Stuff You Didn’t Know About The Cowboys And Eagles
The Dallas Cowboys will face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon in a classic NFC battle. Both franchises have a varied history and one of the longest lasting rivalries within the NFL. Here are some other facts about their upcoming match-up that you probably didn’t know, provided by our resident Cowboy genius, Mark Lane.
Dec 12, 2010; Arlington, TX USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Jay Ratliff (90) celebrates after sacking Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick (7) in the third quarter at Cowboys Stadium. Philadelphia won 30-27. Mandatory Credit: Matt Strasen-US PRESSWIRE
SERIES FACTS
Since 1999, the Cowboys have began their series with the Eagles in Philadelphia 7 of 13 times.
This is the second consecutive year the Cowboys have opened the series in Philadelphia. The last time they opened the Eagles series in Philadelphia for consecutive years was in 2006-07.
This is the first time since 2008 that the Dallas Cowboys will face the Eagles in Philadelphia in the late afternoon game. The Cowboys gave up the ghost in that contest 44-6.
This is the first time since 2009 that the Cowboys have waited until November to begin their series with the Eagles. In the Andy Reid era, the Cowboys are 2-1 in such encounters, with both wins coming in Philadelphia on Sunday Night Football.
Since 1999, the Eagles have hung 40-burgers on the Cowboys 5 times (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008). However, the Cowboys hold the distinction of having the only shutout during this period (2009).
ANDY REID FACTS
In 14 seasons with the Eagles, Andy Reid has faced the Dallas Cowboys 27 times (including one playoff encounter), which is second behind Joe Gibbs’ record number 32 times (including one playoff game).
Andy Reid holds a 17-10 record over Dallas, which is the best any division coach has had against Dallas. By comparison, Joe Gibbs had a 16-16 record.
Andy Reid’s Eagles have won their first match with the Cowboys 8/13 times. Of those 8 times, 5 of them have been in Philadelphia.
Andy Reid is currently the longest tenured coach in the NFL (1999). The second longest tenured NFL coach is Bill Belichick (2000).
Among current head coaches, Andy Reid has the second most conference title game appearances with 5 behind Bill Belichick’s 6. Tom Coughlin has third most with 4.
Andy Reid is one of 6 head coaches who has facial hair. The others are Chuck Pagano, Romeo Crennel, Ken Wisenhunt, Mike Tomlin, and Jeff Fisher.
Among active coaches, Andy Reid has the most assistants in head coaching jobs: Ron Rivera, Leslie Frazier, Pat Shurmur, and John Harbaugh.
In 2009 when the Cowboys beat the Eagles in the NFC Wild Card, Andy Reid joined Mike Holmgren, Ray Rhodes, Rich Kotite, Mike Ditka, Rich McKay, Dick Nolan, Jack Pardee, Leeman Bennett, Bart Starr, Marv Levy, Bill Cowher, Red Miller, and Don Shula as the only head coaches to never defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the postseason.
Andy Reid has been beaten by three undrafted quarterbacks in the playoffs: Kurt Warner, Jake Delhomme, and Tony Romo.
Andy Reid is 2-0 on 11/11:
2001: Min — W
2007: @WAS — W
JASON GARRETT FACTS
Jason Garrett has coached 32 games with a 16-16 record. Through Andy Reid’s first 32 games, he also compiled a 16-16 record that included one wild card victory over Tampa Bay.
The only divisional foe Jason Garrett did not start against at quarterback was the Philadelphia Eagles.
The first NFC East team Garrett completed a full series with was Philadelphia. Remember: he was an interim in 2010 and only faced the Redskins and Giants in rematch games.
Jason Garrett is 1-3 against the Eagles. Here’s how the other Cowboys coaches have fared in their first 4 games against the Eagles:
Landry — 1-3
Johnson — 0-4
Switzer — 3-1
Gailey — 3-1
Campo — 0-4
Parcells — 1-3
Phillips — 2-2
This will be Jason Garrett’s second time to coach against the Eagles in Philadelphia on a FOX Sports broadcast. Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa called that 14-13 Week 17 victory in 2010.
MICHAEL VICK FACTS
Michael Vick’s first ever start came against the Dallas Cowboys when he was with the Atlanta Falcons. It was a 20-13 win in Atlanta with Vick going 4/12 for 32 yards and 1 touchdown.
Michael Vick is 4-1 against the Dallas Cowboys (1-1 with Falcons; 3-0 with Eagles). This is second-best to Randall Cunningham’s 5-0. Here’s how other NFC East legends compare:
Donovan McNabb — 4-1
Mark Rypien — 4-1
Eli Manning — 3-2
Joe Theismann — 2-3
Ron Jaworski — 2-3
Jim Hart — 2-3
Jake Plummer (playoffs) — 1-4
Phil Simms — 1-4
Michael Vick gained immense credibility for leading the Falcons to victory at Lambeau Field in the 2002 wild card playoffs. Since that time, Michael Vick has been to the playoffs only twice as a starter with only one playoff win (2004 divisional over the Rams).
This will be the second time that the Dallas Cowboys will have faced Michael Vick on 11/11. The first time was in Atlanta in 2001 when the Falcons won 20-13, even though Doug Johnson had to finish the game.
TONY ROMO FACTS
Including playoffs since both faced the Eagles in the playoffs, Tony Romo has a better record (5-5) against the Eagles than Eli Manning (6-12).
Both of Tony Romo’s wins in Philadelphia came in the month of November (11/4/07 & 11/8/09).
Tony Romo defeated the Eagles after his second start, which is second behind Roger Staubach who did it with only his first start. It took Troy Aikman 7 starts to finally beat the Eagles (11/1/92).
Romo and Aikman are the only Cowboys quarterbacks to have defeated the Eagles in postseason play.
AWAY STADIUM FACTS
It took 3 tries for the Eagles to finally get a win in Cowboys Stadium (12/12/10). Similarly, it took the Cowboys 3 tries to finally win in Lincoln Financial Field (11/14/05).
The last time the Cowboys lost in Philadelphia in November was on 11/5/2000 in overtime 16-13. Since that time, the Cowboys have defeated the Eagles thrice in November (’05, ’07, ’09). Overall, the Cowboys are 8-3 in all November contests in Philadelphia. Here’s the breakdown by stadium:
Lincoln Financial Field — 3-0
Veterans Stadium — 4-1
Franklin Field — 1-2
BROADCAST FACTS
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will call this contest for FOX Sports. The last time the Cowboys played the Eagles in Philadelphia with this team calling the action was the infamous 44-6 game in Week 17 of 2008. Overall, the Cowboys are 2-6 when Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are calling a Cowboys-Eagles match:
Week 14, 2003 — L
Week 15, 2004 — L
Week 5, 2005 — W
Week 5, 2006 — L
Week 15, 2007 — L
Week 17, 2008 — L
Week 17, 2009 — W
Week 16, 2011 — L
This will be only the second contest Buck and Aikman have called that won’t feature McNabb as the Eagles quarterback. The Cowboys have featured 4 starters (Carter, Testaverde, Bledsoe, Romo) and 6 overall (Bollinger and McGee) in these games.
The last time Joe Buck and Troy Aikman called a Cowboys game on 11/11 was in 2007 when the Cowboys swept the Giants 31-20 to go 8-1 on the year.
3-5 FACTS
The last time the Dallas Cowboys were 3-5 was 2004. After falling to 3-5, they faced the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football at home and were soundly defeated 49-21.
This is the first time the Cowboys and Eagles are both 3-5 and will be facing one another.
The Cowboys have never made the playoffs with a 3-5 record. They have only been 3-5 only five times in their history (’65, ’90, ’00, ’02, ’04). On average, if the Cowboys are 3-5, they finish the season with 6 wins.
Here are the starting quarterbacks for those 3-5 starts:
1965 — Meredith, Morton
1990 — Aikman
2000 — Aikman, Cunningham
2002 — Carter, Hutchinson
2004 — Testaverde
The only time the Cowboys have played the Eagles series after falling to 3-5 was in 2004. The Eagles swept the series.
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS
The Philadelphia Eagles have the league’s longest streak of having an African American quarterback on their active roster. (Randall Cunningham: 1985-1995; Rodney Peete: 1995-1998; Donovan McNabb: 1999-2009; Michael Vick: 2009-present) Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys have only had four African American quarterbacks in their history, two of which were Rodney Peete (1994) and Randall Cunningham (2000).
The Eagles forced the Cowboys to wear their “cursed blues” in the 1980 NFC Championship game in Philadelphia, where the Eagles trumped the Cowboys 20-7. Ever since then, the Eagles have occasionally forced the Cowboys to wear their “cursed blues” However, the Eagles have not done so since 2007, when the Cowboys throttled the Eagles 38-17 in their “cursed blues.”
Cowboys offensive coordinator Bill Callahan and Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg both coached at Northern Arizona University in 1988. Callahan coached the offensive line while Mornhinweg coached the runningbacks.
Bill Callahan once coached the Eagles offensive line from 1995-97. Similarly, Eagles defensive coordinator Todd Bowles once coached the Cowboys secondary from 2005-07.
11/11 FACTS
This will be the fifth divisional game on 11/11. The Giants are the most common opponent with three appearances.
The Cowboys have only played twice at home on 11/11 and lost both times (NYG in ’62 and SF in ’90). The Cowboys are 3-1 on the road on this date.
This contest will be played under the waning stages of a full moon. Here are the Dallas Cowboys results over the years on 11/11 with the various moon phases:
New Moon — 1-0
First Quarter — N/A
Full Moon — 2-1
Last Quarter — 0-2