The Dallas Cowboys' return to postseason respectability was decisive and at times electrifying Saturday night. They overwhelmed a lackluster Philadelphia Eagles team, 34-14, before a sellout crowd of 92,951 in the inaugural playoff game at Cowboys Stadium.
It had been 13 years since the Cowboys last basked in playoff victory, a 1996 wild-card game against the Minnesota Vikings. They lost the following week to the Carolina Panthers and had tried in vain to recapture postseason glory that had become a staple in the early 1990s. Five playoff defeats followed in the ensuing dozen seasons.
"Can we say it together?" Cowboys owner Jerry Jones crowed with a preacher's fervor as he stood center stage in the winning locker room. "The demons are gone."
The exorcized Cowboys now travel to Minnesota for a divisional-round playoff game next Sunday afternoon against the Vikings. The NFC North champions enjoyed a bye the first weekend of the playoffs.
"We know the challenge," Jones said. "We have a chance to beat Minnesota and we can have something special."
It was a jubilant postgame Cowboys locker room, where coach Wade Phillips and quarterback Tony Romo celebrated their first playoff victories and Jones basked in his franchise's return to Super Bowl contention.
Early-December losses to the New York Giants and San Diego Chargers – the low point of the season, Jones said – seemed like ancient history.
"It seems like a different team ago," said Jones, who called his last several years of Cowboys stewardship "empty."
Jones then was full of praise for Romo and Phillips.
"When you have a quarterback who plays like Tony did tonight, you'll find yourself making a successful uphill climb to the playoffs," he said
And Phillips, about to enter the option year in his contract, "deserves to be here," the owner volunteered.
Phillips had been 0-4 in playoff games during coaching stops in Denver and Buffalo and his rookie season with the Cowboys. In his third season in Dallas, Phillips accomplished what Chan Gailey, Dave Campo and Bill Parcells could not as Cowboys head coaches.
Romo had been 0-2 in the postseason. Remember that bobbled snap on a potential game-winning field goal that might have allowed the Cowboys to eke out a 2006 playoff victory in Seattle? Ancient history. Troy Aikman is no longer the last Cowboys quarterback to win in the postseason.
There was no need to eke out anything against the Eagles. Romo flourished, completing 23 of 35 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. He threw no interceptions.
Romo was aided by Felix Jones, the Cowboys' rushing leader whose 73-yard touchdown run in the third quarter reminded of Emmitt Smith. Coincidentally, Smith served as a smiling, fist-pumping cheerleader for his former team from the comfort of a luxury box. Jones finished with 148 rushing yards on 16 carries.
Smith and former President George W. Bush drew loud cheers when they appeared on the giant video board from the largest crowd to ever witness a non-Super Bowl NFL playoff game.
There had been worrywarts who questioned if the Cowboys could win three games in one season against the same opponent, something they needed to do for the first time to advance. Never have so many worried about what proved to be a cheesesteak-sized speed bump. The Eagles proved barely more competent than they were last week when they lost 24-0 to the Cowboys.
The Cowboys blew open a scoreless game in the second quarter with 27 points thanks to two short touchdown passes by Romo, a short touchdown run by Tashard Choice and two field goals by Shaun Suisham, a free-agent pickup who now has three games on his Cowboys résumé.
The game was never in doubt in the second half.
The only blemish of the second quarter was an Eagles touchdown on a 76-yard pass from reserve quarterback Michael Vick to Jeremy Maclin that tied the game at 7. It was the first touchdown against the Cowboys after consecutive shutouts of the Washington Redskins and the Eagles six days earlier. It was the longest touchdown pass of the season against the Cowboys.
Romo was especially complimentary of the Cowboys defense, which he knows will have to be stalwart against Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson, the Vikings' dangerous running back.
"If you have a defense like we do, you have a chance to win no matter how the offense plays," he said
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We should jump all over Minnesota and get Favre on the run early. If we do this, he will make mistakes. Then, it is just a matter of stopping the rest of their offense. Cowboys should win this one!
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