On a cold, windy night in South Philadelphia, the Eagles dispatched a pretty good Houston Texans team that is in a fight to make the playoffs. The Texans fell to 5-7 and now trail the division leading Jaguars by 2 games. But for Philly, they improved to 8-4 and remained tied for first place, but have destiny in their own hands and if they continue to win, the Birds will be in the playoffs come January. They have two tough road games against NFC East rivals in the next two weeks. First they travel to Dallas, but have 10 days to prepare or rest as Andy Reid gave the team off until Wednesday. Then the game that will almost certainly determine the division winner as the Eagles will play those New York Football Giants at the new Giants Stadium. These two very physical games loom on the horizon, but if they can win both, they will not only be in great position for the playoffs, but also be in position for a first-round bye. Win these two games and maybe those last two games are also gimmies as they should not matter much to their opponents either as Minnesota and the Dallas Cowboys will both have nothing to play for as the season ends for both franchises. Both games will also be play at the Linc in abnormally cold winter conditions. That first round bye would be pretty important to the Eagles as Michael Vick, DeSean Jackson and Asante Samuel all need some rest. And then that unlucky playoff team would have to face a well-rested Vick-led team at the Linc.

After a touch game last week in Chicago, Vick rediscovered his magic, completing 22 of 33 passes for 302 yards, 2 TD’s and an INT, plus Vick added a rushing TD along with 48 rushing yards. Vick got Philadelphia out to a quick start as the Eagles jumped out to a 17-3 lead on their first 3 possessions. Last week, they were trailing 14-3 against the Bears. Eventually, they were down 31-13 in the fourth quarter. Vick led a furious comeback that just fell short. Last night was different as the Birds’ first two drives ended with touchdowns; the first went 88 yards in 11 plays and the second went for 72 yards also in 11 plays. LeSean McCoy scored both TD’s, the first one as Michael Vick rolled out of the pocket to his left (his throwing side) and easily found McCoy wide-open for the easy 1-yard score. The second McCoy TD was a simple off-tackle 4-yard run. And even though their third possession ended with a 36-yard FG, Vick still looked good finding Jeremy Maclin on 2 long passing plays of 34 and 12 yards respectively. The Eagles added another FG just before halftime after Texans QB Matt Schaub found a wide-open Trevor Laws as the Eagles DT surprisingly held onto the intercepted pass and rumbled for another 13 yards before he was stripped, but it was recovered by the Eagles Trevard Lindley. If not for a couple of dropped passes for easy TD’s, one by Jason Avant (again) and the other by Brent Celek, the Eagles could have had an even larger lead than just 20-10 going into the locker room.

Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub had okay numbers at halftime, as he completed 6-of-13 passes for 117 yards with the 1 TD and 1 INT. Schaub came out on fire to start the second half. The Texans first possession in the third quarter ate up 6:11 off the clock as Houston drove the field for 79 yards on 11 plays. The coup de grâce came as the NFL’s leading rusher in Arien Foster ran the last 13-yards for the TD to cut the Eagles lead to 20-17. After a few more plays, Vick tried to go deep to Maclin, but the Texans Jason Allen made a great diving catch as he intercepted the Vick pass at his own 14-yard line. The play essentially ended up as a long punt with no return. The Eagles defense however, could not stop the Texans as they drove the entire field again, which once again ended with another Foster TD run and then all of the sudden, Houston led 24-20 with 54 seconds left in the third quarter. Being there live, it started to feel a little colder as Houston stunned the Eagles a bit. But Philadelphia was not finished quite yet.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Texans place-kicker Neil Rackers botched the kickoff as the ball ended up with Clay Harbor returning the ball out to the 40-yard line. Michael Vick took the good field position and quickly drove the offense quickly towards another scoring drive. He found Jackson open for a long 33-yard completion. Two plays later, Vick was diving into the end zone and Philly retook the lead at 27-24. Then the Eagles defense stiffened and forced a punt. The Eagles retook possession on their own 28-yard line with just over 10 minutes left in the game. Andy Reid surprised us all with some ball-control offense. McCoy led the attack as he took a short screen pass and gained 40 yards down to the Houston 29-yard line. In came Jerome Harrison and the newest running back bashed his way to a first down on 2 straight runs. That setup the game’s clinching play as the Eagles had a 3rd-and-19 situation after two penalties. Vick completed a pass to Brent Celek short of the first down marker, but the tight end made a valiant effort as he twisted his body to a first down. And though the officials originally ruled Celek short, Reid finally threw the red hanky to challenge the call on the field as his players begged him to do just that. And the zebras agreed as they awarded the Eagles with first-and-goal from the 5-yard line. Vick then ran to his left and easily completed a short pass to a wide-open Owen Schmitt for the backbreaking TD and the Eagles were well on their way to a 34-24 victory. Next up are those unpredictable Dallas Cowboys, but the Eagles will have plenty of rest before the game next Sunday night at the new Jerry Jones palace.