News / Sports
Philadelphia Beats Dallas 23-7 to Lock up Playoff Birth, Takes NFC East Lead
NFL Week 16 Scores: Philadelphia Eagles 23 Dallas Cowboys 7
The Philadelphia Eagles rolled up 426 yards of total offense and Jeff Garcia won his fourth straight game as the starting quarterback to earn a birth in the NFC playoffs.
The 23-7 victory over the Cowboys also pushed the Eagles to the top of the NFC East and a win next week win give them the title.
Brian Westbrook ran for 122-yards and the Eagles ground attack totaled 204 total yards as Philadelphia controlled the clock throughout the game. As impressive as the Eagles running game was the Philadelphia defense. They held the Cowboys to just 201 total yards and forced three turnovers in the game.
Garcia put the Eagles on the board in the first quarter with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Matt Schobel. David Akers then kicked a 25-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 10-0 lead.
Late in the second quarter Tony Romo hit Terrell Owens on a 14-yard pass for a touchdown and the Cowboys cut their deficit to 10-7. It looked as if the half would end that way but Philadelphia drove 45-yards in 36 seconds and Akers added a 45-yard field goal for a 13-7 advantage.
Akers kicked another field goal in the third period and Correll Buckhalter capped an 80-yard drive for the Eagles with a 1-yard touchdown run to finish the scoring.
Jeff Garcia finished 238-yards passing and rushed for an additional 43-yards in the game. Tony Romo passed for 142-yards and a touchdown but was picked off twice in the Dallas loss.
