GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NFL: PHILADELPHIA (5-8) at DALLAS (12-1)

NFL: PHILADELPHIA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PHILADELPHIA 0 7 0 3 10
DALLAS 0 3 3 0 6 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: NONE
2ND QUARTER: DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 33 YD, 6:08. Drive: 4
plays, -1 yards in :50. Key plays:
Barber recovery of Mikell fumble at
Philadelphia 14. DALLAS 3-0
PHI - TD, REGGIE BROWN 1 YD PASS FROM DONOVAN
MCNABB (DAVID AKERS KICK), 14:44.
Drive: 8 plays, 49 yards in 2:04.
Key plays: Sheppard 16-yard
interception return to Dallas 49;
McNabb 28-yard run to Dallas 12.
PHILADELPHIA 7-3
3RD QUARTER: DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 23 YD, 6:34. Drive: 6
plays, 61 yards in 2:42. Key plays:
Romo 41-yard pass to Crayton to
Philadelphia 25; Romo 13-yard pass
to Crayton to Philadelphia 12.
PHILADELPHIA 7-6
4TH QUARTER: PHI - FG, DAVID AKERS 21 YD, 1:33. Drive: 13
plays, 60 yards in 6:21. Key plays:
McNabb 14-yard pass to Celek to
midfield; McNabb 2-yard run on
3rd-and-1 to Dallas 39; McNabb
18-yard pass to Westbrook to Dallas
18; McNabb 5-yard pass to Westbrook
on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 6.
PHILADELPHIA 10-6

ATT: 63,777</div>

 

NFL: PHILADELPHIA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PHILADELPHIA 0 7 0 3 10
DALLAS 0 3 3 0 6 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

NONE

2ND QUARTER:

6:08 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 33 YD.
Drive: 4 plays, -1 yards in :50.
Key plays: Barber recovery of Mikell fumble at Philadelphia 14.
DALLAS 3-0.
14:44 PHI - TD, REGGIE BROWN 1 YD PASS FROM DONOVAN MCNABB (DAVID AKERS KICK).
Drive: 8 plays, 49 yards in 2:04.
Key plays: Sheppard 16-yard interception return to Dallas 49; McNabb
28-yard run to Dallas 12. PHILADELPHIA 7-3.

3RD QUARTER:

6:34 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 23 YD.
Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards in 2:42.
Key plays: Romo 41-yard pass to Crayton to Philadelphia 25; Romo
13-yard pass to Crayton to Philadelphia 12. PHILADELPHIA 7-6.

4TH QUARTER:

1:33 PHI - FG, DAVID AKERS 21 YD.
Drive: 13 plays, 60 yards in 6:21.
Key plays: McNabb 14-yard pass to Celek to midfield; McNabb 2-yard
run on 3rd-and-1 to Dallas 39; McNabb 18-yard pass to Westbrook to Dallas
18; McNabb 5-yard pass to Westbrook on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 6. PHILADELPHIA
10-6.

PHILADELPHIA - DALLAS Final Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS PHILADELPHIA DALLAS

FIRST DOWNS 20 11
Rushing 8 1
Passing 11 9
Penalty 1 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 5-16-31% 1-13-8%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 1-1-100%
TOTAL NET YARDS 315 240
Total offensive plays 72 55
Average gain per play 4.4 4.4
NET YARDS RUSHING 134 53
Rushing attempts 27 15
Average gain per rush 5.0 3.5
Tackles for loss-yards 5-13 3-6
NET YARDS PASSING 181 187
Times sacked: Number-Yards 4-27 4-27
Gross passing yards 208 214
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 41-23-0 36-13-3
Avg gain per pass play 4.0 4.7
KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 3-0-0 3-0-0
PUNTS: Number and Average 8-39.1 7-50.1
Had blocked 0 0
Net punting average 33.8 47.3
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 80 20
Number-Yards: Punt Returns 5-43 3-20
Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 3-79 3-61
Number-Yards: Interception Returns 3-37 0-0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-35 6-45
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 2-1 3-0
TOUCHDOWNS 1 0
Rushing 0 0
Passing 1 0
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-0
Kicking: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-0
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 2-2
FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 1-3-33% 0-3-0%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 1-3-33% 0-1-0%
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 33:57 26:03


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

PHILADELPHIA DALLAS

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WESTBROO 18 81 4.5 29 0 M BARBER I 7 32 4.6 11 0
D MCNABB 9 53 5.9 28 0 T ROMO 1 16 16.0 16 0
J JONES 7 5 0.7 5 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
D MCNABB 23-41-208 0 1 29 T ROMO 13-36-214 3 0 53

Sacked-Yards Lost: D MCNABB 4-27. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 4-27.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WESTBROO 9 63 7.0 18 0 J WITTEN 8 113 14.1 53 0
K CURTIS 5 40 8.0 14 0 P CRAYTON 2 54 27.0 41 0
R BROWN 4 35 8.8 16 1 T OWENS 2 37 18.5 19 0
B CELEK 3 50 16.7 29 0 A FASANO 1 10 10.0 10 0
H BASKETT 1 11 11.0 11 0
T TAPEH 1 9 9.0 9 0

INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Q MIKELL 1 20 20.0 20 0
L SHEPPARD 1 16 16.0 16 0
B DAWKINS 1 1 1.0 1 0

PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
S ROCCA 8 313 39.1 1 5 50 M MCBRIAR 7 351 50.1 1 1 58

T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
R MAHE 4 34 8.5 14 0 P CRAYTON 3 20 6.7 11 0
B WESTBROOK 1 9 9.0 9 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
J REED 3 79 26.3 34 0 N JONES 2 49 24.5 27 0
P MCQUISTAN 1 12 12.0 12 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
D AKERS 1/1 1/2 N FOLK 0/0 2/2
Dist.: (46) 21 Dist.: 33 23

O-D O-D
FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
R MAHE 1 0 0 0-0 T ROMO 2 0 0 0-0
D MCNABB 1 0 0 0-0 C BROWN 1 0 0 0-0
T COLE 0 0 1 0-0 A SPENCER 0 0 1 0-0
J RUNYAN 0 0 0 1-0 M BARBER III 0 0 0 0-1
F ADAMS 0 0 0 1-0
J WITTEN 0 0 0 1-0

DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
L SHEPPARD 6 5 1 0-0 R WILLIAMS 7 7 0 0-0
S BROWN 5 4 1 0-0 B JAMES 7 6 1 1-7
O GAITHER 5 4 1 0-0 A HENRY 6 6 0 0-0
T SPIKES 5 3 2 0-0 D WARE 5 5 0 1-9
T COLE 3 3 0 1-11 K HAMLIN 4 4 0 0-0
C GOCONG 3 2 1 0-0 J RATLIFF 4 3 1 1-5
B DAWKINS 2 2 0 0-0 M SPEARS 3 2 1 0-0
Q MIKELL 2 2 0 0-0 A SPENCER 2 2 0 1-6
M PATTERSON 1 1 0 1-3 T NEWMAN 2 2 0 0-0
B BUNKLEY 1 1 0 1-8 S BOWEN 2 2 0 0-0
J THOMAS 1 1 0 0-0 K BURNETT 2 2 0 0-0
J HANSON 1 1 0 0-0 A AYODELE 2 2 0 0-0
D HOWARD 1 1 0 0-0 J REEVES 1 1 0 0-0
K DAVIS 1 1 0 0-0
J HATCHER 1 1 0 0-0
P WATKINS 1 1 0 0-0
T JOHNSON 1 1 0 0-0
G ELLIS 1 0 1 0-0

Att: 63,777</div>

 

By John Tranchini
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- For the second year in a row, thePhiladelphia Eagles have spoiled the Dallas Cowboys' holidayplans.


One year after beating them on Christmas Day in Texas Stadium,the Eagles came into the Cowboys' home again and posted a 10-6victory Sunday.


The Cowboys (12-2) had already secured a playoff first-round byebefore they even took the field following Seattle's 13-10 lossto Carolina, but they lost a chance to clinch home-fieldadvantage throughout the playoffs.


A 21-yard field goal by David Akers, his second of the day,early in the fourth quarter, sealed the game for Philadelphia(6-8), which snapped a three-game losing streak and kept theirslim postseason hopes alive by shutting down the potent Dallasoffense.


Brian Westbrook rushed for 81 yards on 18 carries and caughtnine balls for 63 yards, and he brought the game to a stunningconclusion.


After breaking free for an apparent touchdown that would havemade it 17-6, Westbrook intentionally slid to the ground at the2:00 warning.


With the Cowboys out of timeouts, all Philadelphia had to do wastake a knee three times to run out the clock.


Dallas had not scored fewer than 25 points in a game all seasonbefore this game, but the Eagles held the dynamic combination ofquarterback Tony Romo and receiver Terrell Owens in check allday.


With Jessica Simpson watching from a luxury box, Romo threwthree interceptions and completed just 13-of-36 passes, whileclearly bothered by a troublesome throwing hand.


As poorly as the offense was, the Cowboys were still in positionto win the game late. Romo led them downfield in the finalminutes, converting a 4th-and-2 pass to tight end Jason Wittento keep their final, last-gasp drive alive until Brian Dawkinsintercepted him at the Philadelphia 45-yard line with 2:50remaining.


Owens, who torched the Eagles to the tune of 10 catches for 174yards and a touchdown in the first meeting between these teams -a 38-17 Dallas victory on November 4 - had no catches throughthree quarters and just two overall for 37 yards. Witten didcome up with eight receptions for 113 yards, his second straight100-yard day.


The Eagles also nullified the Cowboys' running game, limitingthem to 53 total yards on the ground. Dallas also was just2-for-13 on third-down conversions.


For the Eagles, Donovan McNabb threw for 208 yards and atouchdown while also rushing for 53 yards on nine carries.

The Cowboys had a chance to clinch the NFC East last season onChristmas day, but the Eagles defeated them convincingly here,23-7 , and Dallas ended up stumbling into the postseason lastyear, didn't win the division and lost its wild dard game.

Dallas' offense started slowly, as it has in the majority of itsgames this season, going three-and-out on its first threepossessions. Romo didn't complete a pass until his seventhattempt early in the second quarter. Overall for the firstquarter, the Cowboys held the ball for just 3:09 and gained just13 total yards.


After connecting on his second completion, a 53-yard pass toWitten, the Cowboys reached the Eagles 8-yard-line, but a crazysequence eventually led to Nick Folk's 33-yard field goal thatput the first points on the board with 8:52 remaining in thesecond.


On a 3rd-and-goal from the 4-yard-line, Romo was intercepted byQuintin Mikell in the end zone. Mikell ran it out but fumbledit and Cowboys running back Marion Barber recovered on the14-yard-line.


Philadelphia coach Andy Reid challenged the call, but the rulingof a fumble stood. Three plays later, after two more Romoincompletions, Folk kicked the field goal.


Romo continued to struggle, finishing the first half just5-for-17 with two interceptions, including the pick by LitoSheppard that led to the Eagles' touchdown just 16 secondsbefore halftime - a 1-yard toss from McNabb to Reggie Brown togive Philadelphia a 7-3 lead at halftime.


The Cowboys lost both Pro Bowl center Andre Gurode and startingdefensive end Chris Canty to left knee injuries during the thirdquarter, as well as backup tight end Anthony Fasano to aconcussion.


With Eagles starting tight end L.J. Smith sitting out with aknee injury, backup Matt Schobel came in and lasted just fiveplays after he was hit hard by Dallas safety Ken Hamlin andmissed the rest of the game with a head injury.


Brent Celek came in and caught three passes for 50 yards,including a 29-yard reception on 3rd-and-9 on the Eagles' finaldrive.

 

NFL: PHILADELPHIA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PHILADELPHIA 0 7 0 3 10
DALLAS 0 3 3 0 6 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

NONE

2ND QUARTER:

6:08 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 33 YD.
Drive: 4 plays, -1 yards in :50.
Key plays: Barber recovery of Mikell fumble at Philadelphia 14.
DALLAS 3-0.
14:44 PHI - TD, REGGIE BROWN 1 YD PASS FROM DONOVAN MCNABB (DAVID AKERS KICK).
Drive: 8 plays, 49 yards in 2:04.
Key plays: Sheppard 16-yard interception return to Dallas 49; McNabb
28-yard run to Dallas 12. PHILADELPHIA 7-3.

3RD QUARTER:

6:34 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 23 YD.
Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards in 2:42.
Key plays: Romo 41-yard pass to Crayton to Philadelphia 25; Romo
13-yard pass to Crayton to Philadelphia 12. PHILADELPHIA 7-6.

4TH QUARTER:

1:33 PHI - FG, DAVID AKERS 21 YD.
Drive: 13 plays, 60 yards in 6:21.
Key plays: McNabb 14-yard pass to Celek to midfield; McNabb 2-yard
run on 3rd-and-1 to Dallas 39; McNabb 18-yard pass to Westbrook to Dallas
18; McNabb 5-yard pass to Westbrook on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 6. PHILADELPHIA
10-6.

PHILADELPHIA - DALLAS Final Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS PHILADELPHIA DALLAS

FIRST DOWNS 20 11
Rushing 8 1
Passing 11 9
Penalty 1 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 5-16-31% 1-13-8%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 1-1-100%
TOTAL NET YARDS 315 240
Total offensive plays 72 55
Average gain per play 4.4 4.4
NET YARDS RUSHING 134 53
Rushing attempts 27 15
Average gain per rush 5.0 3.5
Tackles for loss-yards 5-13 3-6
NET YARDS PASSING 181 187
Times sacked: Number-Yards 4-27 4-27
Gross passing yards 208 214
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 41-23-0 36-13-3
Avg gain per pass play 4.0 4.7
KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 3-0-0 3-0-0
PUNTS: Number and Average 8-39.1 7-50.1
Had blocked 0 0
Net punting average 33.8 47.3
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 80 20
Number-Yards: Punt Returns 5-43 3-20
Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 3-79 3-61
Number-Yards: Interception Returns 3-37 0-0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-35 6-45
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 3-1 2-0
TOUCHDOWNS 1 0
Rushing 0 0
Passing 1 0
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-0
Kicking: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-0
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 2-2
FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 1-3-33% 0-3-0%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 1-3-33% 0-1-0%
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 33:57 26:03


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

PHILADELPHIA DALLAS

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WESTBROO 18 81 4.5 29 0 M BARBER I 7 32 4.6 11 0
D MCNABB 9 53 5.9 28 0 T ROMO 1 16 16.0 16 0
J JONES 7 5 0.7 5 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
D MCNABB 23-41-208 0 1 29 T ROMO 13-36-214 3 0 53

Sacked-Yards Lost: D MCNABB 4-27. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 4-27.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WESTBROO 9 63 7.0 18 0 J WITTEN 8 113 14.1 53 0
K CURTIS 5 40 8.0 14 0 P CRAYTON 2 54 27.0 41 0
R BROWN 4 35 8.8 16 1 T OWENS 2 37 18.5 19 0
B CELEK 3 50 16.7 29 0 A FASANO 1 10 10.0 10 0
H BASKETT 1 11 11.0 11 0
T TAPEH 1 9 9.0 9 0

INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Q MIKELL 1 20 20.0 20 0
L SHEPPARD 1 16 16.0 16 0
B DAWKINS 1 1 1.0 1 0

PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
S ROCCA 8 313 39.1 1 5 50 M MCBRIAR 7 351 50.1 1 1 58

T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
R MAHE 4 34 8.5 14 0 P CRAYTON 3 20 6.7 11 0
B WESTBROOK 1 9 9.0 9 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
J REED 3 79 26.3 34 0 N JONES 2 49 24.5 27 0
P MCQUISTAN 1 12 12.0 12 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
D AKERS 1/1 1/2 N FOLK 0/0 2/2
Dist.: (47) 21 Dist.: 33 23

O-D O-D
FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
Q MIKELL 1 1 0 0-0 T ROMO 2 0 0 0-0
R MAHE 1 0 0 0-0 A SPENCER 0 0 1 0-0
D MCNABB 1 0 0 0-0 M BARBER III 0 0 0 0-1
T COLE 0 0 1 0-0 F ADAMS 0 0 0 1-0
J RUNYAN 0 0 0 1-0 J WITTEN 0 0 0 1-0

DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
L SHEPPARD 6 5 1 0-0 R WILLIAMS 7 7 0 0-0
S BROWN 5 4 1 0-0 B JAMES 7 6 1 1-7
O GAITHER 5 4 1 0-0 A HENRY 6 6 0 0-0
T SPIKES 5 3 2 0-0 D WARE 5 5 0 1-9
T COLE 3 3 0 1-11 K HAMLIN 4 4 0 0-0
C GOCONG 3 2 1 0-0 J RATLIFF 4 3 1 1-5
B DAWKINS 2 2 0 0-0 M SPEARS 3 2 1 0-0
Q MIKELL 2 2 0 0-0 A SPENCER 2 2 0 1-6
- TEAM 1 1 0 1-5 T NEWMAN 2 2 0 0-0
B BUNKLEY 1 1 0 1-8 S BOWEN 2 2 0 0-0
M PATTERSON 1 1 0 1-3 K BURNETT 2 2 0 0-0
J THOMAS 1 1 0 0-0 A AYODELE 2 2 0 0-0
J HANSON 1 1 0 0-0 J REEVES 1 1 0 0-0
D HOWARD 1 1 0 0-0 K DAVIS 1 1 0 0-0
J HATCHER 1 1 0 0-0
P WATKINS 1 1 0 0-0
T JOHNSON 1 1 0 0-0
G ELLIS 1 0 1 0-0

Att: 63,777</div>

 

NFL: PHILADELPHIA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PHILADELPHIA 0 7 0 3 10
DALLAS 0 3 3 0 6 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER: NONE
2ND QUARTER: DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 33 YD, 6:08. Drive: 4
plays, -1 yards in :50. Key plays:
Barber recovery of Mikell fumble at
Philadelphia 14. DALLAS 3-0
PHI - TD, REGGIE BROWN 1 YD PASS FROM DONOVAN
MCNABB (DAVID AKERS KICK), 14:44.
Drive: 8 plays, 49 yards in 2:04.
Key plays: Sheppard 16-yard
interception return to Dallas 49;
McNabb 28-yard run to Dallas 12.
PHILADELPHIA 7-3
3RD QUARTER: DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 23 YD, 6:34. Drive: 6
plays, 61 yards in 2:42. Key plays:
Romo 41-yard pass to Crayton to
Philadelphia 25; Romo 13-yard pass
to Crayton to Philadelphia 12.
PHILADELPHIA 7-6
4TH QUARTER: PHI - FG, DAVID AKERS 21 YD, 1:33. Drive: 13
plays, 60 yards in 6:21. Key plays:
McNabb 14-yard pass to Celek to
midfield; McNabb 2-yard run on
3rd-and-1 to Dallas 39; McNabb
18-yard pass to Westbrook to Dallas
18; McNabb 5-yard pass to Westbrook
on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 6.
PHILADELPHIA 10-6

ATT: 63,777</div>

 

By John Tranchina
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- For the second year in a row, thePhiladelphia Eagles have spoiled the Dallas Cowboys' holidayplans.


One year after beating them on Christmas Day in Texas Stadium,the Eagles came into the Cowboys' home again and posted a 10-6victory Sunday.


The Cowboys (12-2) had already secured a playoff first-round byebefore they even took the field following Seattle's 13-10 lossto Carolina, but they lost a chance to clinch home-fieldadvantage throughout the playoffs.


A 21-yard field goal by David Akers, his second of the day,early in the fourth quarter, sealed the game for Philadelphia(6-8), which snapped a three-game losing streak and kept theirslim postseason hopes alive by shutting down the potent Dallasoffense.


Brian Westbrook rushed for 81 yards on 18 carries and caughtnine balls for 63 yards, and he brought the game to a stunningconclusion.


After breaking free for an apparent touchdown that would havemade it 17-6, Westbrook intentionally slid to the ground at the2:00 warning.


"Team guy and very brilliant guy," Eagles coach Andy Reid saidof Westbrook's maneuver. "He is able to take that Villanovaeducation and transfer that onto the football field. That wasfantastic."


With the Cowboys out of timeouts, all Philadelphia had to do wastake a knee three times to run out the clock.


"I wanted him to score," said Eagles offensive lineman WilliamThomas of Westbrook. "At the end of the day, that was the rightcall. I thought it would have been funny if he would have felland still scored. It was good to see him break out. That wasa good play by him, it was a great heads-up play."

Dallas had not scored fewer than 25 points in a game all seasonbefore this game, but the Eagles held the dynamic combination ofquarterback Tony Romo and receiver Terrell Owens in check allday.


"Offensively, it was mistake after mistake," Dallas coach WadePhillips said. "We had an opportunity to make plays, we hadopportunities to get ahead and certainly win the game, but wedidn't end up doing it."


With Jessica Simpson watching from a luxury box, Romo threwthree interceptions and completed just 13-of-36 passes, whileclearly bothered by a troublesome thumb on his throwing hand.

"I think I hit it on a helmet," Romo said of his thumb. "Ithrew the ball, so if I can throw it at some point, I can throwit next time. I think the Eagles did a great job tonight. Theyhad a really good scheme tonight and they did a good job andput a lot of defensive pressure on us.


"We didn't handle it as well as we've been. It's frustratingbecause I played poorly and I wished I had played better and Itake the blame for some of it."


As poorly as the offense performed, the Cowboys were still inposition to win the game late. Romo led them downfield in thefinal minutes, converting a 4th-and-2 pass to tight end JasonWitten to keep their final, last-gasp drive alive until BrianDawkins intercepted him at the Philadelphia 45-yard line with2:50 remaining.


"That's awesome, even banged up, he just battled like crazy anddid a great job all the way around today," Reid said of Dawkins."That just put the icing on the cake."


Owens, who torched the Eagles to the tune of 10 catches for 174yards and a touchdown in the first meeting between these teams -a 38-17 Dallas victory on November 4 - had no catches throughthree quarters and just two overall for 37 yards. Witten didcome up with eight receptions for 113 yards, his second straight100-yard day.


"We just came out flat and couldn't get anything goingoffensively," said Owens, who was shadowed all game by Eaglescornerback Lito Sheppard. "There were some opportunities, butthey just did a good job defensively. I didn't get toofrustrated to the point it took me out of the game, but I feltlike there were some opportunities there and we just didn'tconnect on them."


"I definitely don't think they were expecting it," saidSheppard, whose interception late in the second quarter led tothe Eagles' only touchdown. "It was an all-out effort from thewhole defense. I wouldn't have been able to do it without theD-Line getting good pressure, the safety clouding at times andgetting good looks."


The Eagles also nullified the Cowboys' running game, limitingthem to 53 total yards on the ground. Dallas also was just2-for-13 on third-down conversions.


"That was a team effort, as far as pressure on the quarterback,turnovers, stopping the run," Philadelphia defensive coordinatorJimmie Johnson said. "I think our linebackers did a great job,our front two, stopping the run. This is one of the betteroffensive teams, they're second in the NFL, so you know how goodthey are, and that's a tribute to our defense."


But Dallas wide receiver Patrick Crayton, who caught two passesfor 54 yards, refused to give the Philadelphia defense creditfor the Cowboys' offensive woes.


"We didn't execute - it's never about what a team does to you,it's about what you do," Crayton said. "When they give you thelooks, what do you do to correct it and fix it. 'OK, they gaveus this the first game, they took that away, now they're givingus something else.' All you got to do is adjust. We didn'texecute, that's all there is to it."


For the Eagles, Donovan McNabb threw for 208 yards and atouchdown while also rushing for 53 yards on nine carries.

"He took a couple of hits and ran a little bit, he played smartand he didn't turn the ball over and give them opportunities,"Reid said of McNabb. "He pulled it down when he needed to pullit down and threw when he needed to throw."


The Cowboys had a chance to clinch the NFC East last season onChristmas day, but the Eagles defeated them convincingly here,23-7. While the Eagles went on to claim the division title lastyear, Dallas ended up stumbling into the postseason and lostits wild card game.


Dallas' offense started slowly, as it has in the majority of itsgames this season, going three-and-out on its first threepossessions. Romo didn't complete a pass until his seventhattempt early in the second quarter. Overall for the firstquarter, the Cowboys held the ball for just 3:09 and gained just13 total yards.


"As the game went on, we never really got in the flow, we nevergot clicking and made some big plays," Witten said. "We hungaround, our defense played good enough to give us a chance, wejust couldn't finish it off and that's obviously frustrating forus and we have to learn from this."


After connecting on his second completion, a 53-yard pass toWitten, the Cowboys reached the Eagles 8-yard-line, but a crazysequence eventually led to Nick Folk's 33-yard field goal thatput the first points on the board with 8:52 remaining in thesecond.


On a 3rd-and-goal from the 4-yard-line, Romo was intercepted byQuintin Mikell in the end zone. Mikell ran it out but fumbledit and Cowboys running back Marion Barber recovered on the14-yard line.


"You live and you learn," Mikell said. "I got hit and fumbledthe ball. It's a good thing they only got three points out ofit."


Reid challenged the call, but the ruling of a fumble stood.Three plays later, after two more Romo incompletions, Folkkicked the field goal.


Romo continued to struggle, finishing the first half just5-for-17 with two interceptions, including the pick by Sheppardthat led to the Eagles' touchdown just 16 seconds beforehalftime - a 1-yard toss from McNabb to Reggie Brown to givePhiladelphia a 7-3 lead at halftime.


"That's a prideful team, they've controlled this division for along time, we knew they weren't going to quit," Witten said ofthe Eagles. "It's tough. You always want to go into theplayoffs rolling and a game like this knocks you off as far asyour confidence a bit."


The Cowboys lost both Pro Bowl center Andre Gurode and startingdefensive end Chris Canty to left knee injuries during the thirdquarter, as well as backup tight end Anthony Fasano to aconcussion and backup safety Patrick Watkins to a sprained leftankle.


Canty said he's fine and Watkins, who was wearing a boot and oncrutches, also indicated that he'd be back shortly.

"What you don't want is injuries at this time of the year and wegot nicked up pretty good," Dallas owner/general manager JerryJones said. "We'll MRI Gurode tomorrow, it looks like we've gota chance that it's not as serious as it could have been. Pat'sgot a sprained ankle, Romo has probably more of a contusion onhis thumb more than a sprain, but it could be a little bit of asprain on his throwing hand."


With Eagles starting tight end L.J. Smith sitting out with aknee injury, backup Matt Schobel came in and lasted just fiveplays after he was hit hard by Dallas safety Ken Hamlin andmissed the rest of the game with a concussion.


Brent Celek came in and caught three passes for 50 yards,including a 29-yard reception on 3rd-and-9 on the Eagles' finaldrive.


"You've got to always be ready in this league, at any timeanybody can go down," Celek said. "You've got to be able tostep up when it's your turn. It felt good. Don made a greatthrow and the line protected perfectly so he could make thatthrow, so it was set up for me to succeed on those plays."

There was no word on the severity of Schobel's head injury orthe sprained MCL suffered by offensive lineman Shawn Andrews.

For the Cowboys, a team that has overcome just about everyhurdle they've encountered this season, there was onesignificant silver lining.


"That it didn't happen in the playoffs," Jones said. "BasicallyI am very happy, if we're going to play this bad, that itdidn't happen in a playoff game."

 

NFL: PHILADELPHIA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NFL
PHILADELPHIA 10
DALLAS 6 FINAL</div>

 

NFL: PHILADELPHIA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
PHILADELPHIA 0 7 0 3 10
DALLAS 0 3 3 0 6 FINAL

SCORING SUMMARY

1ST QUARTER:

NONE

2ND QUARTER:

6:08 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 33 YD.
Drive: 4 plays, -1 yards in :50.
Key plays: Barber recovery of Mikell fumble at Philadelphia 14.
DALLAS 3-0.
14:44 PHI - TD, REGGIE BROWN 1 YD PASS FROM DONOVAN MCNABB (DAVID AKERS KICK).
Drive: 8 plays, 49 yards in 2:04.
Key plays: Sheppard 16-yard interception return to Dallas 49; McNabb
28-yard run to Dallas 12. PHILADELPHIA 7-3.

3RD QUARTER:

6:34 DAL - FG, NICHOLAS FOLK 23 YD.
Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards in 2:42.
Key plays: Romo 41-yard pass to Crayton to Philadelphia 25; Romo
13-yard pass to Crayton to Philadelphia 12. PHILADELPHIA 7-6.

4TH QUARTER:

1:33 PHI - FG, DAVID AKERS 21 YD.
Drive: 13 plays, 60 yards in 6:21.
Key plays: McNabb 14-yard pass to Celek to midfield; McNabb 2-yard
run on 3rd-and-1 to Dallas 39; McNabb 18-yard pass to Westbrook to Dallas
18; McNabb 5-yard pass to Westbrook on 3rd-and-3 to Dallas 6. PHILADELPHIA
10-6.

PHILADELPHIA - DALLAS Final Statistics

TEAM STATISTICS PHILADELPHIA DALLAS

FIRST DOWNS 20 11
Rushing 8 1
Passing 11 9
Penalty 1 1
THIRD DOWN EFFICIENCY 5-16-31% 1-13-8%
FOURTH DOWN EFFICIENCY 0-0-0% 1-1-100%
TOTAL NET YARDS 315 240
Total offensive plays 72 55
Average gain per play 4.4 4.4
NET YARDS RUSHING 134 53
Rushing attempts 27 15
Average gain per rush 5.0 3.5
Tackles for loss-yards 5-13 3-6
NET YARDS PASSING 181 187
Times sacked: Number-Yards 4-27 4-27
Gross passing yards 208 214
PASS ATTEMPTS-COMPLETIONS-HAD INTERCEPTED 41-23-0 36-13-3
Avg gain per pass play 4.0 4.7
KICKOFFS: Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks 3-0-0 3-0-0
PUNTS: Number and Average 8-39.1 7-50.1
Had blocked 0 0
Net punting average 33.8 47.3
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE (Not including kickoffs) 80 20
Number-Yards: Punt Returns 5-43 3-20
Number-Yards: Kickoff Returns 3-79 3-61
Number-Yards: Interception Returns 3-37 0-0
PENALTIES: Number-Yards 4-35 6-45
FUMBLES: Number-Lost 3-1 2-0
TOUCHDOWNS 1 0
Rushing 0 0
Passing 1 0
Interceptions 0 0
Other (blocked kicks, etc.) 0 0
EXTRA POINTS: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-0
Kicking: Made-Attempts 1-1 0-0
Passing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
Rushing: Made-Attempts 0-0 0-0
FIELD GOALS: Made-Attempts 1-2 2-2
FGs - PATs had blocked 0-0 0-0
RED ZONE EFFICIENCY 1-3-33% 0-3-0%
GOAL TO GO EFFICIENCY 1-3-33% 0-1-0%
SAFETIES 0 0
TIME OF POSSESSION 33:57 26:03


INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

PHILADELPHIA DALLAS

RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD RUSHING ATT YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WESTBROO 18 81 4.5 29 0 M BARBER I 7 32 4.6 11 0
D MCNABB 9 53 5.9 28 0 T ROMO 1 16 16.0 16 0
J JONES 7 5 0.7 5 0

PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG PASSING CM-AT-YDS IN TD LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
D MCNABB 23-41-208 0 1 29 T ROMO 13-36-214 3 0 53

Sacked-Yards Lost: D MCNABB 4-27. Sacked-Yards Lost: T ROMO 4-27.

RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD RECEIVING NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
B WESTBROO 9 63 7.0 18 0 J WITTEN 8 113 14.1 53 0
K CURTIS 5 40 8.0 14 0 P CRAYTON 2 54 27.0 41 0
R BROWN 4 35 8.8 16 1 T OWENS 2 37 18.5 19 0
B CELEK 3 50 16.7 29 0 A FASANO 1 10 10.0 10 0
H BASKETT 1 11 11.0 11 0
T TAPEH 1 9 9.0 9 0

INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD INTERCEPTIONS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
Q MIKELL 1 20 20.0 20 0
L SHEPPARD 1 16 16.0 16 0
B DAWKINS 1 1 1.0 1 0

PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG PUNTING NO YDS AVG T I LG
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
S ROCCA 8 313 39.1 1 5 50 M MCBRIAR 7 351 50.1 1 1 58

T = Touchbacks, I = Inside 20

PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD PUNT RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
R MAHE 4 34 8.5 14 0 P CRAYTON 3 20 6.7 11 0
B WESTBROOK 1 9 9.0 9 0

KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD KICKOFF RETURNS NO YDS AVG LG TD
-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------
J REED 3 79 26.3 34 0 N JONES 2 49 24.5 27 0
P MCQUISTAN 1 12 12.0 12 0

KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA KICKING XP/XPA FG/FGA
---------------------------------- ----------------------------------
D AKERS 1/1 1/2 N FOLK 0/0 2/2
Dist.: (47) 21 Dist.: 33 23

O-D O-D
FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC FUMBLES NO LOST FF REC
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
Q MIKELL 1 1 0 0-0 T ROMO 2 0 0 0-0
R MAHE 1 0 0 0-0 A SPENCER 0 0 1 0-0
D MCNABB 1 0 0 0-0 M BARBER III 0 0 0 0-1
T COLE 0 0 1 0-0 F ADAMS 0 0 0 1-0
J RUNYAN 0 0 0 1-0 J WITTEN 0 0 0 1-0

DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD DEFENSE TK SO AS SK-YD
------------------------------------ ------------------------------------
L SHEPPARD 6 5 1 0-0 R WILLIAMS 7 7 0 0-0
S BROWN 5 4 1 0-0 B JAMES 7 6 1 1-7
O GAITHER 5 4 1 0-0 A HENRY 6 6 0 0-0
T SPIKES 5 3 2 0-0 D WARE 5 5 0 1-9
T COLE 3 3 0 1-11 K HAMLIN 4 4 0 0-0
C GOCONG 3 2 1 0-0 J RATLIFF 4 3 1 1-5
B DAWKINS 2 2 0 0-0 M SPEARS 3 2 1 0-0
Q MIKELL 2 2 0 0-0 A SPENCER 2 2 0 1-6
M PATTERSON 1 1 0 1-3 T NEWMAN 2 2 0 0-0
B BUNKLEY 1 1 0 1-8 S BOWEN 2 2 0 0-0
J THOMAS 1 1 0 0-0 K BURNETT 2 2 0 0-0
J HANSON 1 1 0 0-0 A AYODELE 2 2 0 0-0
D HOWARD 1 1 0 0-0 J REEVES 1 1 0 0-0
K DAVIS 1 1 0 0-0
J HATCHER 1 1 0 0-0
P WATKINS 1 1 0 0-0
T JOHNSON 1 1 0 0-0
G ELLIS 1 0 1 0-0

Officials: Referee-Larry Nemmers, Umpire-Carl Paganelli, Head
Linesman-Mark Baltz, Line Judge-Michael Spanier, Field Judge-Eddie
Powers, Back Judge-Dino Paganelli.

Att: 63,777 Time of Game: 3:08</div>

 

NFL: PHILADELPHIA at DALLAS

<div class="pre">NFL PHILADELPHIA AT DALLAS
NOTE: RESENDING BOX TO CORRECT INDIVIDUAL FUMBLES FOR
BOTH TEAMS</div>