The Eagles converted five third downs before Vince Young's scoring pass to Riley Cooper made it an even six third downs converted. They picked up yards in small chunks rather than the large gulps we are accustomed to seeing from the Eagles.
It was a blueprint for what you want an offense to be in the fourth quarter: Efficient, confident and able to sustain drives and eat up a lot of the game clock.
Is it, the question begs to be asked, the blueprint for the Eagles moving forward, especially if Vince Young gets his second start of the season and both Michael Vick and Jeremy Maclin miss their second consecutive games because of injuries?
Neither Vick nor Maclin practiced on Thursday, so there is the very real possibility that both will sit out against New England. That is not great news for a team that figures it has to score big points to defeat the high-powered Patriots offense.
It's fair to say that the Eagles have to be at their very best against New England, a 7-3 team that is peaking at just the right time for the stretch run in the AFC East. New England has a championship pedigree and the Patriots just don't give games away.
The Eagles have not been as air tight. This has been a season of giving games away, blowing fourth-quarter leads and coming out too many times minus a lot of satisfaction.
That can all change with a win against the Patriots. And you wonder what the offensive approach will be.
Young really warmed up to the task on Monday night, completing 16 of his last 19 passes. He found his rhythm and his timing and was much more accurate as the game progressed. New England's defense has its holes, but the Patriots create takeaways with an ever-changing scheme and opportunistic hands.
How do the Eagles attack New England's defense? Do they nickel and dime the defense and use short passes and a lot of LeSean McCoy runs to move the chains? Or do they try to stretch things early with DeSean Jackson (who practiced on Thursday) and the passing game? Do they run tight ends Brent Celek and Clay Harbor down the seams to make big plays?
At one point this year the Eagles looked like they would fashion a fast-break offense with speed to kill. At times, they've played that way and have had that kind of big-play success. The Dallas game was evidence of that.
But too many mistakes -- turnovers, primarily -- have dulled the effectiveness of the offense. The Eagles now are trying to find their personality, their go-to series of plays, to consistently put points on the scoreboard.
I think this is a game in which the Eagles can really get McCoy involved on the perimeter in the pitch game and in the passing game. He needs a lot of touches, and while that means he is going to have to come back on Thursday in Seattle and do it again without a lot of rest, well, there is no tomorrow to play for if the Eagles lose games.
Give McCoy his 25-30 touches. Use the short passing game and move the pocket for Young, should he be the starter. Make sure Jackson gets his hands on the football and use that shallow-cross passing game that worked so well against the Giants.
Most of all, don't force anything. No turnovers. Minimal mistakes. It's only way to keep pace with New England and to have a chance to beat the Patriots. The Eagles won't be perfect, of course, but they have to be as close as possible to that. They have to take their game up a full notch to beat the Patriots.
The season is on the line, again. New England is the best team remaining on the schedule. The challenge is clearly there for an Eagles team hoping to get back into the playoff race for real.
