By Michael McCarthy
President Harry Truman probably wasn’t thinking about the Eagles and the Cowboys when he put history into perfect perspective:
“The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.”
With that in mind, what is the history of the Birds’ rivalry with the dreaded Cowboys, with special emphasis on whether the team that won the first game in a season can win the second.
Lucky for us, Mark Eckel of the Trenton Times, writes.
Going back to 2000 whenever the Eagles have won the first game of the series by 10 points, or more, they have won the second game. Some of those have been closer and others have been by an even wider margin. But the bottom line is throughout the years when the Eagles have dominated the first game, they have won the second one as well.
Less than two weeks ago the Eagles hammered Dallas, 33-10. The Eagles and Cowboys, tied for first place in the NFC East, play again Sunday, at Lincoln Financial Field.
It started in 2000, when Andy Reid’s team beat the Cowboys, 41-14, in the season opener that became known as “The Pickle Juice Game.” They met two months later in Philadelphia and the Eagles won in overtime, 13-10.
The following season, the Eagles won 40-18 early in the year and then 36-3 later in the year. And again in 2002, the scores were 44-13 and 27-3.
The Eagles lost the first game in ’03, before gaining a split. During their Super Bowl run of 2004, the Eagles beat the Cowboys, 49-21, in Week 9 and then held on for a 12-7 win in Week 14 when wide receiver Terrell Owens suffered a broken leg.
Dallas swept in ’05 before the trend continued in ’06. The Eagles beat Dallas, 38-24, early in the season and came back to beat the Cowboys again, 23-7, in the next-to-last game of the season.
There were splits in ’07 and ’08, with Dallas winning the first game both years; and the Cowboys pulled off the only three-game sweep in the series history in 2009 when they beat the Eagles twice during the season and again in the opening round of the playoffs.
After a split in 2010, the trend continued again in 2011 when the Eagles won 34-7, and again 20-7.
With first place in the NFC East in the balance, Sunday, the Eagles would like to see it continue again this season.
