Last week, after being torched by the Dallas Cowboys, much of the blame for the 41 points surrendered by the Eagles’ defense fell on the 34-year-old shoulders of Brian Dawkins. Eagles fans around the area were saying that the man nicknamed “Weapon X” was too old. The man who has been to six Pro Bowls in his career was washed up and ready for retirement.

Then, like his favorite superhero, Wolverine, Dawkins healed his wounds and led the Eagles defense to what probably will be their most impressive performance of the season. Dawkins contributed five tackles, several quarterback hurries, and one superhuman leap to force a Ben Roethlisberger fumble late in the game.

So does Dawkins actually have mutant healing powers like the X-Men comic book hero?

Not quite, but a defensive game plan that played to his strengths certainly made it seem that way.

Against the Cowboys, Dawkins had to cover Jason Witten, who is the premier tight end in the NFL. Witten is too big for a cornerback to cover, and too talented of a route runner for a safety or a linebacker to stick with him, so naturally, Dawkins looked a step too slow when covering Witten one-on-one.Most teams devote a linebacker and a safety to bracket Witten, but the Eagles focused on stopping Terrell Owens and Marion Barber, so Dawkins was left alone to shut down the Pro Bowl tight end.

Fast-forward six days to the Keystone Clash on Sunday, and Brian Dawkins looked like the five-time All Pro safety that we have grown to love. Against the Steelers, Brian Dawkins played much closer to the line of scrimmage, and was used more frequently in a blitzing role. It’s almost as if Dawkins, who could hit like a linebacker and cover like a cornerback in his younger days, is playing more of a strong safety role, which allows him to keep hitting, but limits the amount of time that he is alone in pass coverage.

No matter what you call his new role on defense, it certainly worked, as the Eagles’ defense recorded nine sacks, three turnovers and a safety against the high-powered Steelers offense.

I will freely admit that Brian Dawkins has been my favorite Eagle for many years, so I certainly hope that this new role allows him to continue being a key player on defense for a few more seasons.

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Quick thoughts:

* I hate to say I told you so, but I hope all of the Donovan McNabb haters saw the first meaningful pass of Kevin Kolb’s career land in the hands of Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu. Let’s hope that McNabb’s chest injury doesn’t linger and that he hangs around Philadelphia for the rest of his career.

* Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson finally realized that he has three of the top cornerbacks in the NFL, which means that he can leave them alone in man coverage, freeing up his linebackers and safeties to get after the quarterback. If he sends seven guys on the blitz, more often than not, the quarterback is going to rush his throw and the outcome will be favorable for the Eagles.

* Why did the Eagles abandon the deep pass against the Steelers? With Brian Westbrook injured, the Eagles needed to stretch the field to open things up for their backup running backs. I can only remember one deep ball in the second half, and that was thrown to Reggie Brown. Maybe they should have tried deep passes to the speedy DeSean Jackson and not to the guy coming off of a hamstring injury.

* The most important stat of the game was not the nine sacks that the Eagles registered, but the 20 yards they allowed on the ground to running back Willie Parker. Parker had 243 rushing yards in his first two games, but the Eagles took away his running lanes, which forced the Steelers to go pass-heavy with an injured and battered quarterback.

* The wide receivers seem to have carved out their roles after three games. Hank Baskett is a first and second down player, while Jason Avant has taken over the role of the possession receiver, using his excellent hands to move the chains.

* Andy Reid has an entire section of plays for Brian Westbrook, but he abandoned them after Westbrook got hurt. Why didn’t he use Lorenzo Booker in place of Westbrook and run the same plays? All we have heard is that Booker can do many of the things that Westbrook can do, so why not let him try?

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Like the “On the Edge” column? Hear more of my opinions about Philadelphia sports every Friday at 3:30 p.m. on WBCB 1490 AM during the Coffee with Kahuna show, where, this week, we will talk about the Eagles/Bears match up, and preview the Phillies’ final series of the regular season. Also, check out my “On the Edge” blog on www.BucksLocalNews.com for more of my thoughts throughout the week.