To put it as simply as possible, last week was a major letdown for Eagles fans. The Birds were red hot going into the game and had a chance to simultaneously beat down their hated rivals and lock up a first-round bye. Unfortunately, not only did they blow their golden opportunity, but they lost in blowout fashion, leaving more questions than answers. If they were able to keep it close or even score at all, there might be something beneficial to take away from this loss.

So now what?

Well, Eagles fans might be trying to find some comfort in the fact that teams don’t often beat their rivals three times in a year – unfortunately, this is only a myth. It will be tough to go back into the palace that Jerry Jones built and beat a good Cowboys team that is peaking at the right time. That is not to say that it cannot be done. If ever there were a coach or a team that can bounce back, it’s the Eagles. Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb have proved time and time again that they can rebound from an ugly loss. You might remember early in the season when the Eagles were still trying to find their identity and lost an ugly game to none other than Jamarcus Russell and the Oakland Raiders. In the next two weeks, they went out and handled a Redskins team that had not yet fallen apart, and a Giants team that was still an NFC favorite. They could have easily gone 1-1 or 0-2 against those two divisional rivals; instead, they persevered and really began improving and developing as a team, which got them to where they are now.

Predicting a winner in this one is far from easy. The only guarantee is that there will not be another lopsided shutout. I think the Eagles will bring their “A” game, and that the Cowboys will once again be focused and ready to accomplish the task at hand. What I do know is that, if the Eagles are to win this game, it will require a gameplan focused around the following three objectives.

1) Competent time management

We all know what happened last week – an unnecessary timeout was called once the Eagles botched their punt coverage. Then, as the half wore down and the Eagles were finally getting into what resembled a rhythm, time ran out and they went into the locker room scoreless and completely deflated. This is the playoffs – there’s no room for juvenile and rookie mistakes that involve mismanaging the clock.

2) Pressure on Romo

As Merrill Reese put it, the Eagles couldn’t get close enough to say “Hi” to Tony Romo last week. He had weeks to drop back, find an open receiver, and rip off chunks of yardage. If the Eagles want to win this game, they’ll need to make Romo uncomfortable and force him to get rid of the football. Not only will this affect his accuracy and leave him prone to hits, it will also present opportunities at turnovers.

3) Capitalize on opportunities

If the Eagles are able to accomplish the first two objectives, they’ll certainly leave themselves opportunities to put points on the board in this game. McNabb needs to be on target, Jeremy Maclin needs to leave the alligator arms at home, and there can’t be any turnovers in the red zone, or at all. When in scoring range, the Eagles will need to come away with touchdowns, or, at the very least, field goals – this means no bad snaps, no interceptions, and no fumbles. If they are able to execute the way they have in the two months prior to last week’s game, they’ll be able to quickly erase the memories of last week’s failure, and will send their rivals home in satisfying fashion.

---SEAN JOHNSON.