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12/20/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time Philadelphia and Dallas met on a holiday was almost 20 years ago, on Thanksgiving.
The Eagles were donning their popular Kelly green uniforms on November 23, 1989, and smacked the Cowboys around to the tune of a 27-0 beating at Texas Stadium.
Even the network's introduction displayed clips of the bitter history between the division rivals as Ugly Kid Joe's "Everything About You" played in the background. Eagles defensive tackle Mike Pitts was ejected for brawling in the end zone that day, setting the tone for his teammates.
Philadelphia's play certainly ticked off Dallas head coach Jimmy Johnson, who vehemently vented his frustrations after he thought Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan put a bounty on quarterback Troy Aikman and kicker Luis Zendejas.
"I have absolutely no respect for the way they played the game," Johnson said. "I would have said something to (Eagles head coach) Buddy (Ryan), but he wouldn't stand on the field long enough. He put his big, fat rear end into the dressing room."
I can assure you words like that will not be coming from either head coach on Monday. But that doesn't mean the players will necessarily be professional in their between-plays interaction. These two teams hate each other, and the fact that the Eagles will again be squaring off against former teammate Terrell Owens only ratchets up the intensity.
In the first matchup between the rivals, on October 8 at Lincoln Financial Field, the Eagles spoiled Owens' return to Philadelphia with a 38-24 victory. Owens had just three catches for 45 yards that day, while Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard sealed the win with a 102-yard interception return for a touchdown with 16 seconds left.
Now it's Round II, and both teams are coming off big wins.
Philadelphia posted its third straight victory with quarterback Jeff Garcia at the helm this past Sunday, posting a 36-22 triumph over the division-rival New York Giants on the road. The victory gave the Eagles an 8-6 record and moved them a game behind Dallas in the NFC East standings. Philadelphia will play its third straight division game on the road on Monday at Dallas, which defeated Atlanta on Saturday and clinched a playoff berth.
The Eagles have been the hottest team in the NFC playoff hunt, and owe it all to Garcia, who has quieted the critics with a 3-1 record as a starter. Against the Giants, he spread the ball around to eight different receivers and finished with 237 yards and a touchdown on 19-of-28 passing. After his interception led to a 22-21 New York lead, the 36-year-old Garcia orchestrated an eight-play, 80-yard drive culminated by his 19-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Brown.
"It has been a lot of fun," Garcia said. "A year ago I really was not thinking that this could happen for me."
The Eagles are one win from a playoff berth and two wins shy of clinching their fifth NFC East title in six years. A win over Dallas would put the Eagles back in the driver's seat in the division.
Garcia, though, is not the only bright spot on Philly's offense right now. Running back Brian Westbrook takes a load off Garcia's shoulders with what he brings to the field on gameday. Westbrook ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns and caught five balls for 40 more yards at Giants Stadium, becoming the first running back in Eagles' history to rush for 1,000 yards and have 600 yards receiving in the same season.
Westbrook, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing for the first time in his career, scored from a yard out on fourth-down early in the game, and later busted through the Giants' defensive line for a 28-yard touchdown run. He has rushed for 479 yards and three touchdowns in the past five games, with an additional 226 receiving yards.
In the first meeting against Dallas, Westbrook ran for 33 yards and a touchdown and hauled in five passes from McNabb for an additional 53 yards. Head coach Andy Reid will certainly feed Westbrook the ball on Christmas Day, with backup Correll Buckhalter getting some carries as well. Buckhalter had 48 yards and a touchdown in last week's win.
B-DAWK COMES THROUGH AGAIN
Like fine wine, Eagles safety Brian Dawkins seemingly gets better with age. Dawkins put forth another solid effort on Sunday against New York and posted 12 total tackles, an interception and two forced fumbles.
Dawkins is an emotional leader on Philly's defense, and it shows with his energy and fire on the field. During the Eagles' three-game winning streak, Dawkins has amassed 33 tackles, two interceptions and a sack in victories over Carolina, Washington and the Giants.
After straining a calf muscle in pre-game workouts at Giants Stadium, Dawkins headed back to the locker room before becoming the defense's vocal leader for 60 minutes.
"I look forward to this," Dawkins said. "I'm having a ball. Having to make plays or standing up in these times, I'm happy that I'm making those plays. I'm blessed to play this game, and I do what I do on that field because of that."
Before the season, many questions surfaced in regard to whether Dawkins has lost a step in the secondary. After 15 weeks of football, Dawkins is still making plays and continues to stamp a big NO on the loss of his speed.
UP NEXT: T.O. UNDER THE MISTLETOE
Eagles fans hope to have something other than chestnuts roasting on an open fire this Christmas day. But before anything like that can happen, the Eagles' defensive backfield must make sure Owens doesn't roast them.
Owens didn't have the type of return to Philadelphia he wanted in October, so now he gets another chance with the Dallas faithful in his corner. Owens is having a fine season, but so are Philadelphia corners Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown. Add in Brian Dawkins and Sean Considine, and the Eagles are in good shape defending the pass.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo will get a first-hand glimpse of the Philadelphia/Dallas rivalry which dates back decades. Dallas head coach Bill Parcells will try to pound the run before he unleashes Romo and the aerial assault, even though the Eagles handled the run against the Giants last week. After shutting down Tiki Barber and Brandon Jacobs, the Eagles have another dynamic duo to stop in Julius Jones and Marion Barber this week.
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There is not much to like, or remember, about Godfather III, but Michael
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towards the New Y
<< Nets continue homestand vs. Cavs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets continue their homestand tonight
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Airlines Arena.
New Jersey is 1-1 on its four-game homestand and defeated Golden State by a
<< Bobcats, Knicks battle at MSG
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Knicks continue their homestand tonight when
they welcome the Charlotte Bobcats to Madison Square Garden.
New York is 1-1 on the homestand and defeated Utah, 97-96, in overtime on
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<< Status Quo for Lions
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions have never beaten Brett Favre in Lambeau
Field, and despite the veteran quarterback's three interceptions, nothing
changed this past Sunday. Detroit lost for the 12th time this season (and
seventh time in se
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Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite his current contract not
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Leinart loses battle of rookie quarterbacks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arizona's Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler of Denver will
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Both were taken in the first round of the 2006 draft; Leinart was grabbed 10th
overall, Cutler one pick later.
N
Bucs prove they'll fight to the bitter end >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Gruden is not into moral victories. Neither are his
players. However, the hard-nosed Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and his
troops had to feel at least some sense of satisfaction after nearly pulling
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Injuries, inconsistency plague Browns once again >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns lost another game this past Sunday.
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Romeo Crennel's troops displayed grit, fighting ba
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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