Cowboys prevail over Eagles in wild monday night football shootout

Much has been written about the diminishing prestige of Monday Night Football in light of a multiyear run of boring games, lower ratings, and increased competition from an ever growing media marketplace. Monday’s contest between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles most definitely wasn’t part of the problem.

The only way you couldn’t have enjoyed the game was if you were a devotee of defense: Dallas and Philadelphia traded points all night before the Cowboys prevailed 41-37 in a game that some are calling one of the best Monday Night Football contests ever. It was definitely exciting and high scoring, as Philadelphia took a 30-24 lead into the locker room at halftime. The 54 combined points represented the 2nd most first half points scored in the long history of Monday Night Football.

The second half was somewhat quieter in terms of offense, but still offered plenty of drama. Dallas scored the only TD of the third quarter to go up 31-30 when Marion Barber hauled in a 17 yard TD pass from Tony Romo. Philadelphia responded early in the 4th with Brian Westbrook’s 1 yard TD run to go back on top 37-31. The Cowboys cut the margin to 37-34 on a Nick Folk FG and went ahead for good with just over 4 minutes remaining when Barber scored his 2nd TD of the half, this one a one yard rushing tally.

When it was over, Cowboys’ linebacker Bradie James put it into perspective:

"It was one of the best games I've not only seen, but been a part of”

Philadelphia dropped to 1-1 with the loss, but has played well in the early part of the season—particularly on offense, with Donovan McNabb looking sharper than he has in several years. The Cowboys raised their record to 2-0 and for the first time in recent years the question marks are on the defensive side of the ball as their offense has looked very potent.

Dallas will travel to Green Bay for a Sunday game against the Packers before returning to Texas Stadium for a meeting with their hated rivals the Washington Redskins on 10/28. Philadelphia plays the Steelers at home on Sunday followed by a trip to Chicago and a game against the Bears the following week.