Revenge is sweet. And for the Dallas Cowboys, it's especially tasty when sampled in Philadelphia.
The Cowboys avenged that humiliating 44-6 loss in the season finale last year at The Linc that kept them from making the playoffs by beating the Eagles Sunday night 20-16. In doing so, Dallas stretched its winning streak to four, and grabbed the lead in the NFC East.
The Pokes won outright as three-point road underdogs on the BetJamaica.com NFL betting line, and while getting +130 on our moneyline. And while we had bumped the total on this game from 47.5 earlier last week to 49.5 by kickoff, the under cashed in easily as the teams combined to score just three touchdowns.
The Cowboys also covered one of the alternative pointspreads at BetJamaica.com Sunday night, giving 3.5 points at +210.
After starting 2-2 this season, Dallas has now won four straight and leads the NFC East by a game over 5-3 Philadelphia and a game and a half over the 5–4 New York Giants.
The Cowboys took the early lead Sunday night on a short Tashard Choice touchdown midway through the first quarter, and held a 10-6 advantage at the half. The Eagles then grabbed their only lead of the night when they took the second-half kickoff – after getting a TD return called back – and drove 77 yards in six plays for a score. But a Nick Folk field goal tied the game early in the fourth quarter, and after the Dallas defense stuffed Eagles QB Donovan McNabb on a fourth-and-inches around midfield, Cowboys QB Tony Romo hit WR Miles Austin for a 49-yard catch-and-run TD with eight minutes to play.
Philly then got a 52-yard FG from their great left-footed kicker David Akers to pull within 20-16, but with no time-outs the Eagles could not keep Dallas from running the last four and a half minutes off the clock.
The Cowboys also did a good job of keeping Eagles WR DeSean Jackson from going off. After scoring six 50-yard-plus touchdowns through Philly's first seven games, the mercurial former Cal Bear was limited to two catches for 29 yards Sunday night.
Eagles RB Brian Westbrook missed his second straight game as he deals with a post-concussion situation. Bettors might want to keep an eye on his status for upcoming action.
Philly now hits the road for games at San Diego next Sunday (4:15 pm ET, Fox) and at Chicago for another Sunday nighter Nov. 22.
Dallas, meanwhile, visits Green Bay this Sunday (4:15 pm ET, Fox), before hosting Washington Nov. 22 and Oakland on Thanksgiving.
And these two good friends will meet again in the regular-season finale, down in Dallas Jan. 3.
Bettors should check out our updated conference championship and Super Bowl 44 betting boards at BetJamaica.com. As of this weekend, we're offering the Cowboys at +850 to win the NFC championship, and +2,000 to win the Super Bowl, while the Eagles are getting +500 to win the conference and +1,200 to win the Super Bowl.