It was a classic clash of two very good teams that no doubt thoroughly entertained a national audience on Monday Night Football.

And of course, for anyone who bleeds green, it ended in classic Eagles fashion. They lost. They weren’t satisfied with leaving a sleep-deprived Delaware Valley in a bad mood this morning. They had to twist the knife, once again seizing defeat from the jaws of victory.

Spare me the talk of silver linings, of how well they played against a team many believe is the best in the NFL, of moral victories.

The stage was set for a huge Eagles’ win, one that could possibly propel them to a “special” season. They may still do that, but they will first have to overcome the thought that they lost a game they could have – and maybe should have – won.

They had the lead and the ball. And they had the ball in the hands of their two best players. With a first and 10 from the Dallas 33 with about 7 minutes left in the game, the Eagles appeared to be ready to drive the final nail into the Cowboys’ coffin. But Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook, both of whom had very good nights, combined for one very bad play. It was supposed to be fake reverse and handoff to Westbrook. But McNabb double-clutched on it and never really got the ball to Westbrook, the next thing you know the ball was on the ground, and Eagles’ fans hearts were in their throats. The Cowboys recover, drive for the key score. The Eagles fail to rally one last time. We’re left talking about moral victories, while the beaming face of Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones fills the screen.

At some point I might be able to think about all the things the Eagles did well last night, and there were lots of them. But operating on a few hours sleep, right now I prefer to look at what they did wrong.

Actually, I have a habit as I watch games. I jot down mistakes or other key parts of the game that I think made the difference. There were no shortage of them Monday night. Such as:

* You settle for field goals early in a game, it always comes back to haunt you. The Eagles got two David Akers field goals and 6 points early in the game when they needed touchdowns. Think that made a difference?

* Sean Considine. How exactly do you get suckered, biting on a play fake on third and 10 when you have deep coverage responsibility on Terrell Owens, who promptly runs right past you on the way to a 72-yard, momentum-changing touchdown on Dallas’ first possession. T.O. had two TD catches, but wasn’t much of a factor late in the game.

* The Eagles have gotten a lot of credit for improving their kick and punt return teams. It might be time to do the same for their coverage squads. Have they managed to tackle Felix Jones yet? He turned still more Eagles momentum around with a touchdown return early in the game and gashed the Birds on kickoff returns all night.

* Brian Dawkins. The guy is an Eagles legend, but his play is starting to belie some of his antics on the field. He got beat most of the night before coming up with a big break-up late in the game.

* Time Management. At the end of the first half, in which they managed to leave enough time on the clock for the Cowboys to get an important field goal, and then again at the end of the game, Andy Reid still has problems mastering the clock.

* At the end of the game, this resembled more an NFC East old-style smash-mouth style of game, and the Cowboys looked more like the muscle team, while the Eagles were trying to finesse their way to a win. Marion Barber just kept bashing the Eagles’ defenders.to

* The Eagles failed for the most part to accomplish their No. 1 goal defensively, put pressure on Dallas QB Tony Romo.

Final score? 41-37 Dallas. The rest of the country is talking about it being a Monday night classic.

Spare me. I’ve seen it before. The Eagles played well. They just didn’t win.

Déjà vu all over again. It wasn’t Tommy Hutton dropping the snap on a sure, chip-shot field goal. But it was close. After all this was Dallas, in maybe the last game the Eagles will play at Texas Stadium.

And it ended the same way too many of these games have.

I think both Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook had great games.

I also think they combined on the most important play of the game.

The play that led to another Eagles loss.

I don’t need the Eagles cheerleaders (not the ones in the cute outfits) to tell me what happened last night, how well the Eagles played and what a great game it was.

I know what happened last night. The Eagles lost. I’ve seen it a million times before.