I have seen alot of spirited, if not heated, comments on this game in the forum.
Dallas backers claim "Chip Kelly has never won the big one" and "Eagles lost to Matt Cassell and the Vikings without Peterson".
Eagle backers claim "Cowboys always choke in December" and "Romo is out and Orton stinks".
Well, what i see is a Dallas team that is going to rally around Orton. Kyle Orton is a quality backup quarterback who has been in the league 9 years as both a starting & backup quarterback. He has thrown for over 14,000 yards and 81 touchdowns in his career. He's not the mobile qb that Tony Romo is but Orton will get to the back of his drop and the ball will come out on time.
I see Dallas running DeMarco Murray early to setup Kyle Orton in favorable passing situations. Dallas averages 96.5 yards per game on the ground.
On defense, Dallas ranks #32 in total yards against (418.6) game
Dallas ranks #31 in passing yds against (290.7) game
Dallas ranks #27 in rushing yds against (127.9) game
Dallas ranks #25 in points against (27.2) game
Dallas comes into the game 0-4 ats the last 4 and 1-7ats last 8
The Philadelphia Eagles come into the game after beating the Chicago Bears last Sunday night 54-11.The Eagles come in relatively healthy with only minor injuries from the wear and tear of the long season.
The Eagles offensive rankings:
#2 in total yards (420.7)game
#1 in rushing yds (161.9)game
#9 in passing yds (258.7)game
#2 in points game (27.9)
I think this game comes down to a couple of things for me. I think the Eagles are a young team that is riding an emotional high and comes into the game with alot of confidence. I hear the arguement that the Eagles lost to the Vikings as a negative but i'm not buying it.
The Eagles entered that game on a 5 game winning streak, fresh off of the snow game against Detroit. The Eagles put up 34 that day in the snow as LeSean McCoy had a historical day rushing. Playing the Vikings the following week and hearing reports that Peterson wouldn't play only served as to give the Eagles a false sense of security. It was a trap game waiting to happen. The Eagles came in overconfident and paid the price. Rather than sulk, the Eagles rallied and beat the Bears the following week 54-11
I hear the cries that the Eagles haven't played anyone good. Listen, you only can play and beat the teams on your schedule. The Chiefs have benefited from playing a last place schedule also.
I hear the cries that the Eagles defense stinks. They are #30th in total defense but only #12th in rushing defense. I see the #30th ranked pass defense as when teams fall behind early and have to play catch up, it's by throwing the ball against them.
Dallas has a major leader on both sides of the ball in Romo and Sean Lee. Don't underestimate the loss of Lee in the run game. His loss is huge!!
The Cowboys beat the Eagles 17-3, which is 2 months ago. The Eagles and Nick Foles have played 8 games since then going 6-2.
Listen, the way i see it is........
The Cowboy game was Foles 3rd start after taking over for Vick. After winning the first 2, the Cowboys took advantage of a raw 2nd year quarterback and showed him things that confused him. Looking back at that game, Foles missed numerous open receivers and the hometown Philly crowd let him have it. A young quarterback facing adversity for the first time after limited success proved fatal.
I believe, the Eagles learned not to take teams for granted and look past them as they did with the Vikings. The Vikings game woke this team up. It was a learning experience for a young team
I believe, that the Eagles lean on the leading rusher in the NFL like they did last week against Chicago and that Nick Foles has a very good game exploiting the Cowboys horrible defense.
The Eagles were a team in turmoil last year under Andy Ried and no one expected them to be competitive this year.
Motivation and emotion are a huge factor in sports!!
The Eagles are buying what Chip Kelly is selling!!
Good luck whomever you pick