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The Packers are a soft 10-1 with the weak division they play in. On the other spectrum you have our Dallas Cowboys who have been battle tested each and every game, grizzled and foaming at the mouth with our game against the Pack.

We’ll win this game in a devastating fashion, and after the last whistle it’s going to be clear that the NFC Championship game is coming through Dallas. This is a Statement game for the rest of the league. We’re clicking on all cylinders and we’re taking names, Brett Favre & Co. will be the next victim.

Expect the same play from our ‘Boys as we’ve had all year. This game may be in reach in the first half, but the afterburners will kick-in and the beatdown will ensue. The torch will be passed from Favre to Romo in this game.

Maddencast: Cowboys 20 Packers 17

My Prediction: Cowboys 41 Packers 27

This was a close game, and like last week, we mange to find ways to keep teams in the game. Gurode has his worst game in several seasons, what was all that about? Yes, Jason Campbell looked good, but the defense just floundered around in the 2nd half and let the Redskins in the game, very disappointing. The offense has the killer instinct, but the defense has some ways to go. Newman made a play at the end, but other than that, the 2nd half was too easy for the Redskins.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this win, I hate the Redskins, so let’s take this win and move forward to that “trap” game. The Jets are horrible, and we’re at home… Let’s play with some intensity, crush the Jets and have some momentum for the following week in a game that could be for homefield advantage against the Packers.

Player of the game: Terrell Owens

LVP: Andre Gurode

Right now we’re 8-1 and taking names, but how good could we really be if we didn’t have so many penalties this year, straight up. The Cowboys could be blowing people up if it weren’t for the consistent barrage of penalties we incur each and every game. The high scoring offense has been able to offset the ridiculous penalties, but the odds only increase that this will hurt the Cowboys at the worse possible time - the playoffs.

Kevin Burnett idiotic penalty just about sunk the team, but our resilience overcame it in the 2nd half. Consequently, the League fined Burnett $5000 for his taunting foul. Coach Phillips has made it his personal challenge to the players to give him their word that the dumb penalties will cease.

“I want their word that they’re going to try to do the right thing,” Phillips said rather candidly after Thursday’s practice, with his team preparing in earnest for Sunday’s game against Washington. “That’s my feelings on it. It may be silly, but I was serious about it and I feel like I need something that they need to respond to. And everybody saw that it cost us points.”

Phillips then commented on the Burnett penalty specifically by saying:

“As far as the taunting (on Burnett), one of our receivers was walking across the field about 15 yards and their guy was right in his face and it wasn’t called taunting,” Phillips said. “We did it, but there were players on the other team that I thought could have gotten penalties. I don’t think we were the only ones doing it. Both teams were emotional.”

I’m sure we’ve all seen the same thing every game, these officials are targeting the Cowboys for whatever reason, its blatant and very obvious. I would agree with Coach Phillips with his assessment of last week’s game, but its not just last week, we’re getting penalized every game for very nit picky crap, and its just out of hand.

Redskins Next

Looks like cheap shot Sean Taylor will miss the game, and the Cowboys will have their way with the middle of the field. This means Witten, Owens, Crayton, Fasano and anyone else willing to go in the middle will have some ease at doing whatever they want. Either way they cut it, the only way to beat the Cowboys right now is to have a better offense, a high scoring offense, and the Redskins do not have this. We’re going to kick their ass.

We already knew the Cowboys would win this game, but penalties made this game closer than what it should have been. Penalties have been our crux ALL year long, and against better teams we won’t have a chance. So, fix the penalties or call it in. 8-1 or not, penalties like the ones we had last night will not hold up against real teams like the Colts, Patriots, Steelers or Packers.

I like the win last night, but man, we have alot of concentration issues, and I’m not sure these will get resolved. We’re past the half way mark and the same story over and over again, stupid penalties. There’s not a team out there that has been us this year, we are the real deal, the Patriots did not beat us either, we beat ourselves into the ground with poor decisions and horrible penalties. There isn’t a team out there that we cant beat, we have to overcome the penalties

BOXSCORE 

In a must win game for the Eagles the Cowboys came into the Linc and crushed them from the first play of the game until the end. The Quadruplets, Romo, Witten, Barber, and Owens delivered the knockout punch and never looked back. Fresh off his newly signed contract Romo threw 3 TDs/1INT for 324 yards. Jason Witten is money all day long, tough as nails, and when Romo is in doubt he’ll throw it to Witten. Marion Barber continues to show his skills, and has now entrenched himself as an elite back in this league, MB3=Production. Owens had a breakout game, and had his way with the Eagles secondary all game long.

Besides the Quads, The Defense continued to be disruptive, and they were all over McNabb all night long. Forced fumbles, sacks, and INTs all led to the Eagles further spiral down into the NFC East cellar. Good bye Eagles.

The Cowboys will have their hands full against the much improved Giants next week, but we should be able to set them in their place. The East is going through Dallas, we know it, they know it, and the rest of the East knows it. Tank Johnson will make his debut as well, so that’ll be a welcome addition to the NT rotation. We will show up and take care of business in our own division. Should be a good game.

BOXSCORE 

Rest of the East: Redskins defeat Jets, improve to 5-3. Giants on Bye Week.

We’re whipping ass. We’re off to a good start. Penalties have been minimal this first half. A few miscues, and Romo’s INT, other than that, both units look good, especially the defense. Isaiah Stanback made his debut at KR, looks like the Tyson Thompson reign is over.

The 2nd half usually means putting teams away, let’s continue the onslaught as usual in the 2nd half.

Barber is an elite running back. Its official. What else needs to be seen from Barber. Jerry, Barber extension is the next one above the rest that should be rewarded. He’s doing a great job. More in the 2nd half for the closer!

The postgame for this game will be all about Romo, let’s put that out there right now. If we win the game, he gets headlines praising his new contract extension; however, if the Cowboys lose against the Eagles fresh off his new contract the media will turn it into some stupid blabber. Ignore it. We have our man, besides that, we are going to win this game against the Eagles. Jason Garrett has had two weeks to prepare the offense against the Eagles and it’s going to be a show, with Romo, Witten, Barber, and T.O as the featured headliners.

Keys to Victory

Penalties have plagued the Cowboys this season, and if the Cowboys plan on winning against the Eagles then the penalties must be minimal. Game management and opening drive defense needs to improve, I’m hoping to see Jason Hatcher in the opening drives.

Slow Down Westbrook and the Screen

The Eagles have a bad receiving corp, and knowing this, the Eagles will try to open up the receiving game by feeding the ball to Westbrook. They will try to execute some draw plays and the screen pass. The Eagles are one of the best teams when it comes to the screen pass. So, if we slow down Westbrook, we shutdown their entire offense, he’s their main cog in their talent depleted offense.

Beat Up McNabb

McNabb has not been the same since his last two major injuries, but he’s still effective. He’s definitely not as mobile, so if we get some pressure on him we should see some errant throws and if Ware should have a field day going against Winston Justice. We need to apply ample pressure on McNabb, if we do, we win this game for sure.

Cowboys @ Eagles
Lincoln Financial Field - Grass
NBC 7:15 PM CST
Analysts: John Madden and Al Michaels
NFL.com Gamecenter

The Rest of the NFC East:
Redskins @ Jets 12:00 CST
Giants on Bye Week

Browns Watch:
Seahawks @ Browns 3:05 CST
Join us for LIVE GAMEDAY discussion on the message boards!

Madden Forecast: Cowboys 13 Eagles 34
My Prediction: Cowboys 44 Eagles 27