Dallas Cowboys Can Shape NFC East in December

Head Coach Jason Garrett has got the Cowboys, their fans and the NFL community as a whole to believe in his coaching. Now Garrett has the Cowboys in a position to shape the NFC East without making the playoffs. 

The Cowboys have two games against the Eagles in a month starting with Sunday night's game. They also have a matchup against the Washington Redskins next week in Dallas. 

With the Giants and Eagles tied at 8-4 and matching up two weeks from now in Giants Stadium, the Cowboys can make life hard for the Eagles if they're able to beat them this week.

The Cowboys were able to defeat the Eagles three times last year using relentless pressure on defense and efficient scoring on offense. It's going to be harder to do that this year with Michael Vick having the season of his career and the Eagles defense as good as it's always been, but the Cowboys have already done some great things with Garrett as the coach, so it's not impossible.

With Jason Garrett coaching, you know the Cowboys are going to show up and play hard. The Eagles will have their work cut out for them.

Defensively, the Cowboys have been able to neutralize the Eagles' big play ability in the past; it should be no different this week. 

The Cowboys could also take themselves out of the East basement with a win this week and next week against the Washington Redskins, who've all but given up this season and were killed on the ground against the Giants last week.

The New York Giants were set back earlier this season when the Cowboys pulled out a 33-20 win in Jason Garrett's debut. That win by Dallas, along with a loss to the Eagles a few weeks later, is why the Giants are in second place. 

That game set the tone for Dallas. Since then, they've been competitive, disciplined and most importantly winning—all things they weren't doing the first nine weeks of the season. 

It was one thing last season when the Cowboys were first in the East and knew they had the playoffs in front of them. They did not need much more motivation. This season, however, things have not gone as planned

Now the Cowboys know they can be the puppeteer and control the strings of the Philadelphia Eagles. Most of the Cowboys still remember how the Eagles ended their season in 2008, so they should be looking to get revenge by making sure the Eagles have to go on the road during the playoffs. 

That should be enough motivation for any Cowboys team, especially this one.