Last Updated on December 9, 2010 4:22 am by Anthony Rome
Eagles vs. Cowboys Preview
ARLINGTON, TX (AP) – After losing three times to the Dallas Cowboys last season, the Philadelphia Eagles were probably glad they didn’t see their NFC East rivals on the first half of their 2010 schedule.
Turns out that may have been the ideal time to catch them.
Dallas has won three of four since Jason Garrett took over as interim coach, a surge Michael Vick and the first-place Eagles hope to stop Sunday night as they visit the Cowboys for the first of two meetings in the season’s final four weeks.
According to latest NFL odds, oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com have made the Eagles 3.5-point spread favorites for Sunday’s game against Eagles. Current NFL Public Betting Information shows that 74% of more than 9,680 bets for this game have been placed on the Eagles –3.5.
Philadelphia (8-4) lost by four at home to Dallas in 2009, but was blown out in its first two visits to the new Cowboys Stadium. A 24-0 rout Jan. 3 ensured that Dallas would host the teams’ NFC wild-card meeting the following week, when the Cowboys ended the Eagles’ season with a 34-14 victory.
Dallas (4-8) entered this season considered one of the favorites to play in Super Bowl XLV – inside its own state-of-the-art facility – but the Eagles are the only team in this matchup with a realistic shot at playing inside Cowboys Stadium on Feb. 6. Four wins in five games since getting Vick back – the latest a 34-24 over Houston on Thursday night last week – have Philadelphia tied with the New York Giants atop the East.
The Eagles get a shot to sweep the Giants in the Meadowlands next week, but have no excuse to look past this contest after what happened last season against the Cowboys.
“We’re going to come out on a mission,” said receiver Jeremy Maclin, who had 146 yards in the playoff game including a 76-yard TD from Vick. “Our mission is to achieve what we want to achieve, and not just beat Dallas. So, we know in order to do that, we have to beat Dallas this week.”
That wasn’t considered much of an accomplishment when the Cowboys began the season 1-7, culminating their first half with a 45-7 loss at Green Bay that cost Wade Phillips his job.
Dallas has looked like a new team, particularly offensively, under Garrett. It’s averaged 33.3 points the past four weeks, and is a late Roy Williams fumble in a 30-27 loss to New Orleans on Thanksgiving away from being 4-0.
“I think when they realized what had happened to Wade, it gave the players a resolve to do better than they had done,” owner Jerry Jones said after the Cowboys’ 38-35 overtime win at Indianapolis on Sunday. “They were called on to do that and they’ve done that.”
Much of Dallas’ improvement has been in the running game, which has picked up 595 yards over the past four weeks – 10 fewer than it gained in its first eight games.
Little-used Tashard Choice had 19 carries for 100 yards against the Colts as the Cowboys racked up a season-high 217 yards on the ground.
The productive rushing has benefited Jon Kitna, who has posted a 107.9 passer rating in his last four games.
Kitna, however, will play the rest of the season without one of his most dangerous targets. Speedy rookie receiver Dez Bryant broke his right ankle returning a kickoff Sunday.
Philadelphia is certainly no stranger to speed on the edge, with big-play threats Maclin and DeSean Jackson on pace to become the first teammates in Eagles history to have 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.
Success shouldn’t be hard to come by against the Dallas secondary. The Cowboys have allowed an NFL-worst 306.6 passing yards per game since Oct. 25.
Facing Vick isn’t likely to help those numbers. After heading into this season with a career completion percentage of 53.7, Vick has completed 63.8 percent of his passes in 2010. His NFC-best 105.7 passer rating is exactly 30 points higher than what he put up in his last full season as a starter in 2006.
“He’s doing an exceptional job,” Garrett said. “Just watch him play. He does a great job with his decision-making, he’s throwing the ball accurately really in all areas, making big plays down the field, finding the checkdown, making plays on the move, making plays in the red zone.
“And then, obviously, when you take the throwing part out of it, he’s just so dangerous when he’s running with the ball.”
The Eagles certainly wouldn’t mind some big plays from Vick and LeSean McCoy on the ground. In their last eight games versus Dallas, they’re 3-0 when rushing for 100 yards or more and 0-5 when failing to hit triple digits.
Vick and the Philadelphia offense figure to have a much easier time moving the ball if right tackle Winston Justice can play. Vick’s blind-side protector hyperextended his right knee against Houston and is questionable for Sunday.
Cornerback Asante Samuel (knee) and defensive end Juqua Parker (hip), both of whom missed the last two games, are expected to return.
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