I was at that game. It was not fun watching the Eagles self-destruct in the fourth quarter and overtime. So, again, hope for a win here was limited. Yet, the Eagles won.
The win against the Giants left the Eagles at 8-6, one game behind their next opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, for the lead in the NFC East. Once again, this game was going to be played on the road. And to make matters worse, it will be played on Christmas Day.
Few teams in the history of the NFL have ever won three consecutive road divisional games. So, with that in mind, I made sure I had a good Christmas day before the game. You know, Midnight Mass, time with the family, some editing of ArmchairGM.com during the down time, and of course, Christmas dinner.
Well, as the ham was just beginning to digest in my tummy, I sat down to watch the Eagles-Cowboys game. Sure, I thought the Eagles were going to win today, only because today is Christmas and miracles do occur on this day! But then I saw that the Eagles were going to kick off, and I said to myself, “well, the birds will be down 7-0 soon enough.” To my amazement, the Cowboys did not score but punted, and soon, it was the Eagles who were ahead 7-0. The lead soon grew to 10-0.
But like all good things, the 10-point lead was not going to last long. Dallas scored a touchdown, a pass to Terrell Owens no less, with less than a minute left in the first half. And I said to myself, “here we go again.”
But the Cowboys kickoff was short, and the Eagles runback was strong. And before I knew, the Eagles were in field goal position. With one second remaining on the clock, David Akers kicked a field goal, and lo and behold, the score at half was 13-7.
The Eagles got the ball first in the second half. I was hoping for a touchdown, but instead saw a field goal scored. That was the end of the scoring for both teams in the third quarter.
The Eagles would score again in the fourth quarter. It was a touchdown this time, on a running play to Correll Buckhalter. The Cowboys received the kickoff, and shortly thereafter Tony Romo threw another interception. The Eagles did nothing on the following drive and punted. The Cowboys got the ball inside their own 5, and started to drive. Yet, time was not on their side. But time did not kill this drive, instead it was a sack of Romo on fourth down.
The two-minute warning struck while the Eagles continued to milk the clock. On fourth down, the Eagles went for it on fourth and three and got the first down. The game thus ended.
The Eagles winning streak is now at four. The team swept the three-game divisional road trip, one in which many thought they would win none. Jeff Garcia has led this club from the grave. And how about giving some thoughts to Andy Reid for Coach of the Year.
Anyway, the Eagles now lead the NFC East and have clinched a playoff spot in the NFC. And to all Eagles fans, it was a very merry Christmas night indeed.
