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Fifteen years ago — in the midst of a 2011 Eagles season dubbed and anticipated as “the Dream Team” the Eagles squared-off with the Dallas Cowboys. The high expectations for Philadelphia had not come to fruition — arriving at the midseason matchup with Dallas at a 3–4 record. But a game with the Cowboys is satisfying no matter how the season is going.
The circumstances that bring Dallas to Philadelphia on Monday night are much like 2011. A team with Super Bowl hopes in the pre-season is now trying to save itself from the potential of a Holiday season possibly out of the playoffs. The Head Coach — once lauded for bringing the franchise back to prominance — is on the hot seat. And injuries had changed the trajectory of the season in a big way.
Sometime in the 1970s — the Eagles and Cowboys rivalry was born — partly due to Eagles Head Coach Dick Vermeil who knew that the Eagles would need to beat the Cowboys at some point to get to a Super Bowl. Since then — we’ve had 4th and 1, snowballs thrown at Jimmy Johnson, and even a Bounty Bowl or two. We even had to endure 237 yards rushing by Emmitt Smith on Halloween at The Vet in a rainstorm on Halloween of 1993.
Within four years of his arrival, Dick Vermeil’s Eagles were in the 1980 NFC Championship Game. They hadn’t just had a good year, but an upward improvement, taking them to one of the best teams in the NFC. The excitement culminated with a 42-yard Wilbert Montgomery run against the Dallas at Veterans Stadium that the rival Cowboys never recovered from. The Eagles would lose Super Bowl XV to the Oakland Raiders that year. Within three years — Dick Vermeil exhausted from coaching — would resign.
The Cowboys arrive in Philadelphia for a Monday night matchup with both teams facing adversity. Once again — despite Jerry Jones’ investments — the Cowboys have started the season at 2–4. For the Eagles who post the same record — it’s an opportunity to stop a four-game losing streak with a marquee win against a divisional rival — despite being decimated by injuries.
The 2011 Eagles did beat the Cowboys 34–7 one day before Halloween in 2011. LeSean McCoy would rush for 185 yards and two scores. It would be one of the final marquee wins of the Andy Reid era in Philadelphia.
And the Eagles had beaten the Cowboys.
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