Eagles vs. Cowboys Preview.

As this weekends game approaches all the talk has been about how the Eagles might be able win, I'm not totally sold yet but I am leaning towards the Birds, and more or less about Tony Romo's contract. Add in Andy Reid's family problems, and there has been little T.O. talk. Not that he isn't trying to get the attention. He has said this week that him and Donovan have cleared the air, which Donovan confirmed, and that he's looking forward to playing in front of Philly fans again. As far as the game goes, I really am starting to believe that the Eagles can beat the Cowboys. The Cowboys have been getting a slow start in games this season but Tony Romo is red hot in the third quarter, which I will show in later on in this preview. The Eagles have to get going early, keep the Cowboys offense cold, and create turnovers. Bottom line, create turnovers. If the defense can contain Romo in the pocket and not let him roll out and create plays, the turnovers will come to them.

Philly Fans do the T.O (OD) Chant. You might not have heard it if you were watching on TV, but it was a classic moment.



Some stats and stuff I found to be interesting. NFL Rank in parenthesis.

Cowboys Pass Def. : 208.9 ypg (13)
Eagles Pass Def. : 210.3 (15)

Cowboys Run Def. : 87.0 (5) , 3.6 ypc
Eagles Run Def. : 90.4 (8) , 3.7 ypc

Cowboys PPG Allowed : 22.6 (21)
Eagles PPG Allowed : 16.7 (7)

Cowboys Int. : 10 (6), Forced Fumbles : 8 (13)
Eagles Int. : 5 (25), Forced Fumbles : 3 (30)

The Cowboys and Eagles are really close defensively, except when it comes to turnovers. The Eagles have only 5 picks, and have forced only 3 fumbles the whole season, 3rd worst in the NFL. I did hear on WIP that the Eagles were practicing stripping the ball all week during practice so hopefully that pays off this Sunday.


Now I will put my attention on Tony Romo and Donovan McNabb. They will be the keys to winning this game. More Romo then McNabb though. I will start with the generic, Romo has 9 ints this season which is bad compared to McNabb's 2. But Romo takes more chances kind of like Brett Favre. McNabb will not make a throw unless his WR is open. The Eagles allow the 2nd most sacks in the NFL with 27. The Cowboys are the second highest scoring team in the NFL scoring 32.4 ppg.

1st half QB rating : Romo: 78.6
1st half QB rating: McNabb: 107.4

2nd half QB rating: Romo: 118.8
2nd half QB rating: McNabb: 72.8

QB rating inside the opp 20: Romo: 85.1
QB rating inside the opp 20: McNabb: 84.8

QB Rating away: Romo: 75.3
QB rating home: McNabb: 106.1

3rd & 8+yds : Romo: 24%
3rd & 8+yds: McNabb: 18%

Basically after looking at this it shows McNabb plays very good at home. It also shows he has poor second half's though. As for Romo, he struggles a little bit on the road, but at halftime seems to make the right adjustments to come our firing. Now here is the part that blew me away.


Tony Romo's 3rd Quarter Stats

39 of 62, 612 yds, 65% completion percentage
15.7 YPP
8 TD passes. First in the NFL.
0 Interceptions. First in the NFL.
152.1 QB rating. First in the NFL.

The Cowboys are probably the best 3rd quarter team in the NFL right now, so the Eagles need to come out after halftime and contain Tony Romo.