NFL Nfc East

On the eve of a Sunday night NFC East showdown in Philadelphia, the Cowboys have gotten some bulletin board material via a comparison of their franchise and the Eagles. Strangely enough, the inflammatory statements weren't made by anyone with current ties to the Eagles, but by Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.

Harbaugh, a former Eagles assistant, was asked for a new book what made the Eagles more successful than the Cowboys over the last 10 years. Matt Mosley of ESPN.com shares the answer.

Former Redskins player John Riggins has been increasingly critical of current Redskins owner Dan Snyder over the course of the 2009 season. Most recently he took to Showtime's Inside the NFL to air his grievances against Snyder and the Redskins.

Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache, who apparently is an ardent Snyder supporter, took some serious issue with Riggins and his constant criticism. So serious an issue, in fact, that the Redskins sent out an incredibly lengthy press release courtesy of Blache early Thursday afternoon.

In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.

So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...

In what has been an incredibly disappointing 2009 campaign, to this point, maligned Redskins owner Daniel Snyder had been noticeably quiet. This movement was pretty shocking because, in the past, Snyder has been a relatively vocal and hands-on owner. His silence opened the door for all kinds of theories as to why he wasn't talking and what he may have been planning.

Tuesday, he finally said a few words about his 2-5 'Skins, who -- in addition to having to climb out of a crater-sized hole in the NFC East -- face a much tougher schedule than they've already played. He managed to come off sounding like a caring and remorseful owner.

PHILADELPHIA -- Mike Alvarez is a lifelong Philadelphian with a Cole Hamels haircut and a vintage maroon Phillies cap who spent his Sunday in a parking lot. Alvarez didn't have tickets to the Eagles-Giants game in the afternoon. He didn't have tickets to the Phillies-Yankees World Series game at night. What he did have was a parking space for his truck, a seemingly bottomless supply of beer and enough slightly slurred wisdom to know that there was no place he would have rather been than this particular parking lot on this particular day, surrounded by his fellow Eagles and Phillies fans.

"They got flat-screens over there," Alvarez said, waving his beer can in the direction of a nearby RV. "Everybody's grilling food. I've made a ton of new friends. What more could you want?"

Next week there will be a game between the two best teams in the NFC East, and it's not going to involve the defending division champion New York Giants. In beating the Giants to a pulp Sunday, 40-17, the Eagles -- and the Dallas Cowboys, who beat Seattle at home -- have sent the G-Men back to third place. New York has now lost three straight games, while the Eagles won their second in a row after an embarrassing loss in Oakland.

Leading the way for the Eagles was Donovan McNabb, who barely broke a sweat in destroying the Giants' patchwork secondary. He completed 17-of-23 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. He continues to show a strong chemistry with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek, who combined for 11 catches, 186 yards and three scores.

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After entering the National Football League in 1996 as a third-round selection, Terrell Owens has put up some big-time numbers in his 14-year career.

He's the NFL's active touchdown leader with 142 scores. He's second among active receivers to Isaac Bruce with 14,364 career receiving yards. He's also been a six-time Pro-Bowler. But, when asked what his goal for 2009 entailed, Owens didn't shoot for the moon like you would expect a player with his accolades to do. In fact, all Owens wants to do is outperform Dallas wide receiver Roy Williams.

After sustaining an ankle injury on the first play of the second quarter Monday night, Redskins tight end Chris Cooley will reportedly miss the remainder of 2009. The Pro Bowl tight end will finish his season with 29 catches (a career low), 332 yards and two touchdowns, as he hauled in a pair of passes for 21 yards before leaving with the injury Monday night in the Redskins' 27-17 loss to the Eagles.

Head coach Jim Zorn would not confirm that Cooley's year is over, but did note that Cooley will "be out for a while."

""He's got a break in his ankle," Zorn said. "It's on the inner side of his tibia. I haven't seen the X-rays yet, but we're quite certain it's broke or fractured in some way; we'll have a better diagnosis tomorrow."

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The Jim Zorn watch is officially on, and Monday night we get to watch the drama unfold as the Redskins host their NFC East rivals from Philadelphia. As always, we'll be discussing all of the action in our Monday Night Football Live Chat, and the fun starts at 8:30 PM ET, so please stop by and join us.

Now that Drew Brees has revealed he would have joined the Miami Dolphins back in 2006 as a free agent had they trusted his throwing shoulder was healed, had they believed in him, here comes Brees for an encore visit on Sunday to Miami.

I think the Dolphins and quarterback Chad Henne know the score.

They know that Henne will enter into a scrap with Brees where Henne had better light it up or be lit up.