25 years ago today, the Eagles’ rivalry with the Cowboys and positioning in the NFC East changed forever. In Week 1 of the 2000 season, the Birds headed down to Texas Stadium for a Week 1 matchup with Dallas.
The Eagles were in the second year of the Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb era. 1999 was a little rocky with the team going 5-11 in the duo’s first year in Philadelphia. McNabb was now the franchise guy though and expectations were being thrust upon him as the No. 2 pick in the previous year’s draft.
The offensive line and defense were talented. Improvement was on the horizon.
Dallas, across the field, had a new head coach in Dave Campo. The 1990s had belonged to the Cowboys, who won three Super Bowl titles during the decade, but the franchise was on the downslide from that previous peak. Dallas last won a championship in the 1995 season. They lost in the Divisional Round in the ‘96 playoffs, missed the postseason entirely in ‘97 and then had back-to-back Wild Card losses in ‘98 and ‘99. Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith were still out there, but these were not the same Super Bowl-winning guys they once were.
As the two teams were going in opposite directions, they met in the 109-degree heat. That’s brutal! That advantage would typically go to the home team who may be more used to such extreme early season conditions, but the Eagles had a plan up their sleeves of the briny variety. The Birds drank pickle juice on the field to stay hydrated and prevent cramping. I can’t speak to the scientific veracity of that, but if it even simply helped them from a psychological standpoint to think they were feeling better, it was a worthwhile endeavor for the Birds.
The Eagles also cooked up something special from the jump: an onside kick to begin the game. David Akers executed it perfectly, the Eagles recovered the kick and never looked back. McNabb would throw a touchdown on that drive to break things open, but the star of the day was Duce Staley. The fourth-year running back totaled 201 yards on the ground, plus a touchdown for good measure. Third-year linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, on the way to a First-Team All-Pro nod, added a pick-6 to the mix, too. When all was said and done, it was a 41-14 Eagles romp in Texas.
The balance was shifting between the two teams. Nature was healing.
The Eagles would make their first playoff appearance since 1996 that season and would win their first postseason game since ‘95. McNabb would finish second in MVP voting. The following year would begin a stretch of heights previously unseen for the franchise, as they made four-straight NFC Championship Games, including a Super Bowl berth in the 2004 season. While Reid would never win the big one in Philly, the Eagles reached the playoffs nine times under him. The organization rubric of building through the trenches continued on in the front office with Howie Roseman after Reid and the Eagles parted ways. It became the pillar of their success over the last decades that includes Super Bowl wins of their own. They own the NFC East now.
Life has never been better for Eagles fans. It may also never have been worse for Cowboys fans.
They went 5-11 in 2000, beginning a streak of three consecutive absences from the postseason. Campo didn’t work. Bill Parcels didn’t work. Wade Phillips didn’t work. Jason Garrett didn’t work. Mike McCarthy didn’t work. Brian Schottenheimer now? Well, you can guess how that’s going to turn out as well. Micah Parsons has been traded in embarrassing fashion. All Jerry Jones and the Cowboys have to show for it in the 21st century is a self-indulgent Netflix documentary series. Even Washington, once a laughingstock franchise in their own right, has leapt them in the divisional hierarchy. They haven’t even reached an NFC title game since the ‘95 season.
These are not your father’s Cowboys, nor are they your father’s Eagles. As the Eagles raise a banner in Jerry and the Cowboys’ face on Thursday night, soak it all up and remember how this colossal rivalry shift happened: with some pickle juice.
