In “The Great Debate: Part 1”, I will be going up against Bryce Treece, editor of the Dallas Cowboys website, Dallas Cowboys Nation. The topic of the debate will be “ Which team will do better in 2009?”, with Bryce stating why the Cowboys will do better in 2009, and I standing up for our favorite team, the Eagles.
The Eagles side of the argument:
“The 2009 season has the potential to be an Eagles season we will never forget. With their new found passing game, and the emergence of DeSean Jackson, the Eagles have grown into a lethal pass team. In 2009, the passing game will only get better. Rookie Jeremy Maclin will utilize his quickness and agility to outrun the secondary, while veteran wideout Kevin Curtis will look to improve upon his injury plagued 2008 season. The Eagles have dumped tight end L.J Smith, who never lived up to all the hype surrounding him, and now Brent Celek will take over after Smith’s departure. Looking at the Eagles matchups with the Cowboy’s secondary, the Eagles’ wideouts have the favorable advantage. Besides Terence Newman, the Cowboys are stuck with Orlando Scandrick, Mike Mickens, and Mike Jenkins. Right there, the Eagles already have the advantage.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles are going to need someone to step up to replace the loss of longtime, fan favorite Brian Dawkins. I’m sure Tony Romo was dancing with Jessica after hearing that Dawkins would be headed to Denver. Our defensive line will continue to apply an enormous amount of pressure to the opposing quarterbacks, and if Trevor Laws can bring all of his talent into 2009, the defensive line may be tops in the NFL. The linebacker corps is led by rising talent, Stewart Bradley, who is assisted by Chris Gocong and Akeem Jordan. Our=2 0secondary is strong at corner, with Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown leading the secondary, and new Eagle Ellis Hobbs will defiantly bring playmaking ability to the defense.
The Cowboys offense is still led by Tony Romo, who is only the best at one thing, choking. Maybe 2009 will not be another “Romo Choke”, but I sure hope it is. At receiver, the Cowboys will be without everyone’s favorite wideout, Terrell Owens. Easily the only good move the Cowboys made this off-season, they are still stuck with Roy Williams as their #1 receiver. How can your #1 wideout be Roy Williams, who in 2008 had 36 receptions, with only 2 touchdowns? The receiving core for Dallas is not at all lethal, but their only weapon in the passing game is Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten. Their running game consists of Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice. The Cowboys are not that bad at running the ball, but the Eagles frontline will be able to slow down their rush game, just as they did last season.
The Cowboys and Eagles are certainly going to be fighting for the NFC East crown in 2009, but with Romo leading the Cowboys, their chances of winning the division is already slim, unless Romo can finally overcome his second half struggles. The Eagles will be at the top of the NFC East after Week 17, and they will soar into the playoffs, as Tony Romo will be crying on Jessica’s shoulder, again.”
The Dallas side of the argument:
“Heading in to 2009 everyone remembers the beating the Cowboys took at the hands of the Eagles in December. Sort of like a Christmas from hell we all but laid down with the exception of one play – a quick pass from Witten to Owens downfield. But some are too quick to forget the homerun derby earlier in the season where it came down to which team could score last. I’ve never seen a more lopsided game in my life. Neither defense factored into that game, and neither did the Eagles special teams unit.
Comparing the two games is where we find our answer to the question of the day – are the Cowboys better than the Eagles?
With these two teams it has always come down to who was having a better day. 2008 was no exception as a good day, for both teams saw a slugfest and a bad day for Dallas, who saw a very disappointing end that we’ll not live down anytime soon.
Rookie Felix Jones took the field and never looked back; if he had he would have seen every Eagle on the field eating his dust as he burned it up time and time again. Being injured for the second game though, that was a whole dimension to our game out the window. Marion Barber has always been good for some hard running against the Bleeding Green defense, making them bleed onto that green field their fans so often trash. In the second game though, he was battling an injury that all but kept him on the sideline. That left rookie Tashard Choice, who had already shown he could get the job done against the leagues top defense weeks before, to carry the load while dealing with upset after upset. Dallas had a running game that was broken and that took a lot of the guesswork out of it for the Eagles defense.
It was clear that we were going to be passing for much of the game, and the Eagles had the advantage as they lined up on our receivers – they knew just what was up with Terrell Owens. Each time Romo dropped back and waited for Owens to get open deep, instead of simply moving the ball forward with a quick pass to another receiver, the Eagles teed off on him like a sitting duck. Normally Romo turns to his go-to guy Jason Witten, but Witten was nursing sore bones and couldn’t be there for him like he had been all year. Add to it that we were stuck with that lard ass Cory Proctor on the line not protecting Romo, and the Eagles defense had a field day just going after the quarterback.
Excuses you say? Well how else would you describe the differences between the first and second games our beloved teams played last year?
In 2009 we’ve got a healthy team, a much more capable safety than Roy Williams, and were light one pain in the ass receiver – something I know you guys can understand exactly. We’re focused, young, and energetic with enough experience to keep us plowing ahead for another 13-3 season.
The Eagles have too many rookie wide outs to field McNabb’s crooked passes, and they can’t cover the pass much better without the proven leadership ability of departed veteran Brian Dawkins.
Are the Cowboys better than the Eagles? Absolutely, the only question is how much better are they.”
The debate does not end here for the fans, as it will be battled throughout the 2009 season and will continue forever in this heated rivalry. I thank Bryson Treece for his help in this debate, and yes, I just thanked a Cowboys fan (but I assure you it'll never happen again). So who do you think will be better in 2009? Why, the Eagles of course! But seriously, leave a comment as to who you truly believe will do better in the upcoming season, and share your point of view of this great rivalry.
The Eagles side of the argument:
“The 2009 season has the potential to be an Eagles season we will never forget. With their new found passing game, and the emergence of DeSean Jackson, the Eagles have grown into a lethal pass team. In 2009, the passing game will only get better. Rookie Jeremy Maclin will utilize his quickness and agility to outrun the secondary, while veteran wideout Kevin Curtis will look to improve upon his injury plagued 2008 season. The Eagles have dumped tight end L.J Smith, who never lived up to all the hype surrounding him, and now Brent Celek will take over after Smith’s departure. Looking at the Eagles matchups with the Cowboy’s secondary, the Eagles’ wideouts have the favorable advantage. Besides Terence Newman, the Cowboys are stuck with Orlando Scandrick, Mike Mickens, and Mike Jenkins. Right there, the Eagles already have the advantage.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles are going to need someone to step up to replace the loss of longtime, fan favorite Brian Dawkins. I’m sure Tony Romo was dancing with Jessica after hearing that Dawkins would be headed to Denver. Our defensive line will continue to apply an enormous amount of pressure to the opposing quarterbacks, and if Trevor Laws can bring all of his talent into 2009, the defensive line may be tops in the NFL. The linebacker corps is led by rising talent, Stewart Bradley, who is assisted by Chris Gocong and Akeem Jordan. Our=2 0secondary is strong at corner, with Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown leading the secondary, and new Eagle Ellis Hobbs will defiantly bring playmaking ability to the defense.
The Cowboys offense is still led by Tony Romo, who is only the best at one thing, choking. Maybe 2009 will not be another “Romo Choke”, but I sure hope it is. At receiver, the Cowboys will be without everyone’s favorite wideout, Terrell Owens. Easily the only good move the Cowboys made this off-season, they are still stuck with Roy Williams as their #1 receiver. How can your #1 wideout be Roy Williams, who in 2008 had 36 receptions, with only 2 touchdowns? The receiving core for Dallas is not at all lethal, but their only weapon in the passing game is Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten. Their running game consists of Marion Barber, Felix Jones, and Tashard Choice. The Cowboys are not that bad at running the ball, but the Eagles frontline will be able to slow down their rush game, just as they did last season.
The Cowboys and Eagles are certainly going to be fighting for the NFC East crown in 2009, but with Romo leading the Cowboys, their chances of winning the division is already slim, unless Romo can finally overcome his second half struggles. The Eagles will be at the top of the NFC East after Week 17, and they will soar into the playoffs, as Tony Romo will be crying on Jessica’s shoulder, again.”
The Dallas side of the argument:
“Heading in to 2009 everyone remembers the beating the Cowboys took at the hands of the Eagles in December. Sort of like a Christmas from hell we all but laid down with the exception of one play – a quick pass from Witten to Owens downfield. But some are too quick to forget the homerun derby earlier in the season where it came down to which team could score last. I’ve never seen a more lopsided game in my life. Neither defense factored into that game, and neither did the Eagles special teams unit.
Comparing the two games is where we find our answer to the question of the day – are the Cowboys better than the Eagles?
With these two teams it has always come down to who was having a better day. 2008 was no exception as a good day, for both teams saw a slugfest and a bad day for Dallas, who saw a very disappointing end that we’ll not live down anytime soon.
Rookie Felix Jones took the field and never looked back; if he had he would have seen every Eagle on the field eating his dust as he burned it up time and time again. Being injured for the second game though, that was a whole dimension to our game out the window. Marion Barber has always been good for some hard running against the Bleeding Green defense, making them bleed onto that green field their fans so often trash. In the second game though, he was battling an injury that all but kept him on the sideline. That left rookie Tashard Choice, who had already shown he could get the job done against the leagues top defense weeks before, to carry the load while dealing with upset after upset. Dallas had a running game that was broken and that took a lot of the guesswork out of it for the Eagles defense.
It was clear that we were going to be passing for much of the game, and the Eagles had the advantage as they lined up on our receivers – they knew just what was up with Terrell Owens. Each time Romo dropped back and waited for Owens to get open deep, instead of simply moving the ball forward with a quick pass to another receiver, the Eagles teed off on him like a sitting duck. Normally Romo turns to his go-to guy Jason Witten, but Witten was nursing sore bones and couldn’t be there for him like he had been all year. Add to it that we were stuck with that lard ass Cory Proctor on the line not protecting Romo, and the Eagles defense had a field day just going after the quarterback.
Excuses you say? Well how else would you describe the differences between the first and second games our beloved teams played last year?
In 2009 we’ve got a healthy team, a much more capable safety than Roy Williams, and were light one pain in the ass receiver – something I know you guys can understand exactly. We’re focused, young, and energetic with enough experience to keep us plowing ahead for another 13-3 season.
The Eagles have too many rookie wide outs to field McNabb’s crooked passes, and they can’t cover the pass much better without the proven leadership ability of departed veteran Brian Dawkins.
Are the Cowboys better than the Eagles? Absolutely, the only question is how much better are they.”
The debate does not end here for the fans, as it will be battled throughout the 2009 season and will continue forever in this heated rivalry. I thank Bryson Treece for his help in this debate, and yes, I just thanked a Cowboys fan (but I assure you it'll never happen again). So who do you think will be better in 2009? Why, the Eagles of course! But seriously, leave a comment as to who you truly believe will do better in the upcoming season, and share your point of view of this great rivalry.
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