Earlier I mentioned the two loses in 2009, at Oakland 13 to 9 and at home to Dallas 20 to 16. Philadelphia, in both games, kicked a field goal to pull within a touchdown with about four minutes left. After the kickoff, the Eagles defense could not stop either team and the clock ran out. In 2010, the same thing happened at Dallas with happier results and surprising means. The Eagles missed a chance to make things easier by kicking a 17 yard field goal on fourth and one from the Dallas 10 about midway in the fourth quarter. The Eagles now led 30 to 20. How much better that field goal would have been after getting a first down. They could have run four additional plays. Dallas then narrowed the score, 30 to 27.
After the kickoff Michael Vick just simply handed the ball to Shady McCoy. He just ran straight head and Dallas simply could not stop him. There were no fake hand offs, no running around end, or draw plays. Just good basic football with perfect execution consumed four minutes. This was you saw from the Green Bay teams of the 60s, the Dolphins from the early 70s, and the first two of the Super Bows Pittsburgh won in 75-76. This is rare in the NFL today due to the liberalized rules which mostly favor the offense. It still shows how much the basics mean to football.