• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Eagles rout Cowboys, clinch playoff spot

Dec 26, 2006 - 5:46 AM IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Jeff Garcia and the Philadelphia Eagles delivered a double whammy to the Dallas Cowboys' division title hopes.

Garcia threw for 238 yards and a touchdown as the Eagles manhandled the Cowboys, 23-7, to wrap up a playoff berth.

In winning its fourth consecutive game under Garcia, Philadelphia (9-6) singed Dallas on a number of fronts and now is in position to claim the NFC East title next week with a home win against the Atlanta Falcons.

"The guys stepped up, everybody stepped their game up," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "Jeff did a nice job. You step in for the potential MVP and that is a tough thing to do. Jeff sure held his own in there and did a real nice job with it.

"We took one more step and we made it to the playoffs. It's important that we keep pushing. We got a really good Atlanta team coming to town."

While the teams are tied for the division lead, the resurgent Eagles hold all the tiebreakers by virtue of a sweep of the season series over the Cowboys (9-6) and nemesis Terrell Owens.

Dallas, which already had clinched a playoff berth, had a chance to wrap up the East title for the first time under coach Bill Parcells, but again stumbled badly at home.

On December 10 in their previous home game, the Cowboys suffered a crushing 42-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints, which clinched the No. 2 seed in the NFC as a result of Philadelphia's win.

"I'm concerned about a lot of things," Parcells said. "We didn't do anything that well today. You can't play like that and not be disappointed."

After Donovan McNabb suffered a season-ending knee injury on November 19, Philadelphia absorbed a 45-21 beating to the Indianapolis Colts in Garcia's first start to drop to 5-6 and was seemingly left for dead.

Instead, Garcia has orchestrated a remarkable renaissance for both the Eagles and his own career.

"It feels good to be my old self and be the guy that plays the game with energy and enthusiasm and hunger," Garcia said. "To be smart with the football and go out there and execute the plays being called for us. I think the coaches are doing an excellent job of preparing us week in and week out."

Playing for his fourth team in four seasons, Garcia has helped the Eagles rattle off four straight wins, including three in a row against division rivals Washington, New York and Dallas - all on the road.

"They were three great teams that we played - all division games- and each one of them was huge," Reid said. "The guys buckled down. When we looked at (the schedule) back then, we figured it would be tough going down there and it came down to us having to win each of them."

Philadelphia took an early 10-0 lead as Garcia directed a pair of 89-yard scoring drives. He culminated the first with a 25-yard scoring pass to Matt Schobel for the only touchdown of the first quarter, and David Akers booted a 25-yard field goal - the first of three - midway through the second quarter.

Prior to Akers' field goal, Dallas was in position to tie the score with a 2nd-and-1 at the 1, but Marion Barber was stuffed on three straight rushes, including a three-yard loss on fourth down.

"Overall we did not have a chance to win the game," Parcells said. "I have a lot of football here to be played and I have to try and get my team back on track. That was not a good performance."

The Cowboys, who still can win the NFC East with a home win over Detroit and a loss by the Eagles, cut it to 10-7 when quarterback Tony Romo scrambled and tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Owens with 36 seconds to play in the half.

Any momentum gained was wiped out when Garcia moved Philadelphia 38 yards in five plays, setting up a 45-yard field goal by Akers on the final play of the half for a 13-7 lead.

The Eagles extended the lead to 16-7 on a 21-yard kick by Akers with 12:18 to go in the third before their defense snuffed out the Cowboys' last chance to get back in the game.

With 13:54 to play and Dallas driving, safety Brian Dawkins intercepted Romo with an outstanding over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone that was intended for former teammate Owens.

Romo finished 14-of-29 for 142 yards with the one TD and two interceptions.

"It's not necessary embarrassing that we lost to them twice, but by the way we played offensively," Owens said. "We need to play better, we need to get into a rhythm overall. You can't put a finger on anyone, we all need to get better - players coaches. everyone."

The Eagles responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive, sparked by running backs Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter, who capped it with a one-yard TD run for a 23-7 lead with 6:57 to play.

Westbrook rushed for 122 yards on 26 carries as Philadelphia piled up 204 yards on the ground.

"We're a hungry team and we've adopted the attitude that our backs are against the wall," Westbrook said. "We gotta keep fighting and keep that attitude because we still haven't reached where we want to go yet."