Eagles Have Their Eye on Cowboys-Giants Season Opener: A Fan's Preview
By Robert Dougherty | Yahoo! Contributor Network
2012/9/5
The Philadelphia Eagles don't start their season until Sept. 9 against the Cleveland Browns. Yet Eagles fans like myself know full well that the season really begins on Sept. 5. And unlike most of the other 29 teams still waiting around to kick off, there is extra reason for Philadelphia to pay attention to the year's very first game.To reach their big goals, the Eagles will probably need to win the NFC East - and to do that, they must dethrone the defending division and Super Bowl champion New York Giants. But Philadelphia also has to hope that the Dallas Cowboys can't overtake New York first. As such, it will be required viewing in Philadelphia to see Dallas and New York meet on opening night on Sept. 5.
The best hope for the Eagles is that neither of them look good, which could be plausible. Expectations have gone down for the Cowboys recently, with Jason Witten doubtful to play and Miles Austin and Dez Bryant also banged up. Given the two gut wrenching losses the Cowboys suffered to the Giants late last year - which changed the entire direction of the season - Dallas has to hope that New York doesn't have its number.
Yet expectations are also middling for the Giants, despite their championship. Given that they merely caught fire late last season - just like in 2007 - that the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers and Eagles are still in the NFC, and that New York is not an accomplished regular season team, everyone is waiting for the Giants to be revealed as a fluke. If they are, it stands to benefit the Eagles the most - unless the Cowboys actually do something.
With the adrenaline that is bound to rise from the opening ceremonies and Super Bowl memories, the Giants may be poised for a letdown. Or it may fuel them to have their way with the Cowboys again and remind the Packers, 49ers, Eagles and others that they still have the throne. Of course, the last time New York defended a championship, it dominated the 2008 regular season up until Philadelphia knocked it off in the playoffs.Maybe history will repeat itself and the Eagles will finally be the NFC East team that comes from nowhere to win it all. Or perhaps neither the Eagles, Giants nor Cowboys will be factors at all by mid-January - after all, none of them even won 10 games in the last regular season.
Yet if Dallas and New York are bound to make strides, the first signs will come on opening night. Philadelphia won't have a chance to make such a big early impression in Week 1 , since it only visits Cleveland - although its next several tough games will make up for that.
Winning a few of those would prove that the Eagles are ready to overtake the Giants and hold off the Cowboys. But New York and Dallas also have to do their part by looking weaker - so for Philadelphia's sake, the hope is that the 2012 kickoff will end up being a dud.
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