Philadelphia And Dallas Battle For First Place In The NFC East

NFL News - November 3rd, 2009 - Written by Scott

The Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles will get a chance to separate themselves from one another on Sunday. Both teams are 5-2 and sit at the top of the NFC East. The Cowboys are coming off a 38-17 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The Eagles have won three of their last four and got a huge 40-17 win over the New York Giants. The loss sent the Giants into third place in the division.

The Cowboys have been able to put points on the score board this year and are averaging 28 points per game. They also are averaging 411 yards per game which ranks 2nd in the league. Their 7th ranked passing offense is led by Tony Romo. He has passed for 1,908 yards and 12 touchdowns. The running back trio that Dallas has includes Marion Barber, Tashard Choice, and Felix Jones. All three are healthy now and have combined for 921 yards and 7 touchdowns. Miles Austin has emerged as the Cowboys playmaker at receiver and has 563 yards and 6 touchdowns. Dallas is averaging 147 yards per game on the ground, but will be tested by Philadelphia's strong rushing defense.

The Dallas defense has done a good job in terms of limiting their opponents scoring. However, they are giving up a lot of yards per game and rank in the bottom third of the league in both total yards and passing yards allowed.

The Eagles have been playing well since the return of Donavan McNabb. They are averaging 29 points per game which ranks third in the NFL. McNabb has thrown for 1,008 yards and 9 touchdowns. Their running attack is led by LeSean McCoy, as Brian Westbrook has seen limited action due to injuries. His status is not yet known for this game after he suffered a concussion two weeks ago. DeSean Jackson has emerged as the go-to guy at receiver and has 501 yards and 4 touchdowns.

The Philadelphia defense is only surrendering 19 points per game and are only allowing 103 yards rushing. They have pressured the quarterback well all year and have racked up 23 sacks this season. The Eagles have also done a good job in forcing turnovers and have intercepted 14 passes and recovered 8 fumbles this year.

Philadelphia will be favored by 3 points at home according to BetUS sportsbook with an over/under set at 47 1/2. The total has gone over in 7 of the Cowboys' last 9 games and Philadelphia is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home.

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