Two HUGE Ones Today

Today is one of the best regular season football Sundays in recent memory. The Eagles host the Cowboys in prime-time on national TV and the Patriots go to Indianapolis to play the Colts in the best regular season match-up I can remember.

Cowboys at Eagles, 8:15PM

What’s At Stake: Many in Philly would say the Eagles entire season is on the line. I wouldn’t go that far, but any hopes of a playoff appearance would be looking very dim with a loss here. If you assume 9 wins will be needed to snag a wild-card spot, the Birds would have to go at least 6-2 in the second half of the season if they drop this one. Meanwhile, a win here would give the Eagles a lot of momentum with two winnable games up next on the schedule.

For the Cowboys, given their 6-1 record, a loss wouldn’t hurt them too much in the standings. However, with their track record against the Eagles in recent years (losses in 11 of the last 14 meetings), they’ll be looking to get that monkey off their backs and finally take the mantle of Team To Beat in the NFC East for themselves.

What to Watch: The Secondaries. Brian Westbrook and Marion Barber are great backs, but this game will be decided in the passing game. With Brian Dawkins back, the Eagles secondary will be at full strength for the first time since Week 1 and they’ll need to be at their best to slow down the Cowboy’s high-powered passing attack. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles need their receivers to make plays against the suspect Dallas secondary. Reggie Brown has shown signs in recent weeks of putting his early-season struggles behind him and the Eagles will need that to continue.

The Pick:

Eagles- 24

Cowboys- 21

Patriots at Colts, 4:15PM

What’s At Stake: The inside track on home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs and the psychological advantage of having beaten the only team that poses a legitimate obstacle to a Super Bowl victory.

This is more than just a sexy match-up for fans because the importance of that home-field advantage can’t really be overstated. Well, unless the Patriots take apart the Colts like they have every other team they’ve played this year, in which case the other 31 teams can basically pack it in and call it a season. But assuming that doesn’t happen, it’s easy to see both of these teams finishing at, say, 15-1 and the winner of this head-to-head battle getting to play at home for the AFC Championship.

What to Watch: Obviously, the quarterbacks. There will be talent all over the field, but the show in this game is watching the two best quarterbacks of their generation, in their primes, and leading the two best teams in the league. The other thing to watch is if anyone can slow the Pats. The Colts are the undefeated defending Super Bowl champions, and they find themselves as 5-point underdogs on their home-field. That is the dominance the Pats have shown. With Marvin Harrison and LT Tony Ugoh out for Indy, you have to like the Pats chances.

The Pick:

Patriots- 38

Colts- 31