Admit it. Some of you thought beating the Dallas Cowboys for the NFC East championship was going to be easy. Without Tony Romo? With the worst defense in the NFL? In the month of December, that franchise’s Kryptonite the last bunch of years?
The Philadelphia Eagles did eventually take care of business, but it was a nail-biter, or as head coach Chip Kelly described it afterwards, “interesting.” Still, there might be a nagging feeling among a few fans that the way the Birds came to defeat the Cowboys was an ominous sign for the rest of the postseason.
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If Kyle Orton can throw 358 yards and two touchdowns, what are Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints going to do them? Certainly not throw behind his intended target right into the hands of Brandon Boykin with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
If Dallas’ 32nd-ranked defense could force Nick Foles to complete just five of 10 passes for 66 yards with three sacks and a fumble lost in the second half, how badly will a Saints unit led by defensive coordinator Rob Ryan trip up the second-year passer? Ryan’s pressure packages have New Orleans fourth in the league with 49 sacks this season.
These are all things to worry about and will be dissected in due time, but the Cowboys’ ability to hang in a game with the Eagles despite two of the opponent’s despite all information suggesting the contrary should happen might be much simpler than that.
Well, we can probably chalk up a good portion of the Cowboys' competitiveness to having home-field advantage.
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One look in the standings will show you home teams have a tremendous advantage in the NFL, as if you didn’t know that already. The home team posted a record of 153-102-1 for a .598 win percentage in 2013. Playoff teams alone went 75-20-1 for an insane .781 percentage. Three of those clubs were undefeated in their own building.
The Cowboys were no different at AT&T Stadium, going 5-2 in Arlington, Texas this year before the Birds showed up. The crowd was energized throughout the game. Players are in a foreign environment. The conditions are hostile.
Simply put, you’re not going to walk into a division rival’s building with a division title on the line and expect to get anything less than their best.
It’s an easy thing to forget in Philadelphia, where the Eagles went 10 games, or more than 13 months without winning a game at Lincoln Financial Field until November. The tides have turned though, as now they’ve managed to reel off four in a row.
Now, the great news is the Eagles own the all-important home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs versus New Orleans. For one thing, it keeps the Saints out of the Superdome, where they were one of three teams to go 8-0 this season. Brees is deadly on that turf.
According to the Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, Brees is 0-4 in postseason games that are played outdoors. That doesn’t guarantee he’ll fall to 0-5 on Saturday night, but it’s further evidence that even prolific, Hall of Fame-caliber quarterbacks struggle on the road.
Of course, if the Eagles are fortunate enough to advance, they’ll face the same exact problem the following week. With a win, the Birds will be packing their backs for Carolina to take on the Carolina Panthers.
They’ll cross that bridge when they get there though. For now, just remember what the Eagles accomplished in Dallas on Sunday night was no small feat, even if it wasn’t the hugest margin of victory. And if you’re at all worried about their ability to hang with the Saints this week, keep in mind the Birds will have the distinct advantage of playing in front of 70,000 South Philly hostiles.
It doesn’t get much more hostile than that.