Eagles' McCoy held in check
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Eagles playoff hopes ended Saturday, and so might have LeSean McCoy's chances to win the NFL rushing title or set a new Eagles rushing record.
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Eagles playoff hopes ended Saturday, and so might have LeSean McCoy's chances to win the NFL rushing title or set a new Eagles rushing record.
McCoy had just 35 yards on 13 carries, giving him 1,309 on the year. Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 103 yards Saturday, giving him 1,437 on the season, a 128-yard edge heading into the final week of the season. "I laid an egg today, so I probably won't get to get it," McCoy said. He left the game briefly with what coach Andy Reid described as a "tweaked" ankle, and then briefly returned before giving way to backup Ronnie Brown.
Wilbert Montgomery's team rushing record of 1,512 yards in a season now appears safe.
"Montgomery, he's probably smiling right now," McCoy said. His season still ranks fifth in Eagles history, and he has a strong chance to pass Brian Westbrook's 1,333 yard mark in 2007 for fourth on the team's list.
"Dallas had a good game plan against the run," said center Jason Kelce. "We wanted to get [McCoy] going especially when we knew that the playoff picture was out of it."
Close but . . .
For the first time in four weeks, defensive end Jason Babin did not add to his career-high sack total. Babin remained stuck on 18 sacks, still three shy of Reggie White's franchise record with one game against Washington's Rex Grossman remaining.
Babin did have an impact on the game, though. On the Cowboys first series, he and Trent Cole converged on Tony Romo as he threw an incompletion. Romo's hand struck Babin's helmet. He did not return, although X-rays showed no broken bones. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reportedly came down from his midfield viewing booth to speak with Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Romo was then taken out of the game.
The Eagles sacked backup QB Stephen McGee three times. Cole notched his 10th of the season, making the tandem the first Eagles duo with double-digit sacks since William Fuller (13) and Andy Harmon (11) in 1995. Derek Landri and Juqua Parker each got to McGee once. As a group, the Eagles have sacked opposing QBs 16 times during their three-game win streak. "I think there's a lot of quarterbacks out there who are pretty glad they don't have to face us [in the playoffs]," defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins said.
Injuries
Safety Kurt Coleman left the game at halftime with a biceps injury and will have an MRI Tuesday. Wide receiver Jason Avant was checked for a head injury and Jeremy Maclin hurt his ribs, but both quickly returned to the game.
Extra Points
Alex Henery hit two field goals, including a career-long 51-yarder. He has now made 14 consecutive field goal attempts, the fifth-longest streak in team history. The rookie is 22-25 (88 percent), second-highest percentage in team history behind David Akers' 88.2 percent in 2002. . . . Defensive end Brandon Graham, last year's top draft pick, was inactive for the fourth time in the past six weeks.