Ingrained in our DNA, the image will loop forever in the minds of Eagles fans: Brian Dawkins skipping, hopping and crab walking out of the inflated tunnel during player announcements.
Dawk may be gone, but on Friday, leading up to the Eagles' primetime rematch with the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, the team transported the Eagle-head tunnel experience to SEPTA's City Hall station.
Sitting at 3-4 and coming off a bye week filled with Temple fever and wearisome QB speculation, the game represents a make or break moment in the 2015 season. With a win, the Eagles will climb back into first place in the struggling NFC East, where they can effectively bury the Cowboys and control their destiny moving forward.
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Plenty of intrigue is expected – demanded, really – in Sunday's showdown after a 20-10 loss in Week 2 that many felt was one of the absolute worst football games they had ever witnessed. The Eagles managed just 17 rushing yards on 13 carries in that game, missing several chances to storm back against a Cowboys team that lost Tony Romo to a crunching Jordan Hicks hit.
Dallas looked hapless and beatable in their own right – they haven't won a game since – but the "self-inflicted wounds" Eagles players and coaches have discussed ad nauseum at this point zapped all flickers of positive momentum.
This time around, a rested (and still very talented) Eagles squad will have every incentive to embarrass the depleted Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. With two weeks to prepare and seven games of tape to review, the Eagles have no excuse not to come out with a fresh gameplan that builds some new elements into their offense, which so far has lacked the relentless spark and dynamism often credited to Kelly's coaching philosophy.
An impressive win in Dallas without dropped passes would go a long way toward rallying the fans back home. We are officially a World Heritage City now – the only one in the United States of America – and if that means anything immediately concrete at all, it's that the Cowboys cannot be America's team.
Let's hope a little smoke and magic on the streets of Center City can revive the team for a playoff push beginning in Dallas.