Cowboys Shut Out Eagles to Win East, Playoff Rematch Saturday

The Cowboys threw over, ran past and beat up the Philadelphia Eagles yesterday with a 24-0 victory, clinching their second NFC East crown in three years, and setting up a rematch in the wild card round on Saturday night.

The Cowboys didn't waste any time taking control of this game, moving the ball 80 yards in nine plays on the opening drive, mostly with the run, while capping off the drive with a Jason Witten (six catches, 76 yards and one TD) 10-yard TD catch.

After the Eagles went three and out, the Cowboys were on the move again before a deflected Tony Romo (24 of 34, 311 yards two TDs and one INT) pass was caught by Eagles' corner Joselio Hanson.

The Eagles couldn't do anything with the turnover and were forced to punt.

After the punt, Romo guided the offense down to the Eagles' 14 yard line with little resistance. From there, Romo took the snap and pump faked, getting Asante Samuel to bite, leaving Patrick Crayton (four catches, 99 yards, one TD) wide open in the end zone to make it 14-0 Dallas.

On their next drive, the Eagles moved the ball down to the Cowboys' 20 yard line before Donovan McNabb (20 of 36 for 226 yards) fumbled a snap and defensive tackle Jay Ratliff jumped on it for the recovery.

Shaun Suisham added a field goal to make it 17-0 Dallas at the half.

The Cowboys came out in the second half and punted twice in their first two possessions.

However, on their third possession, Romo pitched the ball to Felix Jones (15 carries, 91 yards and one TD) who got a block from Jason Witten, broke a tackle and got another block from Doug Free at the Eagles' 20 to break through to the end zone for a 49-yard TD run, putting the Cowboys up 24-0 and ending the scoring for the day.

As well as the Cowboys' offense played, their defense was even better.

They sacked McNabb four times, held the Eagles to just 228 total yards and held the Eagles to 3-for-12 on third down conversions.

Linebacker Anthony Spencer had two sacks and defensive tackle Jason Hatcher added one without his helmet. As it was ripped off, he continued to hustle to bring down McNabb.

Now the Cowboys will host the Eagles again on Saturday night. The Cowboys need to win the third game of this series and end the streak of 13 years without a playoff win.

The Cowboys have all the momentum going in but need to stay focused, because the Eagles won't lie down again; they'll come out ready to fight and leave everything on the field.

Extra Points:

- The Cowboys had back-to-back shutouts for the first time in franchise history

- Marion Barber had 14 carries for 91 yards and Miles Austin had seven catches for 90 yards

- The Eagles had just 37 yards rushing as a team and DeSean Jackson was held in check again, with three catches for 47 yards

- Roy Williams didn't have a catch in the game, he had five catches for 75 yards in the first game against the Eagles