Gameday: Barcelona vs Valencia

Saturday, December 24, 2011

NFL CHANNEL: Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys have complete control of their path to another NFC East title, and they might be even closer by kickoff.

The Philadelphia Eagles' playoff fate could be determined then, too.

The Cowboys may have a chance to clinch the division crown when they host the surging Eagles on Saturday.

Dallas (8-6) leads the second-place New York Giants by one game and is two in front of the third-place Eagles (6-8) heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Only one of those teams will reach the playoffs, and the Cowboys could clinch that spot Saturday with a win combined with a Giants' loss to the New York Jets earlier in the day.

That matchup also has serious implications for Philadelphia, which also needs a Jets victory to remain alive in the division.

For the Eagles to repeat as East champions, they must beat the Cowboys and Washington at home on Jan. 1. They need the Giants to lose to the Jets and then beat Dallas in their last game.

That would leave all three teams at 8-8, and Philadelphia would own the tiebreaker based on a superior divisional record.

"I'm a big Jets fan this week," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "You control what you control. You have to play the game whether that team wins or loses."

The Eagles' playoff hopes remained alive after a 45-19 romp over the Jets on Sunday, their second straight victory.

"It feels good that we are still alive," said tight end Brent Celek, who had a career-high 156 yards and one touchdown. "That is all you can ask for at this point. We just have to play together as a team and go up there, fight and beat Dallas."

The Cowboys should be eager for revenge after losing 34-7 at Philadelphia in Week 8. That was just their second loss in the last six meetings in the series since the Eagles kept them out of the playoffs with a 44-6 win in Week 17 of 2008.

"We've got to get the wins. We've got to get in," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "Best way to do it is win this thing."

Dallas regained some momentum by beating Tampa Bay 31-15 last Saturday after blowing fourth-quarter leads in consecutive games.

"We just can't let up," receiver Dez Bryant said. "We know where we want to go and it don't matter who comes in here, we're going to keep the same intensity and just play hard and hopefully we can win out. ... We just got to keep focusing and keep playing hard."

Tony Romo is doing his part to get Dallas into the postseason, completing 69.9 percent of his passes for 869 yards with eight touchdowns, no interceptions and a 121.4 passer rating over the last three games.

Romo has thrown 18 touchdown passes and just two picks in the past seven contests since struggling with a season-low 66.7 rating against the Eagles. He finished with 203 yards on 18-of-35 passing with one touchdown and one INT in that defeat.

Romo has 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while going 5-4 as a starter against Philadelphia.
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