Last night the Philadelphia Eagles went into Texas stadium for the last time. They’ve played many amazing games in the stadium over the past 30 years or so, but none quite this one. In the end, it was a 41-37 loss, to their most bitter rivals, the Dallas Cowboys but in truth it was a game to build on.

In probably the most memorable Monday Night Football game in some time, the Eagles and Cowboys changed leads on 7 different occasions. Their were hard hits, fumbles in the endzone, boneheaded plays, beautiful deep passes, lots of yardage and every player left it all on the field. Led by Tony Romo, the Cowboys immediately made their mark with their first possession. Trailing 3-0 after the Eagles opened with a field goal on their drive, the Cowboys countered with a 72 yard bomb in which Sean Considine and Sheldon Brown dropped coverage on Terrell Owens.

After David Akers second field goal, the Eagles kicked the ball to Felix Jones who promptly ran it back 98 yards for another Dallas TD and 14-6 lead. It was apparent that this was going to be high scoring affair and that the Birds were in trouble. But Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook drove the Eagles down the field. On a pass from McNabb towards the end zone, Greg Lewis did a remarkable job of duping the ref’s into thinking he was being held, when it was in fact Lewis that was doing the holding. This led to a McNabb to Westbrook 6 yard TD Pass to bring the Eagle to within 14-13.

The next series started with the Cowboys deep in their own territory and Romo made a classic miscue of fumbling the snap in the end zone which was recovered by Chris Gocong for an Eagles TD.

Romo came back on the ensuing series however and reconnected with T.O. for another TD, this one after a long drive got them to the Eagles 4 yard line.

And then the game started getting really weird. On, a play that will be remembered for the rest of his career, DeSean Jackson, the Eagles rookie sensation took in a beautiful over the shoulder pass from McNabb and simply dropped the ball at the 1 yard line as he ran into the end zone with an apparent TD. Dallas Challenged and fortunately for the Eagles, they got the ball back at the 1 where Westbrook punched it in for a 30- 21 lead. At the half, the score was Eagles 30- 24 and the commentators on ESPN were already praising it as one of the best ever.

The second half was a much different place, with both offenses utilizing the run more often and Marion Barber taking control of the pace. However, it was not until a McNabb to Westbrook hand off flub fell into the hands of Dallas, who promptly took their first turnover downfield for a TD and 41-37 lead.

McNabb and the Eagles were shut down by the Cowboys to end the game. Dallas won the game, but it is my thought that Eagles put the rest of the league on notice. McNabb is healthy, he’s got a brand new, albeit immature weapon in Jackson, and of course Westbrook. Putting this game in perspective, The Eagles have a lot to build on. They go on to face the Steelers next week, which should be a great test to see how they respond, but they’ve certainly given us reason to hope.