Cowboys Get Rematch with Eagles for 1st Place, Vow It Will Be Different

IRVING, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys got what they wanted: a rematch versus the Philadelphia Eagles for first place in the NFC East.

And they vow the outcome will be different this time.

Though still smarting from a 33-10 Thanksgiving Day slaughter to the Eagles, the Cowboys put their bitter feelings aside long enough to take care of their part of the equation.

The Cowboys beat the Chicago Bears 41-28 last Thursday to move to 9-4 on the season and keep pace in the division as well as the NFC playoff picture.

But the other shoe dropped on Sunday when the Eagles (9-4) suffered a 24-14 setback to the Seattle Seahawks.

It all set up another showdown for first place in the NFC East next Sunday night at Philadelphia.

The Cowboys have already guaranteed themselves a winning season for the first time since 2009, breaking the 8-8 curse of the last three years. They went 6-10 in 2010.

But they have bigger goals in mind that begin with beating the Eagles Sunday and moving a step closer to winning the division title for the first time since 2009 and possibly making a run to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.

“We are right in the hunt. We have challenges ahead. We have to clean this game up and then get ready for that next challenge in Philadelphia,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said.

A win would not only give the Cowboys sole possession of first place with two games to go, but it would put them back in control of their own destiny for the division title and the playoffs.

They squandered a similar opportunity in embarrassing fashion two weeks ago.

The Cowboys vow that this time it will be different.

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

“I will tell you this: We will play a lot better as a team than we did the first time,” cornerback Orlando Scandrick said. “It will be a totally different game.”

The Cowboys believe things will be different because quarterback Tony Romo will be healthy and rested for the rematch.

Romo has been managing a variety of injuries for much of the season: torn rib cartilage and fractured bones in his back in addition to continued rehab from offseason back surgery.

But Romo didn’t handle the four-day turnaround from a Sunday night game against the New York Giants to the Thanksgiving Day game against the Eagles well. He exacerbated the situation further by deciding not to take a pain-killing injection before the game.

Romo lacked zip on his passes and was off target in what was his worst performance of the season, with two interceptions and a quarterback rating of 53.7.

With a full week of practices preparation, Romo looked like himself against the Bears, completing 21 of 26 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns. His quarterback rating of 138.0 marked the ninth time this season he posted a number of over 100.0. It was also his fifth game with three or more touchdowns.

“We’re back,” Romo said. “Getting a full week is a game-changer. It was definitely a difference. I took a [pain-killing] shot this week. I didn't last week in the Eagles game, and that was a poor decision I think. I wasn’t as comfortable. But you don’t know until you do it. It felt good [against the Bears]. I think it will be that way the rest of the year.”

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

It also helps that because the Bears game was on a Thursday, Romo and the Cowboys will get 10 days to rest and heal further before the rematch with the Eagles.

While the Cowboys were focused on the Bears, their minds were not far off the Eagles because they knew the rematch was coming up in two weeks.

They just had to take care of their business in Chicago first.

“The good news is I have all my notes and things from a week ago that are going to still be in use,” Romo said. “A lot of times you just forget and go right on. I didn’t want to forget everything because we want to utilize it again.

“So the defensive philosophy and the things that they do that we didn’t really expose or have the opportunity to, really, with the way that the game unfolded. Just the whole game itself, I think that we’ll be able to do some things that we wanted to do previously. I'm excited about our team's chances to go in there and play better football.”

One of the main things they wanted to do in the first game was force the run with NFL-leading rusher DeMarco Murray. But they couldn’t do that on Thanksgiving Day because the Eagles did a good job stopping the run early and then the game got out of hand.

But after rushing for a season-low 73 yards on 20 carries against the Eagles, Murray got back into his ball-controlling groove with a career-high 32 carries for 179 yards against the Bears.

David Banks/Getty Images

Owner Jerry Jones said the Cowboys need that type of performance from Murray and the offensive line to control the ball and keep the Eagles’ hurry-up offense off the field.

“I think it’s the challenge,” Jones said on his local radio show. “And if we can do it, then it’ll some good things will happen. What we need to do is be the team offensively that we were [against the Bears] and that we can be. And we know that we can do that, and I think we can do that against Philadelphia.”

If they can do that, then this time it might be different.

The Cowboys got what they wanted: another first-place battle against the Eagles and a chance to control their own playoff destiny.

They plan to make the most of it.

“We’re not going to relax because we got another opportunity,” receiver Dez Bryant vowed. “We got an opportunity to do something big. We’re going to take advantage of what we need to take advantage of. That’s the truth.”

 
Clarence Hill covers the Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.