Irrelevant loss for Birds

Cowboys 14, Eagles 13

The only drama yesterday afternoon revolved around the out-of-town scores. As the Eagles trotted out reserves against Dallas, the regulars stuck to the scoreboard like glue, patiently waiting to see who would be landing in Philly next week. The answer came late in the fourth quarter, when the Packers put the finishing touches on a 10-3 win to claim the NFC’s final playoff spot.

“I was excited to get the Packers,” safety Quintin Mikell said. “This team coming in here, on our home turf, we got to look at it as a revenge game.”

The Eagles, who started just five regulars (Moise Fokou, Dimitri Patterson, Max Jean-Gilles, Jeremy Maclin, Owen Schmitt), suffered a 14-13 loss on a rainy, misty, emotionless day at the Linc.

Kevin Kolb played all four quarters and finished 18-of-36 for 162 yards with one touchdown for a 37.0 QB rating. The quarterback also fumbled it away and chucked three interceptions. Kolb’s second-quarter fumble led to the Cowboys’ first score.

“I didn’t play very well myself,” Kolb said. “The good thing is that we’re playing next week, first round of the playoffs.”

Three things to watch next week

1 The rematch: It’s only fitting that the Birds and Packers should meet in the wild-card round. It was a Week 1 hit from Clay Matthews that knocked Kevin Kolb out and launched the MVP candidacy of Michael Vick. Following that 27-20 opening loss, Vick said he thought the Eagles could’ve won if he had played all four quarters. Now, the quarterback gets a chance to back all that swag.

2 Grounded for life: The recipe for beating the Packers seems to be running it down their throats. Green Bay’s defense ranks 19th in the NFL against the run. Even tiny Danny Woodhead gashed them for 59 yards. Andy Reid loves to abandon the run, but he’d better be prepared to ride LeSean McCoy in this one.

3 Corner of concern: Who starts at corner vs. Green Bay opposite Asante Samuel? Dimitri Patterson got the start yesterday, but the fact that Joselio Hanson sat out with the regulars may mean the job is his. Either way, Sean McDermott’s unit ranks 16th against the pass and 22nd in points allowed.