One more elephant in the room

Allow me to cover the one game Tony didn't: The Sunday nighter.

Turns out ol' Andy Reid yet again forgot the basic principles of professional sports in yet another fourth quarter. "What," you ask? Oh, just the little matter of giving his team an honest chance to win. Yeah, that.

The Philly coach — the man with the quickest trigger in the City of Brotherly Love — cracked again in the second half, getting rid of the challenge flag from his pocket like it was a garden salad.

Of course, Reid challenged two plays, lost both, and burned two timeouts in the process. What he didn't seem to realize is what he never seems to realize: You need your timeouts in the fourth quarter to win close games. Hmm. Novel concept.

But let's say we cut the guy a break. He already took criticism here on the chin like a glob of mayo two weeks ago. And maybe his coaches saw something on replay we didn't. Maybe he blacked out momentarily and daydreamed that throwing the flag ordered him two helpings of General Tso's. Either way, fine. But down seven points, Reid opted to kick a 52-yard field goal with 4:27 left, leaving his team down four and with NO TIMEOUTS.

Should I tell you the Eagles never sniffed the ball again? Did you even need the heads up?

Here's what Reid passed up: fourth-and-11 at the Dallas 34. Go for it and Philly gives itself a chance to tie. Worst-case scenario and the Cowboys take over at the 34. Instead, they had the ball at 23 after the kickoff, an insignificant 11-yard difference. In fact, had David Akers — less than 50 percent for his career from 50-plus — missed the field goal, Reid would've looked even more foolish.

The result of the kick shouldn't change that. Dallas picked up a pair of first downs (not exactly a stunner) and the Eagles were history. Of course, Reid, who may as well own the team at this point, turned snippy when asked about the decision.

"Listen, I thought we could hold them with four minutes left and come back and win the game, but it didn't work out that way," he said.

Listen, it never does, Andy. It never does. But you keep tossing that flag.