3rd Time's a Charm?

It wasn't long ago that the Cowboys were in a very similar situation that they are now... having swept a division team in the regular season and then battling them again for a third time in the playoffs.

The last such occurance was 3 years ago, when Dallas went 13-3 in the regular season and then headed into the playoffs to face the Giants (who Dallas swept in regular season.) The Giants proved themselves to be the better team for that game and swiftly ended the Cowboys' playoff run, as well as sailing to a Super Bowl victory against the undefeated Patriots.

Fast foward 3 years and we see a Dallas team that just barely squeaked into the playoffs with an 11-5 record, man-handled the Eagles in the regular season finale (24-0) and are now set for a rematch game against Philly in the playoffs, once again in Cowboys Stadium.

There's thousands of ways this game could go, hundreds of storylines involved and the ultimate outcome could go either way.

The season finale crushing of Philly 24-0 was a big blow to the Eagles, but it's highly unlikely they will play as sub-par as they did for this upcoming match-up. I expect blitz after blitz after blitz, which seemed very sparce in the last game.

Dallas, on the other-hand will have to do their best to counter the blitz... one drop back passes, excellent protection from the O-line and creative route running by the receivers.

An effective running game will still need to be established early on, which sets up Romo for what he is best at, the Play-Action Pass.

The defense has been playing lights out lately, and for the first time in Cowboys history, they posted two shutout games back-to-back (against Division Rivals, nonetheless.) This trend needs to continue and the defense needs to eliminate big plays, get pressure on McNabb, and stay healthy if they want to keep this playoff run alive... Offense gets the glory, but Defense wins Championships!

The game will be Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, and I got my countdown clock ticking down. If Dallas does indeed win against Philly, not only are they 2 steps away from the Super Bowl, but I think they have a good shot at it. I feel even more secure than I did in '07 when they seemed destined to reach the big Bowl... if it's going to happen, more than likely it will happen this year.

GO COWBOYS!!