It was the ultimate Christmas present for all fans of the Philadelphia Eagles. The win put the Eagles in the driver’s seat and back in first place. The win also officially clinched a playoff berth for the Eagles. Philadelphia now has won their fourth consecutive win and that 3-in-a-row road trip thru the NFC East became a hat trick of sorts for the team. For the fans, it was much more. It was complete domination of the hated Dallas Cowboys. It was Jeff Garcia with a 95.9 QB rating throwing for 238 yards and a TD against Terrell Owens, who only managed 2 catches and 14 yards. There are plenty of plots and sub-plots. Besides the obvious, Garcia vs. T.O., it was Philly vs. Dallas for NFC East supremacy. The Eagles emphatically with a 23-7 win in Dallas to ruin Christmas for the fans of the big star. The Eagles will now win the NFC East next week with either a win over Atlanta or a Cowboys loss to the Lions.

The Eagles dominated the Pokes right from the start and the game’s stats show these same results. Rushing yards: Eagles 204-83; Passing yards: Eagles 238-142; Total net yards: Eagles 426-201; Time of possession: Eagles 37-23 minutes. Believe me, I could on and on. The Eagles took a chokehold on the Cowboys and refused to release. The crowd was silent throughout most of the game and had no effect at all. The only cheers you heard were from the several thousand Eagles’ fans, who made the trek down to Dallas. The Cowboys savior in Tony Romo played less than average, only completing 14 of 29 passes for 142 yards, 1 TD to T.O., but also threw 2 second half INT’s. His QB rating was a lowly 45.5. You need a lot more than that to win in the NFL. The Cowboys first possession netted 2 first downs, and then the Eagles defense stiffened forcing a punt. Jeff Garcia took the Eagles from their own 11-yard line and drove the team 89 yards on 13 plays. The drive almost didn’t get going as Garcia was sacked on the first play and then Westbrook was stuffed on 2nd down. With 3rd-and-11 looming, Garcia found WR Greg Lewis open to the right and he gained 13 total yards on the play. From there on, it was one continuing march downfield as Brian Westbrook rushed 4 more times and Garcia found Matt Schobel open in the middle of the end zone for a 25-yd TD.

With the touchdown pass, the Eagles took a 7-0 lead with the first quarter almost gone. Eleven minutes were eaten away by this all-the-sudden very efficient offense. Eleven minutes and the Eagles were in total control with a lead that they would not relinquish. The next Cowboys possession ended quickly when Miles Austin fumbled the kickoff as the Eagles Quintin Mikell hit him and Roderick Hood recovered the ball at the Dallas 40-yard line. On third down, Garcia made his only mistake of the game as he was intercepted by Anthony Henry, who then returned the ball 37 yards to the Eagles 32-yd line. It appeared the Eagles stopped the Cowboys offense forcing a 4th-and-2, but coach Bill Parcells went for it Romo completed a pass to Patrick Crayton for 17 yards to the 7-yard line. What followed was a defensive stand, once reminiscing of those Buddy Ryan’s defenses. On first down, Romo completed a short pass to Anthony Fasano down to the one. Dallas played right into the Eagles hands as they attempted to run three straight times up the middle with Marian Barber. All three times, the Eagles defense found a way to stuff each play. The Eagles took over on downs on their own 4-yard line as Quintin Mikell made the last stop on fourth down.

The Eagles still led 7-0 and the defense showed Dallas it was not going to be easy both ways. On first down, Garcia connected to Donté Stallworth deep for 35 quick yards. That gave the Eagles plenty of breathing room. The Eagles methodically marched the ball, mostly on the runs of both Westbrook and Buckhalter. The Cowboys defense finally stiffened and forced a David Akers 25-yd FG, but not before the Eagles gained 89 more yards and ate up 7:36 off the clock. Somehow, Tony Romo rallied his team and for the only time all game long, mounted a nice drive of 81 yards on 10 plays in just 4:40. With just 36 seconds left in the half, Romo found T.O. open in the end zone for a 14-yd TD. The Eagles only had 36 seconds left, but had all 3 timeouts. Somehow the Eagles moved the ball 38 yards on 6 plays to setup another David Akers FG, giving the Birds a 13-7 lead at halftime. It was kick! Game! Match!

The third and fourth quarters were just a formality; as Dallas could do nothing in the second half, except give the ball back to Philly. Garcia stuck another fork in Dallas as the Eagles added yet another FG to start the third quarter. Early in the 4th quarter, it was Brian Dawkins first making a great catch on a Tony Romo pass intended for Owens in the end zone. Later, it was Lito Sheppard intercepting a Romo pass. In between, it was Garcia driving the Eagles on a 12-play, 80-yard TD drive that took 7:00. Correll Buckhalter scored the TD on a 1-yard plunge into the end zone. The Eagles ruined the Cowboys’ Christmas as Philadelphia ate the turkey and stuffed both the Cowboys and Terrell Owens. The Cowboys running game was almost non-existent as Julius Jones managed 38 yards on 10 carries. In fact, Tony Romo had more rushing yards (42) than Jones and Barber combined. And Brian Westbrook gashed the Cowboys defense with 122 rushing yards on 26 carries. This game was over competitively after the Eagles took a 10-0 lead and later at 13-7 at the half. Now let’s just worry about Atlanta and the Eagles will be NFC East champions again.