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INSIDE SLANT
Cowboys players and coaches have pretty much been touting the company line this week while downplaying the significance of Sunday’s NFC East showdown with the Eagles.
But the cliche that it’s just another game and just one of 16 was exposed by tight end Jason Witten.
Witten said the game is huge for a Cowboys team looking to build momentum from last Sunday’s blowout of the Rams because of the rivalry with the Eagles, the division impact and the opportunity to bury a hated rival who is trying to rebound from a slow start.
“You have to keep that mentality so you don’t have to play outside yourself,” Witten said of the company line being preached this week. “But no question there is a little extra to it. It’s ramped up. It’s going to be a battle. And it’s important for us to get on a roll, build on a win with a big division game. If you are staying around .500 you are an average team. We need to step up from that. That’s our mentality.”
• Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and owner Jerry Jones wrote checks in the offseason that their players must be able to cash in Sunday against the Eagles.
It may have been training camp, but nobody has forgotten what Jones and Ryan said about the Eagles, least of all the Eagles.
Jones fired the first salvo shortly after losing a free-agent battle for cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha when he said of the Eagles litany of offseason signings that looking good on paper doesn’t guarantee a title.
And Ryan took it a step further when he called the Eagles an all-hype team and promised that his guys would beat them.
“I talked to Rob,” linebacker Bradie James said after Wednesday’s practice. “‘Look Rob, we got your back. We got to go ball. I know you’re going to be up all night long.’ He put it out there and we got to go play.”
Eagles quarterback Mike Vick hasn’t forgotten either.
“We know it’s a competitive game,” Vick said. “Sometimes people say things that they regret days, weeks or months later. I think from a competitive standpoint, he was just talking. It was nothing that we really paid any attention to because we know what really counts is when you step onto the football field and whoever wins or loses the game. That’s what matters.”
Vick’s words were a bit more understanding in talking to reporters on Wednesday. But with his dream team struggling at 2-4, the Eagles are using whatever they can get to fired up for Sunday’s game.
You can be sure he has a stronger tone behind closed doors, one likely similar to the one he had when he responded to Ryan back in August.
“I felt that was inappropriate, but he is going to have to deal with us and he’s going to have to find solutions just like everyone else,” Vick said on Philadelphia radio at a time.”We don’t talk. We go about our business the right way. Maybe we’ll make him eat his words. I hope he (can) back it up.”
Ryan has done a good job backing up his words by turning around the Cowboys’ defense. The Cowboys are seventh overall and first against the run in 2011.
They are certainly more equipped to handle Vick and the Eagles’ big-play offense.
The Cowboys say they are ready to back up Ryan’s words.
“That’s just Rob saying what he says,” linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. “We just go out there and just play and coach can say whatever he wants to say but you still got to go out there and win games. With Rob what he says is what he says but we get out there and do it, that’s what players are about, you got to have that confidence sorta have what you call that swag when you go out there and play and we’re the action and he’s the vocal part about it.”
Series History: 101st regular-season meeting. Cowboys lead series, 56-44. Dallas has won four of the last five meetings. Dallas has faced no team more than the Eagles and owns the second most victories against them.
NOTES, QUOTES
• QB Tony Romo and his wife Candace are expecting a child. Romo made the surprising announcement while speaking to teens at a local high school as part of a drug prevention campaign along with receiver Miles Austin. When one student asked Romo if he had any kids, the Cowboys’ quarterback dropped the bombshell, saying, “I got one on the way. My wife’s pregnant.”
Romo married the former Candace Crawford five months ago.
• RB DeMarco Murray has a new fan in Hall of Famer and legendary Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett.
Dorsett said he was very impressed with Murray after watching him rush for 253 yards against the Rams, breaking his single-game rookie rushing record of 206 and Emmitt Smith’s overall mark of 237.
“Where has he been?” Dorsett said. “He certainly made his presence known. That wasn’t a great defense he was going against. But this is the NFL. He did it against an NFL defense. I like his burst. I like his toughness. He looks like he is the real deal. I hope he is not a one-game wonder. But if he can stay healthy, he is going to put some pressure on some people over there.”
Quote To Note: “It’s tough to play in Philadelphia, but more importantly this team is tough to play. As you know, they put together the Super Team at the start of the year. We know how it goes when you put it on paper, but it’s got to go to the field. We had that happen to us last year, for sure. So, we know that they have their heart. They have not in any way let where they are with their record impact their aspirations for this year. That’s a dangerous situation.”—Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Player Notes
• P Mat McBriar was added to the injury report on Thursday but he practiced and will play on Sunday.
• RB Tashard Choice (shoulder) was limited in practice and sat out of Friday’s session, but he should play against the Eagles on Sunday.
• G Derrick Dockery (knee) was listed as limited in practice all week and listed as questionable, but he is ready to go and should be active for Sunday’s game against the Eagles after missing the last four games.
• WR Dez Bryant played the role of Eagles quarterback Michael Vick in practice as part of the scout team on Thursday. He is left-handed and his speed and quickness helped the Cowboys prepare for the scrambling Vick on Sunday. “He can throw the ball 60 yards, and it looks like it’s on a frozen rope like Vick’s is too, with that lefty spin,” Cowboys inside linebacker Sean Lee said. “(Bryant’s imitation) was dead on. The way he runs. The way he moves. Their play-making ability.”
• DE Jason Hatcher (calf) was limited in practice, but it was for precautionary reasons after missing the last three games. He will be ready to go Sunday against the Eagles.
Game Plan: The Cowboys need to run the ball against the Eagles’ 23rd-ranked run defense and continue to manage the game with QB Tony Romo to prevent a game-turning turnover. Defensively, the goal is to attack but contain QB Michael Vick by preventing the big play on the ground and through the air.
Matchups To Watch: Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray vs. Eagles run defense. The rookie Murray is coming off a record-breaking performance against the Rams. He will take on an Eagles defense that is as bad against the run as the Rams. The Cowboys will again force the run on Sunday and give the Eagles a healthy dose of Murray, Tashard Choice and rookie Phillip Tanner and hopefully set up the play-action passing game. The Eagles will have to prove they can stop the run.
Eagles QB Michael Vick vs. Cowboys secondary. The Eagles live and die by the big play, which is personified by Vick, who can beat you with his arm and his feet. The Cowboys must contain Vick and keep him in the pocket but they also must prevent the big play down the field. The Eagles have 24 pass plays of 20 yards or more through six games. The Cowboys’ secondary is much improved over last season at stopping the big play and preventing touchdown passes. They are at full strength with CBs Orlando Scandrick, Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman all healthy. The Eagles will be their ultimate test.
