Hicks was hurt Sunday in the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ 33-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Ryans has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, but he is expected to return soon.
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It’s been a rough year for the Cowboys offense in general, of course, which lost star running back DeMarco Murray in the offseason to free agency and has seen Bryant and Romo miss large chunks of time due to injury. There is no reason to doubt that this goes right back to 400 yards per game when Romo arrives. He said earlier in the week that he definitely was going to play against the Cowboys, but that didn’t happen.
HICKS PICK: Cowboys quarterback Matt Cassel threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns, including an 18-yarder to Bryant in the end zone when he threw up a jump ball after a Romo-like spin out a potential sack. However, Bryant’s return was really what helped Cassel finally find success. Once the defenses realized that they had to stop him, Bryant grabbed five receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown. Bryant’s touchdown was a thing of beauty, leaping over everyone in the end zone to force the catch.
Cowboys running back Darren McFadden (Pulaski Oak Grove, Arkansas Razorbacks) had 122 total yards – 117 rushing on 27 carries and 1 reception for 5 yards. He ran hard, he ran strong, and he forced himself to make extra yards after getting hit. One of them – Matthews can’t remember the guy’s name – made mention of the late Kano Jigoro, who is the founder of judo. However, they fell one by one as the game went on.
DOUBLE WHAMMY: Dallas lost linebackers Sean Lee (concussion) and Anthony Hitchens (ankle) on Philadelphia’s 95-yard drive. Pec injuries generally come in twos. It is no secret that in games that feature Cole Beasley more, the overall team 3rd down percentage rises.
Sam Bradford had a great game for Philadelphia, not throwing an interception while throwing the game winning touchdown in overtime.
“Me and Byron had been competing all game”, said Matthews, who had nine catches for 133 yards. But there’s just too much to overcome for Dallas.
Barry Church, J.J. Wilcox and Jeff Heath led the team in tackles.
Or maybe they just need a team meeting. A lot of people lose players, and a lot of people win games.
Hardy wasn’t available in the locker room after the game. However, he returned a kickoff for 79 yards that set up a Cowboys score, and that probably saved his job for one more week.
Cassel took the Cowboys down the field, aided by several defensive penalties, before kicker Dan Bailey knocked a 44-yarder off the left upright and over the crossbar with two seconds left. The Eagles averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Take a look at the play, because it’ll look familiar once we get to the winning play – Jordan Matthews ran what looked like an in-breaking route from the slot, which is a staple of the Eagles’ offense. In this game, on the first drive of the game, Dallas had a fourth down and could have kicked a safe field goal. Dallas is 2-6 halfway through the regular season after its sixth consecutive loss.
After struggling through the first part of the season, the Eagles put together a second half performance in Dallas which resembled the vision many had for the offense before the season.
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The Eagles (4-4) are a half-game behind the Giants in the NFC East standings and already beat NY handily last month.
