• For Eagles fans, one of the highlights of the always-entertaining Buddy Ryan era occurred Oct. 25, 1987, at Veterans Stadium against the much-hated Dallas Cowboys.

Two weeks earlier, the Cowboys had defeated the Eagles 41-22 in a game that featured replacement players during the three-week players' strike.

All of the Eagles' regulars went out on strike, with Buddy's full support. The Cowboys team that beat the Eagles included seven regulars, including Danny White, Tony Dorsett, Randy White and Ed "Too Tall" Jones.

Buddy was not amused.

"I just played the hand I was dealt," Cowboys coach Tom Landry said.

The teams' next meeting was the first game after the end of the strike. The Eagles took control in the second half and apparently were running out the clock with a 30-20 lead in the final seconds.

In the final seconds, quarterback Randall Cunningham took the snap and started to kneel down. Instead, he stood up and threw a deep pass to Mike Quick, drawing a 32-yard pass-interference penalty that put the ball at the 1. Keith Byars scored on the next play, the last one of the game, to make the final score 37-20.

"I just played the hand I was dealt," he said with a chuckle.

Two years later, on Thanksgiving Day, that hand included the Eagles' Jessie Small leveling Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas in the infamous Bounty Bowl, a 27-0 Eagles victory at Texas Stadium.

A footnote to the story: Zendejas was the Cowboys' kicker during the three replacement games in 1987. He kicked for the Eagles for parts of the 1988 and 1989 seasons before returning to the Cowboys.

With that bit of history in mind, do you think things might get interesting when Buddy's son, Rex Ryan, now the head coach of the Jets, and his team face the Patriots next season?

Last Sunday, the Patriots were leading the Jets 31-14 in the late going. Rather than run out the clock, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw a deep pass for Randy Moss with 30 seconds left in the game.

The pass was incomplete, but Rex was not happy.

"We need to stop them anyway, so it's no biggie," he said. "But I was surprised, and I did feel a little bit disrespected."

Tip to Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski: Keep your head up after kicking off against the Jets next season.

• Strange but true: The four NFC East teams have only four wins this season over teams that currently have a winning record.

The Cowboys beat the Eagles (6-4), the Redskins beat the Broncos (7-4), the Eagles beat the Giants (6-5) and the Giants beat the Cowboys (8-3).

The Redskins, Cowboys and Eagles are all 1-3 in games against teams that currently have a winning record. The Giants are 1-5.

• Stranger but still true: The four AFC East teams are 1-12 in games against teams that now have a winning record.

The lone win was the Jets' victory over the Patriots (7-3) in September.

The Patriots have played two games against teams that now have a winning record: the Broncos and the Colts.

The Broncos, of the AFC West, are 5-2 against teams that currently have a winning record. The only other teams with a winning record in such matchups: the Colts (2-0), Saints (2-0), Bengals (3-1), Vikings (2-1), Steelers (3-2) and Chargers (3-2).