Coaching, QB play to blame

Look at the Eagles team that went into Texas Stadium a year ago and battered the Cowboys, 23-7.

Look at the lineup. Look at the players. Look at the starters.

And try to make a case that it's better than this team.

You can't.

Eight of 11 offensive starters and five of 11 defensive starters from Christmas Day a year ago will be starting today, when the Eagles' return to Texas Stadium, most likely to see their final faint flickering hopes for a playoff miracle extinguished.

Here are the changes on offense: Kevin Curtis starts where Donte Stallworth started a year ago, Matt Schobel for L.J. Smith and Donovan McNabb for Jeff Garcia.

Here are the changes on defense: Juqua Thomas for Darren Howard, Brodrick Bunkley for Darwin Walker, Takeo Spikes for Omar Gaither, Gaither for Jeremiah Trotter, Chris Gocong for Dhani Jones and Quintin Mikell for Sean Considine.

The 2006 team — on paper — has a clear edge at tight end with Smith, who's now hurt, and quarterback, where Garcia was playing the kind of inspired, efficient football McNabb doesn't seem able to play anymore.

Everywhere else? Either a push or a superior player in place this year.

Curtis is better than Stallworth, Thomas certainly is in a different world than Howard, Bunkley is a vast improvement over Walker, all three linebackers are playing as well or better than their counterparts last year, and Mikell has been more consistent than Considine.

Yet last year's team owned the Cowboys and this year's team most likely will get hammered today by Dallas for the second time in seven weeks.

And it's not like the Cowboys have overhauled their team since last December. They have two new offensive linemen, a different nose tackle, a new strong-side linebacker and two new defensive backs, thanks to injuries. That's it.

So what forces are at work here that have taken the Eagles from the top of the NFC East to the bottom and turned the Cowboys from a decent team that the Eagles could easily handle into a heavy favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl?

Two simple ones: Coaching and quarterbacking, on both sidelines.

You don't have to change much if you can make dramatic improvements in the two most critical spots in every NFL organization.

For the Cowboys, Wade Phillips of all people — Buddy Ryan's one-time defensive coordinator — has figured out how to calm Terrell Owens down, and his offensive coordinator, Jason Garrett, has turned Tony Romo into one of the most dangerous young quarterbacks in the NFL. The Cowboys replaced a Hall of Fame head coach with one who has an 0-3 lifetime postseason record. And it worked.

For the Eagles, Andy Reid is winding down the worst year of his nine-year coaching career, starting with the lack of a punt returner on opening day in Green Bay, continuing through his insistence on sticking with Winston Justice in the first Giants game and including recurring late-game clock and playcalling issues.

But more than anything, the difference between the Cowboys and Eagles a year apart is the difference between Garcia in 2006 and McNabb in 2007 and the difference between Romo of 2006 and Romo of 2007.

A quarterback is more than just a passer, more than just one guy out of 22. His energy and body language and demeanor affect everybody else on offense, every teammate on the sidelines, even the fans watching in the stands.

Garcia had that certain something that energized a team — and he still has it in Tampa. Romo has it, and it doesn't look like he's going to lose it any time soon. McNabb had it once upon a time and nobody inside the NovaCare Complex seems to have any clue how to get it back.

Garcia and Romo play football like it's the most important thing in the world. McNabb plays like he'd rather be doing anything else.

Just like you can't overstate the affect that a confident, swaggering, popular quarterback has on a team, you also can't overstate the affect of a miserable, disinterested one. Fortunately, you also can't overstate the affect a change can make.

The Eagles transformed from a playoff team into a laughing stock overnight, just as fast as the Cowboys turned from a decent team into a great one. That's the way the NFL is these days. If you make the right moves, you can become a winner instantly.

Sometimes it doesn't even take the right moves.

Just the right move.

PREDICTION: Cowboys 33, Eagles 19