Les Bowen: Eagles prepare for well-rounded Cowboys offense

WHEN THE PASS-HAPPY Eagles run the ball effectively, as they have the past few weeks, their offensive players are eager to tell you how much of a difference balance makes, how it pushes defenses back on their heels.

This Sunday night, when the Cowboys come to town, we'll see the other side of that coin - Sean McDermott's Eagles defense will be faced with a Dallas offense that in recent weeks has run and thrown very well, with multiple backs and multiple receiving threats. Kinda makes one pine for the old days, Eagles safety Quintin Mikell said yesterday.

"You don't have a guy that wants the ball every play, one guy you can key on,'' Mikell said, referring to a former Cowboy and former Eagle who talked his way out of the Birds' locker room 4 years ago this week. Mikell said Dallas quarterback Tony Romo now "is spreading the ball around to different guys, and they're running the ball more, and everyone is happy. Now it's a team that just wants to win, and that's more dangerous than anything."

The Eagles defense has played well this season, especially given the challenges it has faced at middle linebacker, but the Birds haven't seen a really elite offense since their 48-22 home loss to New Orleans in Week 2. The Giants have the tools to be an elite offense - they currently rank fifth in the NFL - but they certainly weren't playing at that level last week. The Cowboys are ranked second, right behind the Saints.

McDermott seemed concerned about some matchups yesterday - such as the Cowboys' "big hogs up front" against his smaller, quicker defensive line - and the fact that hot-and-cold Romo, very hot the past few weeks, can scramble around and make you look bad on a play you had defensed perfectly.

"I mentioned to the team this morning that part of their success on offense is due in part to those plays. Those Brett Favre-type plays, where he scrambles, the play breaks down, he checks the ball down to a running back, finds a tight end, gains a first down with his feet, or throws the ball down the field, finding a receiver . . . Yards after breakdown, so to speak,'' McDermott said. "I don't know if that's a stat, but he does a great job with it, and we have to be aware of it."

Mikell recalled a play from the Eagles' 44-6 victory in last year's regular-season finale, one of the few that didn't go the Eagles' way.