"OF ALL THE end-game scenarios possible for Sunday night's Eagles visit to Dallas, the most unlikely might have been the one where the Eagles' offense saves the battered, tattered defense by holding the ball for the final 4 minutes and 22 seconds, running LeSean McCoy down the Cowboys' throats.

The Eagles are not known as a running team under Andy Reid, you'll be shocked to learn. The fact that they ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per game coming out of the weekend is often dismissed as the byproduct of Michael Vick's rambling wizardry. Playing into that perception was that McCoy managed just 15 yards on six carries in the first half Sunday.

Afterward, McCoy noted that patience is a virtue. That's particularly true for a running back working under the Reid-Marty Mornhinweg regime. His 10 second-half carries netted 134 yards. The gaudy one was the 56-yarder that set up a field goal, as the Eagles worked back from a 20-14 deficit. But equally critical, and maybe more amazing, were the 12-, 19-, 13-, and 6-yard runs McCoy reeled off in making sure the Cowboys never got a chance for any more Jason Witten touchdowns after they got within 30-27.

This all had something to do with the strength McCoy gained in the offseason, but it also had to do with his blockers. The last drive was stunning, in that Dallas had to be thinking the Eagles wanted to run, though left guard Todd Herremans noted the Cowboys never brought down a safety to try to shore up their "D.""