Brian Dawkins – best game as an Eagle? Photo by Pete Lerro

The football gods wanted the Eagles to make the playoffs.

That’s the only logical reason this could have happened.

Last week, virtually every football fan and observer around the country, and probably throughout the Delaware Valley, had this season pegged as dead after the Eagles failed to score a touchdown in a crushing 10-3 defeat to the Washington Redskins.

But the football gods breathed life back into the Eagles season Sunday after the Oakland Raiders upset the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Houston Texans dropped the Chicago Bears.

Win and get in. And man, did the Eagles win.

The Eagles defense and offense took turns slapping the hapless Dallas Cowboys silly, winning by the unimaginable score of 44-6.

The win gives the Eagles (9-6-1) the sixth and last seed in the NFC playoffs, set to get underway next Sunday afternoon (4:30 p.m. FOX) against the Northern Division Champion Minnesota Vikings who earned their trip to the playoffs by virtue of a walk-off, 50-yard field against the New York Football Giants.

The Eagles and Cowboys (9-7) spent the first quarter trading punts and one field goal each.

The Eagles offense, however, found itself and Correll Buckhalter in the second, exploding for 24 points and a 27-3 lead going into intermission.

Just when this spectacular half ended, after the improbable scenarios all went the Eagles way, someone in the press room yelled, “For our halftime entertainment, we will have flying pigs!”

Sunday was that crazy.

Andy Reid admitted you could not think of a script like Sunday’s and how it turned out in the Eagles favor.

“I’m enjoying this moment right now,” Reid said, looking more like a bear everyday with his ever-growing beard. “You couldn’t have drawn it up any better than it happened today. It came right down to December 28. It was awesome to see Lincoln Financial Field electric like that. It’s what this league is all about.”

The first touchdown was a quarterback sneak from the one by beleaguered quarterback Donovan McNabb.

The drive was highlighted by a 59-yard catch-and-run play by Buckhalter who had one carry in the first quarter for nine yards.

The second touchdown was a dink pass by McNabb to Buckhalter from the four. Buckhalter finished with 10 rushes for 63 yards and three catches for 59 yards and touchdown.

That drive was highlight by two catches by rookie DeSean Jackson for 46 yards.

The Birds made it 24-3 on a one-yard pass from McNabb to Brent Celek. The score was set up by Sheldon Brown’s interception of a Tony Romo pass intended for Roy Williams. The veteran cornerback picked off the ball at the Eagles 35-yard line and returned it 23 yards to the Dallas 42.

The game was formally out of control when Adam “Pacman” Jones fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the Dallas 31 and was recovered by Omar Gaither with five seconds to go in the half.

David Akers drilled a 50-yard field goal as time expired.

The second half started off well enough for the Cowboys. They drove from their 19 all the way to the Eagles 19 when safety Brian Dawkins sacked Romo who fumbled the ball right into the hands of defensive end Chris Clemens. 

Clemens took it to the house, 73 yards and a score to make it 34-3.

The very next drive must have seemed like deja vu for the Pokes as they took the ball from their on 11 and rolled to the Eagles 12 only to have Marion Barber fumble the ball after a short pass from Romo.

This time Joselio Hanson scooped up the ball and raced 96 yards for a touchdown. It was all garbage time after that.

Veteran offensive tackle Jon Runyan said his unit had to make sure the opportunities in the Red Zone did go to waste.

“The biggest thing is getting it in the end zone,” Runyan said. “We were down there a few times and it was like, ‘is this (stalled drive) going to happen again?’ This time we ended up punching it in.”

McNabb finished with just 175 yards on 12 of 21 passing but threw two TD passes, no interceptions and was sacked just once. He finished with an outstanding QB rating of 116.2.

Reid went back to running the football early and often. It was that change in philosophy that many players feel led to the team winning four of its last five games.

The Birds rushed 36 times for 137 yards. In addition to Buckhalter’s big day, Brian Westbrook contributed 50 yards on the ground on 13 carries and caught twopasses for 12 yards.

McNabb had a few words for those in the media he felt were detractors and they way he believed his image was manipulated to be that of a washed up quaterback.

“Well you know what?” McNabb said. “You don’t win battles by trying to defend yourself with people who are on air, or with people who write, people who have the power of the pen, because no matter what I may say…they’ll take little bits of what they want and put that in there. Now you’ll get people who are watching, or people who read, to believe what it is that you want them to believe, so I don’t play the game. I say what I need to say, and I say it from the heart always, and I get it out, and I move on. I can’t control what’s been said on TV or in the newspaper, but one thing I can control is what I feel.”

As good as McNabb was, Cowboys also beleaguered quarterback Tony Romo, was that bad.

Romo produced just 183 yards on 21 for 39 passing. He was sacked three times and hit at least ten times. His interception led to an early Eagles score.

If there was anything else bad could happen to Romo, he colapsed in the shower after the game due to a rib injury and had to be carried out of the shower area by trainers.

The Eagles defense, led by linebacker Akeem Jordan’s 11 tackles (2 for loss) and Chris Clemens two sacks wreaked havoc in the Pokes backfield all afternoon. It was the Cowboys who were pass-happy, throwing 41 times and rushing just 19.

The Eagles forced five turnovers and scored on all of them.

Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones was asked how to describe the beating his team – that was favored in many circles to be a Super Bowl team – could be so soundly beaten.

“Amazed is probably my word,” Jones said off to the side of his very quiet post game locker room. “I would not have thought we could not have a touchdown. I thought we could play better in every phase of the game.”

The football gods had other ideas.

Al Thompson can be reached at al.thompson@footballstories.com