One can almost hear the words of the late great John Morrison while looking ahead to Sunday’s NFC East regular season finale: this is the end. Fifteen games culminated in one final showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. The winner will take first place in the East, and the three-seed in the upcoming playoffs while the loser, will have a markedly different outcome.
Philadelphia Eagles(8-5) @ Dallas Cowboys(7-6)
A Cowboys’ team allowing just over 418 yards per game will face off with Chip Kelly’s prolific offense in the house that Jerry Jones built Sunday night in Dallas. The addition of Nick Foles to an already dominant rushing attack led by LeSean McCoy has transformed the Philadelphia offense from laughingstock to legitimate post-season threat, and his unit averages over 420 yards per game. The NFL’s rushing leader and passer rating head-honcho are a one-two punch rivaling that of the greatest show on turf: Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, and the Mike Martz-led St. Louis Rams of over a decade ago. Monte Kiffin and his Tampa-2 are likely on the chopping block Sunday in what is far from a favorable match up.
After defeating the Chicago Bears 54-11 in Week 16, hopes are soaring high in the city of brotherly love. Without Sean Lee at the center of Dallas’ sieve of a defense, the Cowboys have little hope of stopping the Philadelphia offensive onslaught, they must hope to contain it; which may be more than they bargained for. Allowing 290.7 yards per game through the air, and 127.9 on the ground, Dallas’ ineffectiveness on defense is a more glaring hole than the one left by Tony Romo’s herniated disk. Without their leader, Dallas will turn to NFL journeyman Kyle Orton to lead the charge against Billy Davis’ 3-4 scheme; for better or for worse.
The Eagles defensive success is far from that of their offense, but there is still a silver lining. The team’s front-seven has been more than effective in recent weeks, allowing opposing rushers to just 107.5 yards per game, 12th in the NFL. The team’s weakness lies with their 30th ranked pass defense that allows 285.2 yards per game in the air. If the Cowboys hope to pull off the upset and save the job of Coach Jason Garrett, they must find the holes in the Eagles secondary and get Dez Bryant heavily involved in the passing attack. If Orton cannot fill the shoes left by the Romo injury, Dallas’ post season run may be over before it even started.
Chip Kelly’s offensive dreams have become a reality. The offense many deemed impossible has proved not only feasible, but incredibly effective. With the NFL’s leading rusher at the head of the league’s most dominant rushing attack, the Eagles boast an average of 161.9 rushing yards per game on the ground. Match that too the 9th ranked passing offense, and you have the realization of Kelly’s plan.
Prediction: Eagles 36 Cowboys 24
Barring some superhuman performance out of Cowboys gunslinger/ fill-in Kyle Orton, this game will not be close. Philadelphia is quite simply a better football team on both sides of the ball, and should make mince-meat out of a once-great Cowboys franchise. How many Dallas fans does it take to change a light bulb? None. They just talk about how good the old ones were. Orton, or Romo for that matter, is no Aikman, Bryant no Irvin, and the 2013 Cowboys season ends on Sunday.