Eagles defense was solid against the Cowboys on Oct. 20, 2013 at the Linc but was a wasted effort in the 17-3 loss. Two of the nine consecutive home losses since Sept. 2012 are against Dallas. Photo by Todd Bauders/contrastphotography.com.

I covered the Eagles 36-21 win over the New York Football Giants at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

Walking back to my car after the game, there were still scores of Big Blue fans hanging out at their cars, vans, SUVs and party buses, most were decked out head-to-toe in Giants gear.

They were solemn and down, as you would expect from any group of fans outside the stadium where the home team had just lost.

I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t every Eagles fan back in Philadelphia like to see this and enjoy seeing the frowning faces of their most bitter rival?”

Giants fans must be used to losing to the Eagles. The Birds have now won nine of their last 11 games against the Giants, including a 6-1 mark in their last seven games in New York.

The most dreadful plays for Giants fans in the history of their regular seasons are certainly all against Philadelphia. The two “Miracle of the Meadowlands” plays represent the most epic collapses in the history of the franchise.

The first was a fumble recovery by cornerback Herman Edwards that he returned for a touchdown at the end of a November 19, 1978 NFL game against Big Blue in Giants Stadium.

The Giants were leading 17-12 and could easily have run out the final seconds; they had the ball, and the Eagles had no timeouts left. For reasons still being debated today, Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik, instead of taking a knee to run out the clock, botched an attempt to hand off the football to fullback Larry Csonka. Edwards picked up the dropped ball and ran 26 yards for the winning score. The play, at one point, was voted by Giants fans as the worst play in team history.

The other “Miracle” occurred on December 19, 2010 when with just under eight minutes to play in the fourth quarter, the Eagles trailing the Giants by 21 points, went on to score four unanswered touchdowns in the final seven minutes and 28 seconds of play, including the final score, a punt returned for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson as time expired. On April 9, 2013, NFL.com readers voted Jackson’s game-winning punt return the greatest play in NFL history.

Dallas Cowboys fan – the other most hated foe – must feel the same way. Although the Cowboys have enjoyed a three-game win streak against the Birds including last Sunday’s 17-3 win at the Linc, they have a mutual distain for Philadelphia.

When former Eagles head coach Andy Reid and his new team, the Kansas City Chiefs, beat the Cowboys 17-16, it was his 18th career win over Dallas. No coach in NFL history has defeated the Cowboys that many times. Obviously 17 of those wins were earned while he was running the Birds’ sideline. Reid coached the Eagles from 1999 to 2012 posting a 17-11 mark against the Cowboys during his days in the NFC East.

One of the most humiliating losses in Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman’s career came in the 2000 season opener against the Eagles in Dallas.

Reid opened the game with an on-sides kick that worked.

Using repeated blitzes to harass Aikman, and a great offensive scheme led by Duce Staley, plus pickle juice to fight the heat, Philadelphia crushed the Cowboys 41-14.

One of Donovan McNabb’s two greatest plays came against the Cowboys. In 2004 in Dallas, McNabb avoided it seemed like every player wearing a Cowboys uniform for 14 seconds then heaved a 60-yard bomb to Freddie Mitchell.

In 1995, at Veterans Stadium, the Eagles stopped Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith on a fourth-and one – Twice.

In 1991 the Birds defense – one of the best of all time – recorded 11 sacks on Aikman. Other great Eagles plays against the Pokes include the 104-yard interception return for a touchdown by James Willis who lateraled to Troy Vincent who scored.

And of course Buddy Ryan’s 1987 revenge game against Dallas, who had rolled his replacement team earlier in the season. Ryan also stirred the rivalry when Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson accused Ryan of putting a bounty on several Cowboys including Aikman and Kicker Luis Zendejas. It goes on and on with these two teams over the last 35 years.
What has kept these rivalries from reach their potential is that fact that the Cowboys and Giants have won multiple Super Bowls.

Dallas won three titles in the nineties and have appeared in eight Super Bowls, winning five overall. The Giants have been to five Super Bowls and won four the most recent was just two seasons ago.

The Eagles have been to exactly two Super Bowls and lost both, the most recent in 2005 in Jacksonville where McNabb and company lost to the New England Patriots 24-21.

The best rivalry in Philadelphia Pro sports history was between the Sixers and Boston Celtics in the 70s and 80s. What made that rivalry great was the fact that both teams were championship contenders every year and that each team won at last one title during that period.

The Eagles have great rivalries with the Giants and Cowboys, and the Birds have earned more than their share of in-your face plays and games…some of the best of all time.

But until they win a Super Bowl, all the Eagles represent – as far as relevance to the Cowboys and Giants – is about the same an annoying little brother.

References: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.