Cowboys Look to End Playoff Drought
Posted on Wednesday January 06, 2010 - 11:13 AM
by Mike Roach

Last week I wrote ad nauseum about how I hate a three time matchup in one season, and even though I still feel that way, the thought I had after last week's game was "bring them on again."   I may be drinking Jerry's Kool-aid but this team just looks hot right now and looks to have the Eagles number.  Unlike the previous two trips to the playoffs that resulted in last second losses to New York and Seattle the Cowboys are actually hot going into this game.  The Defense has figured it out without giving up the big plays to Philly, and I'll always take the matchup of the team with the best Quarterback.  That's right, no matter how much I respect Donovan McNabb as a QB, Tony Romo deserves to be mentioned among the upper echelon.  For me it's Manning, Brady, and a tie for Romo, Rivers, and Brees.  So with all of this in mind and the city of Dallas buzzing over a good chance to end this playoff drought let's look ahead to yet another game with The Eagles.

I have two stats for us to look at this week.  First off there are some concerning numbers based on when a team wins the last week of the season and then plays the same team the next week of the playoffs.  We won't go into that, but 19 times two teams have played 3 times in one season and the winner of the first two matchups is 12-7.  Seems like these stats offset each other and I think in this instance you can't judge by that and have to go on the individual teams.  A Stat I do like however is that in the two games played this year the Eagles have rushed 33 times for 126 yards.  On average that's 16.5 rushes per game for 62 yards.  I believe this is a telling stat because it's factored less on history of many teams and more on the matchup between the two teams in one season.  Historically the Eagles have been able to beat the Cowboys by running the ball with Brian Westbrook.  Their run game sets up the phenomenal deep passing threat of their offense but right now they are so one dimensional The Cowboys can simply shut down the big play. 

DeSean Jackson has never scored a TD against The Cowboys (even though he dropped one short of the goal line last year when he was waltzing in).  You could literally see the frustration boiling over with Jackson last week and Mike Jenkins has been in his hip pocket most of this season.  The single thing that bothered the Cowboys was Brad Celek.  I see Wade Phillips figuring out a way to stop him, but even if he doesn't it's not like Celek was absolutely killing them.  The best thing is that The Cowboys have been able to pretty much run the ball at will on an Eagles defense that just doesn't have as much punch without the late Jim Johnson.  You could see the fear they had of blitzing and dialing up pressure with a chance of Miles Austin burning them.  The problem with that is that the Eagles run a smaller, faster defense and when they don't bring pressure they have no chance to win the matchup with the Texas sized Cowboys Offensive line.  That said, don't expect them to sit back this week.  This is the playoffs and the phrase "Play this game as if it is your last" is literal in this case.  Expect them to throw some different looks at Romo and make him adjust. 

Gameplan, I don't need to type it.  This team has cracked the code twice this season and they know how to attack the Eagles.  My advice to the Cowboys coaching staff is not to over think this one.  Do what you do well and you've got a chance to move on to the next round.

Prediction: I was predicting a close win last week and I don't want to be baited into picking a blowout based on last week's results, so i'll go with a Cowboys 21-13 win.