The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys face each other for the first time this season when the two NFC East rivals meet on Thanksgiving Day. Both teams are just one game behind the 9-2 Arizona Cardinals for the NFC's best record and potential home field advantage throughout the NFL playoffs.
NFL picks and predictions, Eagles vs. Cowboys 2014: Dallas favored in Thanksgiving matchup
The Eagles and Cowboys are both in the hunt for the NFC’s best record, but for now, they’re only worried about winning the NFC East.
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The Eagles feature one of the NFL's most balanced offenses, despite having used two different quarterbacks this year. Nick Foles has missed the past three games with a broken collarbone, leaving Mark Sanchez to start for him. He has done well in his three starts, completing 62.3 percent of his passes for 1,187 yards with seven touchdowns against six interceptions this year.
While the Eagles rely more on the pass, Dallas relies more on its ground game led by MVP candidate DeMarco Murray. The NFL’s leading rusher has 1,354 yards to go with seven scores this season, plus 38 catches for 303 yards. Neither defense has done much, but are good enough to give their offense the chance to win games scoring 26 to 30 points per game. Dallas is averaging 26.5 points per game while allowing 21.8. Philly is averaging 31.1 points while allowing 25.
This has all the makings of a high-scoring Thanksgiving affair with first place in the NFC East on the line. These two teams will face each other again in Week 15, meaning they’ll meet twice in a span of three weeks.
So what are the experts saying about this game?
The ESPN crew is high on the Cowboys, with 10 of 13 experts taking Dallas to win. The CBS sports panel also gives Dallas a 7-1 edge, and senior NFL columnist Pete Prisco believes the Cowboys win by a 31-23 margin.
This game features two of the top-10 scoring offenses in the league, so expect a lot of good offense. The Eagles have a tough task traveling on a short week. That gives the Cowboys a huge edge in this first meeting between the two. Tony Romo outplays Mark Sanchez.
The SB Nation staff was split with a 4-4 tie between the Cowboys and Eagles.
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