Another Cowboys-Eagles Showdown for NFC East

When the Cowboys and Eagles meet in Dallas for the NFC East, there will be a lot more on the line than just a division title, especially for the home team. 

Home field in the wild-card round, or a potentially first-round bye if Minnesota loses out, would be great, but Tony Romo and the Cowboys have revenge on their mind after what happened in last season’s playoff showdown. They were embarrassed a year ago and have been waiting for this moment since the 44-6 beating in Philadelphia, where the Eagles leaped over Dallas for the sixth and final spot in the NFC.

It was December 28, 2008, at Lincoln Finanical Field in Philadelphia, and yet again the Eagles and Cowboys were squaring off in a playoff tussle with the final NFC wild-card berth at stake. But the NFC East rivals were heading in opposite directions. 

The Eagles, following a troublesome tie in Cinncinati and 36-7 thrashing in Baltimore, turned their season around quick with three straight wins, starting on Thanksgiving Day, to set up the quasi-playoff game with Dallas.

The Cowboys walked into the all-important final meeting having lost two of three in December—including a pair of heartbreaking losses to the Steelers and Ravens to fall from tops of the division to the sixth seed, which they lost before they could even regroup in the locker room. 

Down 27-3 at halftime, the visitors turned the ball over five times in all, including three Romo fumbles, which quickly turned into Philadelphia points in a game when nothing went right for the Cowboys.

A year later, things couldn’t be more different, especially on the Dallas sideline. The not-so-dysfunctional Cowboys have put together an impressive string of wins in December after losses to the Giants and Chargers. The triumphant 24-17 victory, which gave New Orleans its first blemish of the year, has clearly given Dallas a huge confidence boost going into the postseason.

Romo is playing his best football as a pro, sparking an offense that ranks third in the NFL, averaging 394 yards a game. After the season finale, he will have posted his best statistical season, currently sitting at 4,172 yards—only needing 39 yards on Sunday to pass his 2007 totals. 

The emergence of Miles Austin, who’s become the Cowboys’ top pass-catcher in 2009 with 1,230 yards and 11 touchdowns, has helped Romo and the offense, not only in the passing attack but also the running game. Austin’s output has him fifth in NFL receiving—13 yards behind Reggie Wayne and Santonio Holmes.   

For their part, the Eagles, who always seem to catch fire late in the season, have went on another hot streak to give themselves a chance to host a playoff game. Philly’s won six in a row and has scored no less than 27 points in the last five weeks, largely because of the offense, which is clicking on all cylinders heading into the most important part of the season.

Donavan McNabb finally has deep weapons, with which he’s been able to exploit team’s secondary with the speed and athleticism of sophomore DeSean Jackson and rookie Jeremy Maclin.

On the ground, Maclin’s fellow first-year starter, running back LeSean McCoy, has rushed for an Eagles’ rookie single-season rushing record. Philly’s second-round pick from 2009 has picked up 633 yards on the ground for a 4.1 average after replacing Brian Westbrook, who returned to the lineup against Denver after concussion problems forced him to sit out eight games.

But it’s their receiving core that’s made the different in 2009. Jackson has 1,120 yards and nine touchdown for the Eagles, who have benefited from the deep threat he presents opposing defenses. He’s amazingly accumulated 10 50-plus yards touchdown plays in only two seasons and single-handedly won a couple games for Philadelphia – most notably the Sunday night affair against the Giants with his 72-yard punt return and 60-yard TD catch. 

For his part, Maclin has 715 yards receiving and four TD in only his inaugural season, also having made key catches for Philly, including the 27-yard, toe-drag catch to set up David Akers’ game-winning kick.

So clearly, the Eagles and Cowboys both enter Sunday’s meeting with a ton momentum. And while there can only be one winner, expect a terrific football game.    

Unlike last season’s sleeper in Philly, the game to determine the NFC East champion will likely go down as one of the classics in this all-time series, possibly a similar outcome to the last time the division rivals faced off in Dallas—a 41-37 Monday night doozy won by the Cowboys.

Better yet, depending on the Vikings’ finish to the regular season, it’s more than likely Philadelphia and Dallas will meet up again in the first round—with Sunday’s clash determining the site of that wild-card game and home-field advantage.

But regardless of where the game’s played, the Cowboys are playing some of their best football under Romo. They’ve also proven to beat the Eagles on the road in prime time two of the last three seasons on Sunday Night Football . FOX will be broadcasting Sunday’s NFC East showdown, but it can’t get much worse for Dallas, who are seeking serious revenge for last year’s humiliating defeat.    

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Late Run Has 2009 New York Jets in Stronger Playoff Position

With a quarterback nearly half the age of last year’s starter, the New York Jets stand on firmer playoff ground entering the regular season finale than a year ago when the breaks didn’t quite fall in their favor after sliding down the AFC standings.

In his rookie season, 23-year-old Mark Sanchez has guided the Jets to an 8-7 record after a big win Sunday in Indianapolis and is another big win away from helping the franchise clinch its first postseason berth since 2006.

New York was the beneficiary of a coaching move that saw Jim Caldwell sit Peyton Manning with the undefeated Colts ahead 15-10 in the third quarter. Now, the Jets’ playoff destiny is in its own hands for the first time since their 3-0 start—only needing a victory against Cincinnati as the Bengals visit the Meadowlands for the featured Sunday Night Football game, which will be the stadium’s last.

But after losing six of their next seven contests following the hot 3-0 start, the Jets have ripped off four wins in their last five with their rookie pivot, setting up the Sunday night showdown for a playoff spot. And despite the disappointing home loss against Atlanta last week, New York got a ton of help on Sunday in addition to its victory over the Colts.

The Jets’ division rival, Miami, was beaten at home after falling behind 27-0 to Houston, while another AFC East foe hammered the Jaguars 35-7 in New England, and Pittsburgh kept its playoff hope alive with a three-point win over the Ravens—all results which combined to put the Jets in a comfy “win and you’re in” scenario.       

Regardless of the much-needed lift the Jets received in the standings, the run on which Sanchez has led the Jets in the final month of the season has been monstrous, sharply contrasting New York’s 2008 collapse under the leadership of 39-year-old Brett Favre.

Last year, after Favre orchestrated a 34-13 Jets blowout of the Titans in Tennessee, New York was in a seemingly comfortable position atop the AFC. They pushed their record to 8-3 after dominating the only undefeated team remaining and were cruising to a first-round playoff bye.

But as we all know, Favre’s age and gray beard caught up with him down the stretch with the team dropping four of its five remaining games to miss the top six altogether.

Contrary to 2009, not only did the Jets have to knock off a surging Miami squad in their season finale, but they needed a whole lot of help before battling the Dolphins. 

The Bills had to upset New England in blustery Buffalo to set up a much-anticipated AFC East showdown with Miami, while Jacksonville had to beat the Ravens to give New York a shot at a wild card spot. Of course, none of the scenarios unfolded and the Jets ended the year a disappointing 9-7, looking back at the Favre experiment as a complete failure.

However, flashforward a season and a much younger Sanchez has the Jets in a solid spot in the AFC, despite an unsettling stretch of seven games for the USC product during the middle of the season.

He’s thrown for 2,381 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions in 15 games this season, compared to Favre’s 3,472 yards and 22 touchdowns and picks a year ago. While the old man’s numbers are better, you can’t argue with the results Sanchez has brought to the Jets, who are in a prime position to play for the Super Bowl.  

A win over Cincinnati will push them to 9-7—an identical record to last season’s letdown—but a resilient Sanchez has done more for New York in his first year of action than a degenerative Favre did in 2008, especially if the young quarterback can led his troops to a Sunday night victory, which would punch the Jets’ playoff ticket for the first time in three seasons.

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Oh, How the NFL’s Mighty Has Fallen

What a difference a year makes in the NFL.

Last December, the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers—the NFC’s two top teams in 2008—met on a Sunday night with the No. 1 overall seed on the line. But when the two teams battle on Sunday afternoon, in the Giants’ regular season finale at the Meadowlands, only the home team has a playoff spot in sight.

The 8-6 Giants are a game behind Dallas in the wild card race and have the season series in their pocket after a pair of wins over the Cowboys.

Yet it was only last season when New York was the conference’s top seed with home field advantage throughout the playoffs and looked primed to defend its Super Bowl title. Then, the Plaxico Burress fiasco left Eli Manning and the Giants offense without a big target, and they were ousted quickly by Philadelphia in the divisional round.

On the other side, the Panthers are 6-8 and only a shadow of their 12-4 selves from a year ago when they hosted a divisional playoff game against Arizona and were embarrassed in the 20-point defeat, caused by seven turnovers. And since Jake Delhomme’s destruction in January, Carolina has suffered a giant fall in the NFC with a mark below .500—nowhere near the division’s elite in New Orleans.

The Panthers’ fall from grace marks an emerging trend in the NFL that’s seen a handful of top teams take a plunge in the standings over the course of one season, stemming largely from parity. Teams that reach great heights suddenly play a tougher schedule the next season, while division and conference rivals can take a giant leap forward, culminating in a disappointing result, which four teams in particular have suffered in 2009.

Amazingly, the top seeds that earned first-round byes a year ago—the Giants, Panthers, Titans, and Steelers—have stumbled through their schedules and could all miss the playoffs by season’s end on January 3. Each of the four disappointments haven’t played the same kind of smash-mouth football that led each team to best in their respective conferences.

The fact that three of the four teams—aside from Pittsburgh who won the Super Bowl—were eliminated at home in the divisional playoffs perhaps foreshadowed struggles this season.

Clearly, New York has been the best of the pack to this point in the season with a shot at the playoffs still. But a depleted secondary and lack of a pass rush on defense largely resulted in a horrendous four-game losing streak that quickly erased a 5-0 start.

Last year, the G-Men started 11-1 and secured the first overall seed with that victory over Carolina on Sunday Night Football . But they have since fallen from the top ranks of the NFC—as have the Panthers.

In the AFC, Tennessee was the best team in football last fall with a 10-0 start to the season before Brett Favre and the Jets knocked them from the undefeated ranks. The Titans, though, dominated the Steelers 31-14 at home in the AFC’s battle for first in late December—fittingly on the same Sunday New York beat out Carolina.

The monstrous win over Pittsburgh, and the subsequent stomping of the Terrible Towel by linebacker Keith Bullock, gave Tennessee home field advantage. However, it wasn’t much of an advantage at all in the playoffs, as they were narrowly beaten 13-10 by a red-hot Baltimore team, which earned a trip to Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship game.

In 2009 however, it was a disastrous start for the Titans, who lost their first six games of the year. And despite winning the next seven of eight with Vince Young under center, they won’t be back in the postseason after Friday’s blowout loss to San Diego, going from 13 wins to a .500 record in the span of a season.

For their part the Steelers, the only top team out of the bunch to win a home playoff game, have suffered through an injury-riddled season with the loss of safety Troy Polamalu (knee) on defense and the absence of Ben Roethlisberger (concussion) for a game-plus.

A 12-4 record, which earned Pittsburgh the No. 2 seed in the AFC and paved its Super Bowl run, has been followed by a major collapse in the second half of 2009.

A five-game losing streak, including embarrassing defeats against the Chiefs and Raiders, knocked the defending champs from a first-place tie in the AFC North at 6-2 to out of the playoffs, which now would be a Christmas miracle in the final two weeks of the regular season. Despite the comeback victory over Green Bay, two wins are in order against the Ravens and Dolphins for Pittsburgh even to have a shot.

So, if the playoffs started today, all four top seeds from 2008 (which combined for 37 wins) would be watching the postseason from their living rooms. Tennessee and Carolina have already been eliminated from contention, while Pittsburgh and New York are hanging by a thread in the AFC and NFC wild card races, respectively.

It just points to the amount of parity in the NFL. Aside from the league’s bottom feeders, it can be a quite the sudden plunge from one season to the next for any elite team. 

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Aces Wild in NFC West with 49ers Win

The NFC West is not only among the weakest divisions in football, but it may also be the wackiest.

After the 49ers shocked the division-leading Cardinals 24-9 at Candlestick Park on Monday night—completing the season sweep of Arizona in the process—oddsmakers in Vegas just might have to stop handicapping the division that’s been incredibly unpredictable.

A week after dominating Brett Favre and the Vikings in primetime, the national spotlight wasn’t nearly as glamorous for the defending NFC champions. They turned the ball over seven times in a game that could’ve clinched the division.

Certainly, failing to wrap up the NFC West on Monday night is a moot point for Arizona. The Cardinals get the conference’s two worst teams, St. Louis and Detroit, in the last three weeks of the season and should win their second straight division title. 

But a meager performance in San Francisco brought the Cardinals back down to earth. It took them from a top contender against Minnesota—determined to earn a first-round bye—to a middle-of-the-pack team that could be bounced on wild-card weekend with a mistake-filled effort.

Instead of playing like the division crown was on the line, Arizona looked ill-prepared from their opening possession. They never got into the kind of rhythm offensively on which Kurt Warner thrives as an elite quarterback.

To their credit, the 49ers—who were minus-one in the turnover battle at Seattle last week—were able to get pressure on the Cardinals’ offense. With an effective pass rush, they disrupted Warner’s rhythm-oriented passing attack and shut down the run game.

A disappointing 20-17 defeat to the Seahawks seems like a distant memory now for the Niners, who bounced back in a big way—forcing seven takeaways and beating Arizona for the second time in 2009.

Monday night’s surprising win by San Francisco marks what has been a wacky trend in the division this season—teams showing promising signs with stout performances only to return to NFC West mediocrity the next week.

For the defending champions, Arizona, who have been surprisingly impressive on the road this year with a 5-2 record, there has been a pair of mishaps at the University of Phoenix Stadium—the same home at which they went 8-2 in 2008, including the playoffs.

Those two losses—a 31-10 defeat against Indianapolis and a 34-21 loss to Carolina—put serious doubt in the minds of many around the NFL that Arizona could actually repeat as conference champions, let alone division champions.

Warner threw seven interceptions between the two letdowns—five picks to the Panthers alone—and his Cardinals were looking like a team, similar to the Steelers, that was suffering from a Super Bowl hangover. However, they rebounded with a three-game winning streak after each embarrassing defeat.   

For their part, the 49ers started 3-1, with a season-opening win in Arizona, and were a Favre-miracle away from winning their first four contests.

Until beating the Cardinals again, to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, San Francisco had lost six of its last eight following the hot start. This all due in large part to inconsistent quarterback play and the absence of injured Frank Gore in the backfield.

Even for a 5-8 Seattle team that’s never been in the NFC West conversation this season, there was a point in the season that inspired hope in Seahawks Nation.

A convincing 41-0 blowout over Jacksonville in Week 5 brought great excitement to the city, and it seemed as though Seattle had finally found its mojo offensively. They were starting to look like a legitimate playoff team.

Matt Hasselbeck had four touchdown passes, two of which went to coveted free agent T.J. Houshmandzadeh, while an aging defense put up its second shutout of 2009.  

However, the Seahawks, who had been humbled by the Colts a week earlier in Indianapolis, were pounded 27-3 by the Cardinals the very next week. They’ve lost five of their last eight games since demolishing the Jaguars—ironically the team that’s now in playoff contention in the AFC.     

It’s just been one of those wacky years in the NFL, where parity has reigned supreme every Sunday. But if the NFC West has taught us anything, the high-flying Cardinals will be back despite leaving San Francisco humiliated.

After all, Arizona has experienced this same rollercoaster ride before, only one year ago. A 47-7 thumping at Foxboro last December was followed by a four-game winning streak and a berth in the Super Bowl.

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