Giant step

On to the Meadowlands! After playing like they deserved to be there, the Eagles move on to the Divisional weekend next week to take on the G-Men, for the second time in a bit over a month.

The last meeting between these two bitter East Coast rivals ended with an Eagle victory on New York’s home soil. Hopefully, the confidence will keep on rolling to next Sunday.

The best part of the Wild Card victory (and one which Buck and Aikman rightfully wouldn’t stop talking about) was Reid’s commitment to the run. Even after 16 carries and less than 10 yards gained, Westbrook was still getting the ball. And then, 71 yards and 6 points. Just like that.

Sticking to the run kept the Vikings honest — even when it wasn’t working — forced them to seal the middle and kept the receivers from being double covered. It’s not rocket science, so why did it take Reid so long to do it? And why does he deserve credit for it? Yes, good job, Andy, for learning how one plays football.

Well, it worked. Hopefully all the positive lessons learned this week will stay swirling in the Eagles’ minds as they suit up to take on the defending Super Bowl champs in their first playoff appearance after the bye.

It was nice to see the final play, as a pressured Tavaris Jackson threw his last pass of the season to the sidelines to have none other than a waiting Donovan McNabb catch it (the playful juking was probably a bit obnoxious).

Eagles in

So the impossible happened: The Bears lost, the Raiders beat the Buccs and the Birds slaughtered Dallas in a 44-6 pounding which was a combination of Eagle prowess and a complete Cowboy meltdown.

The ‘Boys looked like a high school team who had never run patterns together. There were at least three Romo throws to no receiver, or receivers who weren’t expecting the ball, were running a different pattern than Romo expected or just basically had no idea how to play football.

More importantly, the Eagles were firing on all cylinders. My favorite quote from the commentators last night was: ‘When we come back, the Dallas offense takes the field. Or should I say Eagles defense.’ And that’s pretty much how the story went. It didn’t matter which side of the ball the Birds were on, they managed to score from both — multiple times.

There were shots of McNabb dancing, talking up a storm. Reid giving a smirk. Dawkins doing his signature E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES dance. It was fun Philly football again. Everything they project the Eagles to be at the beginning of each season, everything they fall short of year after year.

I’m going to ride the high and keep the positive vibes going, but I’d hate if all the heart wrenching of the past four games was magically erased in the wake of the Cowboys handing the Eagles a playoff birth. Somehow the stars aligning has been overlooked and the players and management are getting a little too much credit. Have we forgotten the game last week against Washington? Yes, the Birds played inspired football. But, lest we forget, Romo alone fumbled twice. In the national news the story is how horrific the prophesied Cowboys ended their 2009 season, not how amazing the Eagles are in the face of a formidable opponent (which was decidedly absent on Sunday).

Philadelphia, your fate has been handed to you, perfectly wrapped in shiny paper with all the right trimmings. There has to be something you can take from giving the Cowboys the biggest loss since Jerry Jones took over the team in 1989. Your new life begins next Sunday at 4:30 p.m. in Minneapolis.

What’s it gunna be?