This is exactly the type of game you want to see in prime time. Sunday night the NFC East title is on the line as the 9-4 Philadelphia Eagles host the 9-4 Dallas Cowboys in a rematch of the Eagles’ 33-10 Thanksgiving blowout in Dallas. While the Eagles can’t clinch the title with a win, it would put them in the driver’s seat to retain the division title. The Eagles finish the season at Washington and then host the New York Giants and would hold the tiebreaker over Dallas. Last week the Eagles struggled against a dominant Seattle Seahawks team that is finally finding their championship form after struggling early this season. This game could be Mark Sanchez’s last as the starting quarterback for Chip Kelly as Nick Foles is close to returning from a broken collarbone. He will have another exam this week to determine if he is ready to return but has been more involved in practice the last couple of weeks, participating in throwing drills and doing some conditioning work.
The keys to the game will be limiting mistakes, such as turnovers and bad penalties. The Eagles dominated the Cowboys on both sides of the ball on Thanksgiving and this helped them contain DeMarco Murray, the NFL’s leading rusher. Tony Romo is expected to be as close to full health, which helps the Cowboys as he can move around better than in their first game. The Eagles will need to contain Murray and Romo by controlling the line of scrimmage again, while also not allowing Dez Bryant and Jason Witten easy catches for big yards. Offensively the Eagles also need to control the line to give Sanchez the time to make plays and open holes for LeSean McCoy to exploit for big gains. It would be a big help if Kelly and Sanchez can find a way to involve Darren Sproles and Zach Ertz more as both offer big play capability. This game will be a battle on a cold December night in front a loud, passionate crowd. If the Eagles play like they did on Thanksgiving, or even close to that, they will win easily. If the Cowboys really learned from that game and figured out how to slow them down while getting big plays from their big players, the Cowboys just might win the game. Both teams need to limit the mistakes by keeping turnovers and penalties to a minimum if they want to win.