Eagles-Cowboys scouting report

Recent history: The Cowboys routed the Eagles, 38-17, on Nov. 4 at the Linc. Dallas leads the series, 54-42.

OFFENSE

Eagles

352.9 yards per game (8th)

Cowboys

389.2 yards per game (2nd)

Quarterback

Eagles: Donovan McNabb has been afraid to pull the trigger on his throws, over-relying on checkdowns and looking more at the pass rush than downfield. He's averaged just 4.5 yards per attempt in the first halves of his last four starts and has thrown more than one TD pass in just two of 11 starts.

Cowboys: Tony Romo has thrown just six interceptions in his last eight games since a five-pick fiasco vs. Buffalo in early October. In his last seven games, he's completed 74.3 percent of his attempts and averaged 8.61 yards per attempt. He had just five incompletions in the first meeting vs. Eagles.

PICK: COWBOYS

Running back

Eagles: Despite a sore knee, Brian Westbrook has averaged 28 touches in the last six games. Cowboys did a good job of neutralizing him in the first meeting, holding him to 5.2 yards per touch. Just two of his 17 touches when it still was a game went for more than 8 yards.

Cowboys: Take out their 174-yard rushing effort vs. Jets 3 weeks ago and the Cowboys haven't run the ball all that well lately. In their last 18 quarters, excluding the Jets game, they've averaged just 3.5 yards per carry. Marion Barber is a punishing runner who is much harder to tackle in the fourth quarter than the first.

PICK: EAGLES

Receiver

Eagles: Wide receivers have suffered from Donovan McNabb's reluctance to throw the ball downfield. In his last four starts, the wideouts have averaged just 11.6 yards per catch. In A.J. Feeley's two starts, they averaged 15.7. Likely absence of injured TE L.J. Smith will not help red-zone production.

Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens and TE Jason Witten ran roughshod over the Eagles in the first meeting. Owens had 10 catches for 174 yards and a TD. Witten had 3-77-1. Patrick Crayton has ably filled the void left by injured Terry Glenn. He's averaging 14.6 yards per catch and has seven TDs.

PICK: COWBOYS

Offensive line

Eagles: With Cowboys OLBs DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis coming hard off the edges, it's going to be imperative that Gs Shawn Andrews and Todd Herremans and C Jamaal Jackson give Donovan McNabb room to step up in the pocket and buy time. Jackson must neutralize NTs Jay Ratliff and Tank Johnson.