GAME: Philadelphia Eagles 10, Dallas Cowboys 6 12/16/07
Date - Sunday, December 16 2007 4:15PM
Location - Texas Stadium
Temperature - Dome
Head Official - Larry Nemmers
Attendance - 63777
IRVING, Tx. - For the second year in a row, the Philadelphia Eagles have spoiled the Dallas Cowboys' holiday plans.
One year after beating them on Christmas Day in Texas Stadium, the Eagles came into the Cowboys' home again and posted a 10-6 victory Sunday.
The Cowboys (12-2) had already secured a playoff first-round bye before they even took the field following Seattle's 13-10 loss to Carolina, but they lost a chance to clinch home-field advantage 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 their slim postseason hopes alive by shutting down the potent Dallas offense.
Brian Westbrook rushed for 81 yards on 18 carries and caught nine balls for 63 yards, and he brought the game to a stunning conclusion.
After breaking free for an apparent touchdown that would have made it 17-6, Westbrook intentionally slid to the ground at the 2:00 warning.
With the Cowboys out of timeouts, all Philadelphia had to do was take a knee three times to run out the clock.
Dallas had not scored fewer than 25 points in a game all season before this game, but the Eagles held the dynamic combination of quarterback Tony Romo and receiver Terrell Owens in check all day.
With Jessica Simpson watching from a luxury box, Romo threw three interceptions and completed just 13-of-36 passes, while clearly bothered by a troublesome throwing hand.
As poorly as the offense was, the Cowboys were still in position to win the game late. Romo led them downfield in the final minutes, converting a 4th-and-2 pass to tight end Jason Witten to keep their final, last-gasp drive alive until Brian Dawkins intercepted him at the Philadelphia 45-yard line with 2:50 remaining.
Owens, who torched the Eagles to the tune of 10 catches for 174 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting between these teams - a 38-17 Dallas victory on November 4 - had no catches through three quarters and just two overall for 37 yards. Witten did come up with eight receptions for 113 yards, his second straight 100-yard day.
The Eagles also nullified the Cowboys' running game, limiting them to 53 total yards on the ground. Dallas also was just 2-for-13 on third-down conversions.
For the Eagles, Donovan McNabb threw for 208 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 53 yards on nine carries.
The Cowboys had a chance to clinch the NFC East last season on Christmas day, but the Eagles defeated them convincingly here, 23-7 , and Dallas ended up stumbling into the postseason last year, didn't win the division and lost its wild dard game.
Dallas' offense started slowly, as it has in the majority of its games this season, going three-and-out on its first three possessions. Romo didn't complete a pass until his seventh attempt early in the second quarter. Overall for the first quarter, the Cowboys held the ball for just 3:09 and gained just 13 total yards.
After connecting on his second completion, a 53-yard pass to Witten, the Cowboys reached the Eagles 8-yard-line, but a crazy sequence eventually led to Nick Folk's 33-yard field goal that put the first points on the board with 8:52 remaining in the second.
On a 3rd-and-goal from the 4-yard-line, Romo was intercepted by Quintin Mikell in the end zone. Mikell ran it out but fumbled it and Cowboys running back Marion Barber recovered on the 14-yard-line.
Philadelphia coach Andy Reid challenged the call, but the ruling of a fumble stood. Three plays later, after two more Romo incompletions, Folk kicked the field goal.
Romo continued to struggle, finishing the first half just 5-for-17 with two interceptions, including the pick by Lito Sheppard that led to the Eagles' touchdown just 16 seconds before halftime - a 1-yard toss from McNabb to Reggie Brown to give Philadelphia a 7-3 lead at halftime.
The Cowboys lost both
Pro Bowl center Andre Gurode and starting defensive end Chris Canty to left knee injuries during the third quarter, as well as backup tight end Anthony Fasano to a concussion.
With Eagles starting tight end L.J. Smith sitting out with a knee injury, backup Matt Schobel came in and lasted just five plays after he was hit hard by Dallas safety Ken Hamlin and missed 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' final drive.
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