84,834 excited Dallas Cowboys fans showed up at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Christmas Eve hoping for an early Christmas present and a Cowboys victory over the hated Philadelphia Eagles. Philly embarrassed the Cowboys earlier in the season in Philadelphia, and Dallas was hoping for revenge to maintain their 1-game lead over the New York Giants in the NFC East on the next to the last game of the regular season. Unfortunately, it became pretty evident early on things weren’t going to go Dallas’ way.

The Eagles won the coin toss and elected to receive to begin the game. Michael Vick led the visitors down the field, aided by a couple of spectacular catches by his receivers and a face mask call on Anthony Spencer. He hit Brent Celek in the end zone from 13 yards out with 11:30 left in the first quarter, capping an 8-play, 80-yard drive that took 3:30. Alex Henery added the PAT and Philly led 7-0.

Dwayne Harris returned the kick from the goal line out to the 34, setting Tony Romo and the offense up with good field position. The offense picked up 1 first down and moved the ball to midfield, but on a 4th-and-4, the offensive line fell apart, forcing Romo to rush his throw, and after an incompletion Matt McBriar punted the ball away to the Eagle 19.

Vick moved his team out to his 45, but the Dallas defense stiffened and Dallas went back to work on offense at their 20. The offense came back on the field with Stephen McGee at the helm after it was announced that Tono Romo had suffered an injury to his right hand and was in the locker room undergoing x-rays.

McGee moved the offense out to the 48, but the drive stalled and McBriar punted the ball down to the Philly 9 and the Eagles took back over on offense from there with 2:44 left in the opening period.

The Eagles picked up 1 first down and then stalled out, and Dallas got the ball back at their 21 after Chas Henry punt with 14:52 left in the first half of play. It was announced as the drive began that x-rays on Romo’s throwing hand were negative, but McGee came back on the field with the offense.

McGee moved the team down the field, but a holding call resulted in the possession running out of gas, and McBriar punted away down to the Philadelphia 10. A holding call against the visitors during the kick moved the ball back to the 5 and Vick and the offense took the field again.

Vick carved the Dallas defense up like slicing a turkey, aided by a bone-headed unnecessary roughness call on Anthony Spencer. Philly moved 95 yards and appeared to score their second touchdown of the game on a 9-yard pass from Vick to Jason Avant, but when the call was reviewed it was determined that Avant fumbled the ball into the end zone prior to the ball crossing the goal line, and Dallas was awarded possession on a touchback at their 20, averting what could have well been a deficit too large to overcome. The turnover gave the Dallas fans new life and hope that their hometown heroes would still find a way to win the game.

The ‘Boys got a good drive going, but stalled out on the Eagle 39 and McBriar punted the ball down to the Philly 13 where the visitors got the ball back with 55 seconds left in the first half.

Vick took his team 87 yards in just 6 plays, using 50 seconds off the clock, and hit Jeremy Macklin from the 5 on a 3rd-and-goal play for the second Eagle TD of the day. Henery added the point after and Philly had a commanding 14-0 lead going into the locker room.

Dallas got the ball to begin the 3rd quarter, but had a quick 3-and-out and the visitors got the ball back. Thanks to an intentional grounding call against Vick, Dallas got the ball back on a punt. Dwayne Harris took the ball and took a helmet-to-helmet blow from an Eagles defender, giving the Cowboys an additional 15 yards out to their 47.

McGee hit Martellus Bennett for a gain of 14 on the first play of the drive, moving the ball to the Philly 39. Two incompletions and a run for no gain later, McBriar punted the ball away to the Eagle 12 with 10:50 left in the 3rd quarter.

Rob Ryan got the defense motivated and after a 3-and-out, the offense got the ball back again. The offense came back out at the Dallas 25 after a 56-yard punt. The inept offensive line was non-existent as far as protecting McGee, and the ‘Boys suffered another 3-and-out. After a 43-yard McBriar punt, the Eagles had excellent starting field position at their 41.

On the first play of the possession Vick hit Celek for a gain of 39 down to the Dallas 20, and Cowboys fans began to realize the game was almost certainly a lost cause. The defense stiffened, forcing a 43-yard Henery field goal, but the visitors had an almost insurmountable 17-0 lead with 4:30 left in the 3rd quarter. The scoring drive was 5 plays, 34 yards, and 2:27.

The offensive line was inept yet again in the next Dallas possession, and the Cowboys suffered yet another 3-and-out. Chad Hall returned McBriar’s punt 1 yard to the Philly 41 with 2:53 left in the quarter.

The Eagles went on a 9–play, 26-yard drive in 4:28 before settling for a 51-yard Henery field goal, putting the visitors ahead 20-0 with 13:25 left in the game.

Harris returned the ensuing kickoff 51-yards to his 49, giving his team their best starting field position of the contest. It didn’t do any good though, as the offense proved once again they didn’t belong on an NFL field this day, going 3-and-out yet again.

Philly picked up one first down before having to punt away on the next series. Harris returned the punt to his 23 and Dallas took over with 9:33 left in the game, trying to find the end zone for the first time.

The offense FINALLY managed to put a decent drive together, converting on a 4th down at the Eagle 34. They ‘Boys had another 4th-and-8 at the Philadelphia 16 with 2:22 left in the game. McGee’s pass for Bennett in the end zone was incomplete and the Eagles took over at their 16 with 2:13 left in the game.

The defense rose to the occasion, forced a punt, and Bruce Carter blocked the kick inside the Philly 20, giving the home team one last chance to get on the scoreboard and avoid a shutout. The inept offense finally got it together and McGee hit Miles Austin with under 30 seconds left for a touchdown. Dan Bailey hit the PAT, and the gap narrowed to 20-7. The Cowboys attempted an onside kick but the Eagles recovered, ran one play, and the game was over.

To make matters even worse, on top of the loss, the Giants defeated the New York Jets, earlier in the day, technically giving the Giants the lead back in the NFC East, with both teams at 8-7 on the year.

It all comes down to Sunday at the new Meadowlands when the Cowboys travel to East Rutherford, NJ. The winner of the game will win the NFC East, while the loser is done and doesn’t make the playoffs. Cowboys’ fans hope the ‘Boys take care of business, realistically they DON’T deserve to make the playoffs and they very well may be one-and-done if they do.

As fans seem to say about them annually, there is always next year!

IRVING, Texas – With another NFC East title so close for the Dallas Cowboys, team owner Jerry Jones seems to be caught between the excitement and fear of what could happen.

The Cowboys can clinch their 18th division title since 1970 by winning their last two games. They are in that position after plenty of close games, with five of their losses coming by an average margin of four points and the biggest being six points in overtime.

But there is also that one lopsided blemish, a 34-7 loss nearly two months ago at Philadelphia, the team the Cowboys (8-6) play in their regular-season home finale Saturday.

Maybe that’s why Jones uncharacteristically expressed publicly being scared of the Eagles.

“There is obviously a thrill to dream about what can be out here, the success,” Jones said during one of his regular weekly radio appearances this week. “But I’m also, because it is the Eagles, after the butt-kicking they gave us up in Philadelphia, I’m scared.”

Jones probably also remembers the 2008 season finale the Cowboys lost 44-6 at Philadelphia to get left of the playoffs.

Because Jones is so often overly optimistic, maybe there is some psychological theory to his sudden seemingly pessimistic outlook.

“It’s probably not my position to explain that,” coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday. “I know that we as coaches and players are focused on getting ready to play our best on Saturday. … We have great respect for their team. I think everybody is excited about the challenge.”

A day earlier, Garrett just smiled when asked about Jones’ comments.

Like their coach, Cowboys players don’t seem to be worried about or trying to analyze what Jones said.

“We obviously took a tough loss to the Eagles last time, so we know this team is dangerous,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “We have to play a great game out here to get a win. I know we’ve approached it that way. We’re excited about going and playing those guys.”

The Eagles (6-8) still have a chance to win the NFC East and get to the playoffs, if they win both of their last two games and get some help.

That would include the New York Giants (7-7) losing their game earlier Saturday against the New York Jets. But if the Giants win, Philadelphia would be eliminated from the playoffs even before kickoff at Cowboys Stadium, which could alter the dynamic of the game.

Until then though there seems to a sense of uneasy anticipation for Jones.

“I have that kind of feeling about the respect turns into being afraid of what they can do to you if you have some breakdowns out there,” Jones said during an interview on KRLD-FM, the team’s radio flagship station. “You can put that scared in there if you want to. I think sometimes I do the best when I’m scared.”

If the Cowboys had won some of those close games, most of which they led in the fourth quarter, they might have already wrapped up a playoff spot.

Dallas led by 14 points in the season opener against the Jets before losing 27-24, and there was the 24-point lead against Detroit that evaporated into a 34-30 defeat after the Lions scored 17 points in the fourth quarter. New England got a winning touchdown with 2:31 left for a 20-16 victory.

Before winning last week at Tampa Bay, there were consecutive losses by the Cowboys to start December when they missed field goals at the end of regulation. One of those was in Arizona, where the Cardinals blocked a kick on the final play of regulation and won with a touchdown in overtime.

“You can’t really concentrate on that. … We still have a ton of opportunity ahead of us that we need to take advantage of,” linebacker Sean Lee said. “So as much as those losses were tough, I think we’ve done a good job of moving on, and have focused on what we need to do.

“When you have a team like the Eagles coming in, you better be focused,” he said. “Or it could be another night like it was last time.”

With an 8-6 record that has them a game up on the New York Giants and two on the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys remain in the driver’s seat in the NFC East.

Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones, however, admitted to a Dallas radio station that he’s a little anxious about his team’s Week 16 home game against the 6-8 Eagles.

“Because it is the Eagles and after the butt-kicking they gave us up in Philadelphia, I’m scared,” Jones told KRLD-FM on Tuesday.

Jones is referring to the teams’ Week 8 game, when the Eagles throttled the Cowboys 34-7 in a front of a national audience on Sunday night. Jones has four good reasons to still be spooked by the team that gained 495 yards against his team on Halloween eve:

QB Michael Vick. It’s not a coincidence Vick’s two most efficient games of the season came against defenses coached by the Brothers Ryan. Cowboys coordinator Rob must go back to the drawing board after Vick picked his group apart (21-for-28, 279 yards passing, 2 total TDs, 50 yards rushing). And last week, Vick torched Rex’s Jets for similar stats (15-for-22, 274 yards, 2 total TDs, 32 yards rushing). Vick struggles more against cover 2 type defenses (see Chicago) than those that aggressively come after him, because he makes big things happen when he’s chased out of the pocket.

RB LeSean McCoy. The Cowboys’ run defense has been pretty good all season, with one notable hiccup. McCoy burned them for 185 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries in the first meeting. He now owns the Eagles’ record for touchdowns in a season (20 overall), and he has found the end zone in every game other than Week 11 against the Giants. McCoy causes Dallas problems because of the speed he has to consistently turn the corner.

TE Brent Celek. Like Vick, the Eagles’ tight end has made a living off of Ryan defenses this season. He had seven catches for 94 yards and a touchdown against the Cowboys in Philadelphia, and trumped that with five catches for 156 yards and a TD against the Jets. Looking at the challenges wide receiver DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin will present outside for the Cowboys’ cornerbacks, Celek should see the middle of the field open up for him again.

DE Jason Babin. Babin, whose troika against the Jets gave him a league-leading 18 sacks, was able to drop Tony Romo twice in Week 8. With DeMarco Murray (ankle) out and Felix Jones (shoulder) banged up, Romo may not be able to lean on the running game much in the rematch. That should allow Philadelphia to go into tee-off mode off the edge, with Babin working often against rookie tackle Tyron Smith.

–Story originally appeared on SportingNews.com.

IRVING, Texas (AP)

The Dallas Cowboys are running out of running backs.

Felix Jones missed practice Tuesday because of hamstring tightness, leaving the NFC East-leading Cowboys (8-6) with Sammy Morris and Chauncey Washington. Neither was even with an NFL team at Thanksgiving.

Coach Jason Garrett hopes that Jones will be able to practice this week and play in Saturday’s regular-season home finale against Philadelphia.

If not, Morris would be the likely starter a week after the 12-year NFL veteran was signed and made his season debut behind Jones with 12 carries for 53 yards against Tampa Bay.

”Sammy is the most logical choice, so he got a lot of the work (Tuesday), and we have another young back on our practice roster (Washington), so he’ll get a chance to do some of that too,” Garrett said. ”That’s kind of the plan right now, but we’re hopeful that Felix will be able to practice as the week goes on.”

Garrett didn’t say which hamstring was bothering Jones, who wasn’t in the locker room when it was open to reporters. Jones matched his career high Saturday night with 22 carries against Tampa Bay for 108 yards, giving him consecutive 100-yard rushing games for the first time in his four NFL seasons.

”He feels good,” Garrett said. ”He just had this little tightness in his hamstring, so we didn’t think it was a good idea to have him practice.”

Linebacker DeMarcus Ware (stinger) and nose tackle Jay Ratliff (rib muscle) also missed practice Tuesday, though both starters could practice Wednesday and are likely to be ready to play against the Eagles (6-8).

Ware, whose 16 sacks are third-most in the NFL, didn’t play the second half Saturday at Tampa Bay. Ratliff has been bothered by his injury the last two games.

But Jones being out of practice was a reminder of just how thin the playoff-chasing Cowboys have become at running back.

Rookie DeMarco Murray, the team’s leading rusher with 897 yards, went on season-ending injured reserve last week after he broke his right ankle against the New York Giants. That came after Phillip Tanner, another rookie running back, had been put on injured reserve a week earlier with a hamstring injury.

Washington, whose only four NFL carries came as a rookie for Jacksonville in 2008, was signed to the Cowboys’ practice squad Nov. 30. He had been out of football since being cut by St. Louis during training camp on Aug. 4.

Morris was home in New England when he got a call last week from the Cowboys and Garrett, his former teammate and coach in Miami. Morris had been working out, but hadn’t played since being cut by the Patriots at the end of training camp after playing there the last four seasons.

”Everything is kind of getting reintroduced, first day out here at practice was just getting used to running around and cutting, I guess as far as like reacting to somebody to cut, then it was on game day actually putting on pads,” Morris said Tuesday. ”The soreness was next, so I’ve got to work my way through it and get back out there.”

Asked what he expected his role to be if Jones isn’t able to go, Morris insisted it will be the same as last week in Tampa Bay.

”Help the team win. It’s not really complicated,” Morris said. ”Whether it’s five carries, or 25, it’s help the team win.”

The 34-year-old Morris played in all 16 games for New England last season, but hasn’t started a game since 2009. He was primarily a backup at running back and fullback who contributed on special teams for the Patriots, like he has most of his career.

Morris discounted the thought of being fresh just because he wasn’t playing the first 13 games.

”Nah, the fresh legs went out the window like five years ago,” Morris said. ”I’m really just trying to just make the most and do whatever I can to stay on top of the soreness, or tiredness, whatever it may be. … But there was just a general sense of something being new again.”

Especially considering that before the Cowboys called he was resigning himself to the thought that he had maybe played his last NFL game.

”It just shows you how fast things can change,” he said. ”I thought my life was going in this direction and it ends up going in the other direction.”

Garrett and the Cowboys have certainly found out how quickly things can change.

With Murray’s emergence, the Cowboys were working to develop quite a 1-2 combo with the rookie and Jones.

They may play their next game with Morris and Washington.

”It’s part of the game, why there are so many running backs in this league,” said Washington, who shared time with Morris in practice Tuesday. ”It’s a good opportunity, to get a rhythm with the first team. … It feels good, the coaches are putting back there just to step in, give Sammy some rest.”

IRVING, TEXAS The Dallas Cowboys are running out of running backs.

Felix Jones missed practice Tuesday because of hamstring tightness, leaving the NFC East-leading Cowboys with Sammy Morris and Chauncey Washington. Neither was even with an NFL team at Thanksgiving.

Coach Jason Garrett is hopeful Jones will be able to practise this week and play in Saturday’s regular-season home finale against Philadelphia (7-7).

If not, Morris would be the likely starter a week after the 12-year NFL veteran was signed and made his season debut behind Jones with 12 carries for 53 yards against Tampa Bay.

“Sammy is the most logical choice, so he got a lot of the work (Tuesday), and we have another young back on our practice roster (Washington), so he’ll get a chance to do some of that, too,” Garrett said. “That’s kind of the plan right now, but we’re hopeful that Felix will be able to practise as the week goes on.”

Garrett didn’t say which hamstring was bothering Jones, who wasn’t in the locker-room when it was open to reporters.

“He feels good,” Garrett said. “He just had this little tightness in his hamstring, so we didn’t think it was a good idea to have him practise.”

But Jones being out of practice was a reminder of just how thin the playoff-chasing Cowboys (8-6) have become at running back.

Rookie DeMarco Murray, the team’s leading rusher with 897 yards, went on season-ending injured reserve last week after he broke his right ankle against the New York Giants. That came after Phillip Tanner, another rookie running back, had been put on injured reserve a week earlier with a hamstring injury.

Washington, whose only four NFL carries came as a rookie for Jacksonville in 2008, was signed to the Cowboys’ practice squad Nov. 30. He had been out of football since being cut by St. Louis during training camp Aug. 4.

Morris was home in New England when he got a call last week from the Cowboys and Garrett, his former teammate and coach in Miami. Morris had been working out, but hadn’t played since being cut by the Patriots at the end of training camp after playing there the past four seasons.

“Everything is kind of getting reintroduced, first day out here at practice was just getting used to running around and cutting, I guess as far as like reacting to somebody to cut, then it was on game day actually putting on pads,” Morris said Tuesday. “The soreness was next, so I’ve got to work my way through it and get back out there.”

Asked what he expected his role to be if Jones isn’t able to go, Morris insisted it will be the same as last week in Tampa Bay.

“Help the team win. It’s not really complicated,” Morris said. “Whether it’s five carries, or 25, it’s help the team win.”

The 34-year-old Morris played in all 16 games for New England last season, but hasn’t started a game since 2009. He was primarily a backup at running back and fullback who contributed on special teams for the Patriots, like he has most of his career.

Morris discounted the thought of being fresh just because he wasn’t playing the first 13 games.

“Nah, the fresh legs went out the window like five years ago,” Morris said. “I’m really just trying to just make the most and do whatever I can to stay on top of the soreness, or tiredness, whatever it may be. … But there was just a general sense of something being new again.”

Especially considering that before the Cowboys called he was resigning himself to the thought he had maybe played his last NFL game.

“It just shows you how fast things can change,” he said. “I thought my life was going in this direction and it ends up going in the other direction.”

Garrett and the Cowboys have certainly found out how quickly things can change.

With Murray’s emergence, the Cowboys were working to develop quite a 1-2 combo with the rookie and Jones.

They may play their next game with Morris and Washington.

“It’s part of the game, why there are so many running backs in this league,” said Washington, who shared time with Morris in practice Tuesday. “It’s a good opportunity, to get a rhythm with the first team. … It feels good, the coaches are putting back there just to step in, give Sammy some rest.”

The Associated Press