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The Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles are both 9-4 entering Sunday Night Football’s Week 15 showdown. Last week, the Cowboys defeated the Bears 41-28 in an impressive win on the road. The Eagles lost at home to the Seahawks 24-14 in a game that re-established Seattle’s strength in the NFC.
Two weeks ago, the Eagles went into Cowboys Stadium and blew out the Cowboys 33-10 on Thanksgiving day in a game that was never really close.
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Here’s what you need to know:
The Basics
Who:
Cowboys vs. Eagles
When:
December 14, 2014, 8:30 p.m.
Channel:
NBC
Where:
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Line:
Eagles by 3.5
Last Meeting:
Eagles 33, Cowboys 10 on November 27, 2014 in Dallas, Texas
The NFC East Lead Is Once Again on the Line
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Both teams as well as the Lions and Seahawks are all 9-4 in the NFC. Because of the strength of the conference, it is easy to imagine that one of these teams may miss the playoffs if they don’t get to 11 wins — last year the Arizona Cardinals finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs entirely.
This Cowboys team has been and remained different than the 8-8 Cowboys teams of the last three seasons. How? Well, Tony Romo right now is just 77 yards shy of 3,000 passing yards on the season. That’s not a typo — only 3,000. DeMarco Murray and the offensive line have done an excellent job in, for the most part, providing the league’s best running game and great protection for the quarterback this season. The Cowboys struggled in pass-protection two weeks ago against the Eagles, and will have to do a better job of that on Sunday if they want to win.
Last week, the Eagles offense was exposed against the Seahawks. The offense sputtered to 139 total yards — the team’s lowest mark since Oct. 9, 2005 — with the blame falling on both sides of the ball. For all of the praise that Chip Kelly gets as an offensive guru, he’s still doing this mostly with not top-notch talent at quarterback. Sanchez’s mobility is a plus, but he is no threat to push the ball down field, which at least starter Nick Foles can do somewhat.
The Cowboys are an impressive 6-0 away from Cowboys Stadium. The Eagles lost their first home game of the season last week. The Cowboys, however, are 2-2 within the division. The Eagles are 4-0. If the Eagles win, a split of their final two games would give them their second consecutive NFC East division title to start the Chip Kelly era.
Heavy’s Pick
Eagles 27, Cowboys 20
The Cowboys are great on the road, but the Eagles are a little better at home.
It seems like the Cowboys defense has been overachieving all season. On Thanksgiving, the Eagles’ offensive attack exposed the holes in the Cowboys defense. Not much has changed in two weeks.
The Eagles wont play two straight bad games, especially both at home. The game will be close throughout, but the Eagles will sweep the Cowboys and move one step closer to locking up the NFC East and the NFC’s No. 3 seed.
