Cowboys Christmas gift to their fans will be division title

By Andy Targovnik  |   Wednesday, December 20, 2006  |  Comments( 9 )

Dallas Cowboys
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In the parity-laden NFL, not many things shock people these days. But with the division title on the line, yours truly will be the most stunned person on the planet if the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas night.

And should the New York Giants somehow find a way to beat the New Orleans Saints, I'd be the most stunned person in the entire universe if the Cowboys didn't win. Why?

Because there's no conceivable way the Detroit Lions will beat the Cowboys the final week, a Dallas victory on Christmas will all but sew up the second seed in the playoffs, which entitles the Cowboys to a first-round playoff bye and a home game in the divisional round. As a result, their chances of going to the Super Bowl will increase - a lot.

To be fair, a lot crazier things have happened. And in no way am I dismissing the Eagles. They deserve a plethora of credit for playing so well without Donovan McNabb. And they are coming off two impressive road victories over the Washington Redskins and the Giants to boot.

Since 2001, though, 17 teams have played three games in a row on the road; only two have won all three.

In addition, the Cowboys have had an extra day to rest which, at first glance, may not seem like much. But at this time of the year, players are bruised and tired. Take into account the Eagles' two mentally, physically tiring division battles, and that extra day is like an eternity.

Let's not forget about the Parcells factor, either. Games like this are why owner Jerry Jones brought Bill Parcells to Dallas four years ago and relinquished much of his own control.

Nobody is better at getting his team ready for a big game at the end of the year than Parcells.

When Parcells coached the Giants, the New England Patriots and the New York Jets, his record was 51-24 during the final five games of the year. The Cowboys have only been 6-9 in their final five games during the Tuna's Dallas tenure, but this is clearly the best Cowboys team he's had; up to this point, it's Parcells' one true Dallas team that has had legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.

Obviously, Parcells doesn't want to endure another year of the T.O. follies. So the window of opportunity is here and now, and the head coach will leave no stone unturned.

Besides the positive karma that points to a Dallas victory, the Cowboys are also more talented than Philadelphia.

Anything can happen, but the odds of victory don't seem high for the Eagles.
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CommentsComments: 9  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
B Wong
05:44 AM
12/21/2006
Hey, from your mouth to God's ears. I want to believe the part about no one being better than Parcells for getting his team up ...
No.2
Eagles fan.
08:41 AM
12/21/2006
All I can really do is laugh at this article. Dallas doesn't have any "positive karma", you've got one of the most ...
No.3
Andy
10:07 AM
12/21/2006
Right on, Andy. There's no way in hell that the Iggles can will three straight divisional games on the road at this time of the ...
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