For the second straight week, his name is going into the Eagles' record book for a significant accomplishment, but it is fair to wonder if he is also in the process of writing the final chapter of his Philadelphia story.

Dawkins' interception against the Arizona Cardinals on Thanksgiving night was his 34th, tying him with defensive backs Bill Bradley and Eric Allen for the team record. When he takes the field Sunday at Giants Stadium, he will share the team record for career games at 180 with receiver Harold Carmichael.

"Those things do mean a lot to me," the six-time Pro Bowl safety said. "It's just hard to kind of celebrate them because you're still in the midst of a tough season and in the midst of a career. To know that I will be the one standing, Lord willing, to have played the most games for this organization is a huge accomplishment for me. To know I'm finally jumping over Harold is even a bigger one."

No current professional athlete has been in the city longer than Dawkins, whose career with the Eagles started in 1996, when Jim Fregosi still managed the Phillies. Dawkins is motivated by the fact that he does not have a contract beyond this season, but that is a matter for another time.

"I don't know how it could not be [motivation], but I would love to tell you that the final game of this season, I would want it to be one special way, and that's carrying a trophy out with a ring," Dawkins said. "My focus, my attitude, my thoughts . . . everything is leaning toward that. Whatever that takes out of me, it takes out of me, but that's what I'm trying to do for this team.

"Hopefully, that will be enough so that we can be that last team standing. It's not going to be easy. We know that. We dug ourselves a big hole. But like I said, I like what I'm feeling from this locker room right now."

Anybody who watched Dawkins play Thanksgiving night should be leery of writing off the safety as finished at 35, a subject he has addressed several times this season. Dawkins' attention-grabbing plays came in the final quarter, when he forced an Anquan Boldin fumble that the Eagles recovered to destroy any hope Arizona had of a comeback. He later intercepted a Kurt Warner pass with the game out of reach.

He was active the entire game, finishing with seven tackles and three pass knockdowns.

"I guarantee you if he's not playing here, he'll be playing somewhere else," cornerback Sheldon Brown said. "He can play."

Brown knows that some Eagles fans come just to see Dawkins play, too.

"The emotion and intensity he brings alone excites the fans," Brown said. "He excites people the way those Tyson fights used to excite people. A lot of people just come to see him."

Strong safety Quintin Mikell said he cannot imagine the Eagles' locker room without Dawkins.

"As long as I've been here, when you think of the Eagles, you think of No. 20 [Dawkins] and No. 5 [Donovan McNabb]. [Dawkins] has been instrumental in my career over the years, so I don't even want to think about that.

"We all took offense, especially me, when people were attacking him earlier this year. People don't understand that he's still a good player. He's still a great player. I don't think age has anything to do with it. He's been able to do a lot of things that a lot of guys can't do. He's proven that. People have bad games . . . and I feel like he was wrongly being singled out because of his age. He has proven he can still do it, and that game showed it. I think he needs to retire an Eagle. I would like him to retire an Eagle. He's the man."

Dawkins clearly wants that, too, but what he wants even more is to beat the New York Giants on Sunday.

"It would be a lot easier to let your mind wander and [worry about a contract] if we were, let's say, the Giants and we had everything pretty much locked up," Dawkins said. "I have no room to let my mind wander anywhere besides that big offensive line and those big backs coming my way. That's what I'm thinking about right now."

Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577

or bbrookover@phillynews.com.