THE NFL / BILL PLASCHKE : Eagles Are Painfully Aware of Their Alternatives

When defensive tackle Ronnie Dixon was struggling earlier this season, Philadelphia Eagle Coach Ray Rhodes put a warning in his locker.

A package of No Doz.

Dixon spent last season driving a ready-mix concrete truck.

“It was like, one more mistake, and you’re back on that truck,” recalled owner Jeffrey Lurie.

When defensive tackle Kevin Johnson was struggling, he would phone his father in Los Angeles and be reminded of a different item.

A liquor bottle.

Johnson spent last season selling vodka and Scotch in K.R. Liquor, a family-owned store in Inglewood.

“I’m still a little hazy about what has happened to me,” Johnson said this week. “It’s like, damn! am I really playing? Am I really here?”

They are all a little hazy, these misfit and castoff Philadelphia Eagles who will be visiting the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the NFC playoffs Sunday.

Hazy, and desperate.

The favored Cowboys will attack with high-priced stars and single-digit draft picks, and the Eagles will counter with, well, let linebacker coach Joe Vitt explain.

“There was a time this year--we’re playing the Giants in the Meadowlands--when we don’t have one guy on our defensive line who was even in the league last year,” Vitt said. “We’re talking about guys off the streets. Guys who are maybe not the biggest or the best.”

But?

“But guys who work as hard as anybody I have ever seen,” Vitt said. “Spend one day with this team during practice. You’ll feel like you’re in a game.”

The starting guard was cut by the expansion Carolina Panthers in July. The starting tight end was cut by the Indianapolis Colts in August.

The starting quarterback has played for three teams in three years--never being a regular NFL starter.

The starting fullback, three defensive linemen and a nickel defensive back were all out of work for at least a month before signing here.

They are reminiscent of Ray Rhodes, football’s third African American head coach, a man who has succeeded despite a background of poverty and pain.

Rhodes, recently named coach of the year by the Associated Press, tells his players they should compete as if somebody is pointing a loaded .38 revolver at their heads.

Then he hires the sort of player who doesn’t need to be told.

“Ray likes the motivation that comes with knowing [that] the alternative to playing well is to be out on the street, pumping gas,” Lurie said. “That’s how he identifies with himself. That’s what he wants from his team.”

The results have been a surprising 10-6 season, a stunning, 58-37 whipping of the favored Detroit Lions in the first round of the playoffs . . . and another upset of the fat-cat Cowboys this weekend?

Nobody will make any prediction, but the Eagles’ practices in Vero Beach, Fla., this week were as ugly as usual. At least two fights a day. So many bodies flying, players were afraid to stand on the sidelines.

“It’s great fun,” said Johnson, a Westchester High graduate. “Because we all know what else we could be doing.”

A rundown of castoff starters and key role players:

OFFENSE

--Harry Boatswain, right guard: Already a legend in North Carolina for being the second player selected by the Panthers in the expansion draft--and one of the first players cut last summer. Has been a starter only since the 11th game, but team is 5-2 since then.

--Ed West, tight end: Cut by the Colts in August so they could make room for guys named Dilger, Banta and Pollard. The only thing more humiliating would be to lose your job to Moe, Curly and Larry. Now he throws mighty big blocks for the league’s fourth-ranked rushing offense.

--Rodney Peete, quarterback: A career backup who was allowed to walk away from Dallas last year after being summarily booted by the Detroit Lions the previous season. He joined the Eagles with the hopes that Randall Cunningham would disintegrate in the West Coast offense. In nearby Atlantic City, that is known as a sucker bet. Still, he started the final 12 games and, even though he finished as the 13th-ranked passer in the 15-team NFC, the Eagles were 9-3 under his direction.

--James Saxon, fullback: He signed the week before Halloween after spending two months at home, wondering why he had been cut by the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of training camp. No, he never punted. That guy is Mike Saxon. It is questionable which is the better runner, but James has blocked well enough to become a starter.

DEFENSE

--Ronnie Dixon, defensive tackle: He spent last year driving a truck for the S&W; Concrete Ready Mix plant in Clinton, N.C. He returned to football last summer, but his coach was Cleveland’s Bill Belichick. On the verge of being cut, he was traded by the Browns to the Eagles in late August for one of those obscure draft picks that disappears in the washing machine. He threw his 6-foot-3, 292-pound body in the path of Emmitt Smith on Dec. 10, saving a touchdown that might have saved the game against the Cowboys.

--Kevin Johnson, defensive tackle: The K in K.R. Liquors represented his name, but he never thought he would have to work there for a year between football gigs. The Eagles signed him when he was cut by the Raiders but didn’t give him a uniform for a month. In his first game, his two sacks helped preserve a victory over the New York Giants.

--Daniel Stubbs, defensive end: After being crushed by the salary cap in Cincinnati, he spent last season working as part owner of an alternative health-care business that has schools offering instruction in massage therapy, skin care, acupuncture and homeopathic medicine. He may want to give gift certificates to opposing quarterbacks after registering 5.5 sacks this year, even though he didn’t start.

--Kurt Gouveia, linebacker: After eight outstanding seasons with Washington, the Redskins decided he didn’t fit their new image. The Eagles like his dirty-pants techniques just fine. His deflection and interception of a pass by Scott Mitchell last Saturday set up an Eagle touchdown.

--Barry Wilburn, free safety: He played on Washington’s 1992 Super Bowl championship team, but spent three of the last five years out of football. Drug problems sidelined him in 1990 and 1991 and his last substantial work was in Saskatchewan two years ago. He had a key interception return for a touchdown against the Lions.

PLAYOFF PUNCH

The skinny on the four playoff games . . .

--EAGLES AT COWBOYS: With a week to rest their numerous injuries, the Cowboys could be dominant. Forget the Eagles’ victory in Philadelphia last month. If Coach Barry Switzer doesn’t lose his mind on fourth down, the Cowboys will probably win in overtime.

Besides, Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin is furious. Seems he doesn’t think Eagle defensive back Bobby Taylor should have been named NFC defensive player of the week for holding him to three catches for 40 yards in that game.

Particularly since the Eagles double-covered Irvin most of the day.

“Those guys who think Bobby Taylor closed me down, I have no problem with that whatsoever,” Irvin said. “But I will be looking forward to this matchup.”

Cowboys by a bunch.

--GREEN BAY PACKERS at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS: A funny thing happened when Packer Coach Mike Holmgren “guaranteed” a victory against his former team. The 49ers didn’t act mad, they acted uneasy. As if they know Holmgren can do it.

And he can. He will order his defensive backs to knock Jerry Rice and J.J. Stokes on their rear ends. He will ignore the 49ers’ weak running game and instead focus on keeping Steve Young in the pocket.

Then he will rely on the most important weapon for any coach in these playoffs--a hot quarterback. In Brett Favre, he has the hottest. The 49er secondary can, and will, be beaten deep at least once.

Packers by a little.

--BUFFALO BILLS at PITTSBURGH STEELERS: Joe Gibbs, perhaps the best coach ever, thinks the Bills are playing well enough to go to the Super Bowl. And perhaps if they were not playing a defense that can knock Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas out of the game on the same play, they could.

Steeler quarterback Neil O’Donnell will earn his playoff wings. Erric Pegram will give the nation a spelling lesson. Yancey Thigpen will no longer be confused with Charlie Brown’s dusty friend.

Steelers by a handful.

--INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: Better teams than the Colts have crumbled in the intensity of the league’s most intimidating home field. Zack Crockett has had his 15 minutes of fame. Jim Harbaugh has had his three months. See ya.

Chiefs by a bushel.