Eagles-Cowboys Preview

Let’s put aside the playoff implications and focus on just the game. Both the Eagles and Cowboys are coming off tough losses at home. Both teams enter the season finale battered and bruised after going toe -to-toe with the Ravens and Redskins respectively. The ‘Boys are 3-4 on the road, while the Birds are 5-2 at home. However, the two home losses for Philly came in the division against the Giants and Redskins.

The two teams engaged in a classic shootout back in Week 2 with Dallas winning 41-37. At that time, both the Cowboys and Eagles looked like legit contenders. A lot has changed since then. Now, Dallas needs a win to make the post-season and Philly needs a win and massive help. Both squads have suffered injuries to stars and have been wildly inconsistent throughout the season. What can we expect come 4:15pm Sunday? Difficult to know, but if the Eagles are going to come out on top here’s what they must do:

1) Pressure Romo – The Eagles recorded zero sacks on Romo in the first meeting. Consequently, he sliced n’ diced the secondary for 312 yards, three touchdown tosses and twelve first-downs via the air. Romo, like all signal callers, despises getting hit and people in his face. If the Birds can get after Romo like they did last December in Dallas they will be able to slow down a potent Cowboys offense.

2) Don’t turn it over – Back in Week 2, the Eagles led 37-34 with 9:00 left in the game. It was first and ten from the Cowboys 33 yard line. Then Donovan McNabb flubbed a routine handoff to Brian Westbrook. Dallas took over, marched down the field, and scored the game winning touchdown on a Marion Barber one yard plunge. These kinds of critical mistakes have haunted the Birds all season. They must play error-free football on Sunday if they hope to win.

3) Win the time of possession – During their recent three game win streak the Eagles controlled the clock with a balanced attack that kept opposing offenses on the sideline, enabling the defense to sufficiently rest as games progressed. This trend ended in last week’s defeat to the Redskins. The Birds gave up too soon on the run game and allowed Washington to hold the ball for nearly seven minutes longer. Keeping Romo off the field should be a priority. If the Cowboys are allowed to race up and down Lincoln Financial the Eagles don’t stand a chance.

4) Play with passion – The most maddening aspect of last Sunday’s terrible loss was the lack of passion. The Birds played flat and looked – as Troy Aikman correctly pointed out – disinterested. How could this be when they controlled their own playoff destiny? The ‘Skins didn’t exactly set the house ablaze, which makes the Eagles’ sorry effort even more bothersome. I’ve never understood how professional athletes can fail to get motivated for huge games. If they truly care about winning championships you would think they would have little trouble giving their hearts to claim a victory. Do the Eagles have one more “A” game left in them? We shall see.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have no idea which Eagles team will show up Sunday. The one that crushed the Cardinals and Giants, or the one that looked like zombies a week ago. The one consistent thing about the 2008 Philadelphia Eagles has been their inconsistency. Why should Sunday be any different?