Out Of The Chute: Eagles at Cowboys

Every week during the season, we’ll scout out the Cowboys next opponent. This week, that opponent is the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Opponent: The Philadelphia Eagles, aka Andy Reid’s Remedial Clock Management Institute

Record: 8-4. Tied for first in NFC East. The Cowboys face the Eagles in two of the final four games this season. Fun for all!

The Line: Eagles by 3.5. Home dogs! Nothing beats being a home dog.

Last Game: A 34-24 win over the Texans last Thursday night. The Eagles trailed 24-20 in the fourth quarter before Michael Vick went all Michael Vick on Houston’s backside.

The Coach: Andy Reid. If you’re down 12 points with two minutes left to go and you want your team to kick a field goal, Andy’s your man!

The Offense: Every week, Michael Vick seems to tally 300 yards passing on roughly five completions. The man likes to go long, to say the least. The challenge for the Dallas secondary will be to hold down Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson long enough to let DeMarcus Ware and company get to Vick while he’s running around like a crazed Zhu Zhu pet. Vick took a lot of hits against the Texans, and he’s shown a remarkably stubborn willingness to take defenders head on. He will get knocked out of a game again this season. No reason Dallas can’t be the team that makes it happen.

The Defense: Reid says he expects Asante Samuel to be back for this game, and that’s bad news for Jon Kitna, because Samuel loves to jump on passes and house them. You can beat Samuel deep if you get him to bite, so expect many a double move from Miles Austin on Sunday Night. This defense isn’t all that good.

Key Matchup: Ware versus Jason Peters. LT Peters has gotten better during the course of the season, and Ware will have to beat him off the snap to help the Cowboys keep Vick contained, or as contained as Vick can possibly be. Prepare yourself. Sunday Night awaits.