Shutouts are 'great stepping stone'
No need to congratulate the Cowboys for such an impressive feat.
"To be frank, we don't really care about that," said Pro Bowl nose tackle Jay Ratliff, whose fumble recovery killed the Eagles' only legitimate scoring threat. "We still haven’t accomplished the goal that we all want to accomplish.
"I think this is a great stepping stone for us as far as what we can get done, but there are still some things that we can get better at. We did make some mistakes tonight. We’re going to look at those mistakes and fix them. I’m pretty sure Philly is looking at it."
OK, but it's impossible not to be impressed with a defense that allowed the fewest points in the NFC and has gotten progressively better throughout the season.
With five new starters, that sort of improvement was to be expected. First-year starters OLB Anthony Spencer and CB Mike Jenkins have developed into dominant players. And Wade Phillips has found a way to maximize the talent at his disposal.
"When you have a system that’s held up over the years and had a lot of success, when you have great players, when you have great players that believe in the system and believe in each other, man, that’s powerful," linebacker Keith Brooking said. "I think you’re starting to see that come to fruition now."
Tim MacMahon
ESPNDallas.com- Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
- Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
- Worked at Dallas Morning News for six years
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Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
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