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Eagles try to sweep Cowboys Sunday night
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 12/14/2014  at  5:38:00 AM
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DALLAS COWBOYS (9-4)
at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (9-4)

Kickoff: Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Line: Philadelphia -3, Total: 55

Division rivals battle for first place in the NFC East when the Cowboys visit the Eagles on Sunday night.

Dallas dominated the Bears 41-28 in Chicago last Thursday behind DeMarco Murray’s 179 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Philadelphia, meanwhile, lost 24-14 as 1-point home underdog against the Seahawks. These division foes are meeting for the second time in three weeks after the Eagles embarrassed the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, winning 33-10 as three-point road underdogs. However, Dallas has been extremely successful on the road in this head-to-head series, winning four of the past five meetings in Philly SU and both winning and covering in its past two trips to Lincoln Financial Field. The Cowboys are 10-2 ATS in road games after gaining 6+ yards per play in their previous game over the past three seasons. However, the Eagles are 34-19 ATS after being outgained by opponents by 100 or more total yards in their last game since 1992. QB Mark Sanchez will need to rebound in this one after throwing for just 96 yards last week. The injury lists aren't too bad for this game, but Dallas has DE Demarcus Lawrence (chest), LB Dekoda Watson (hamstring) and S Jeff Heath (thumb) all questionable for Sunday night, while Philly's only new injury is TE Trey Burton, who is questionable with an injured hamstring.

Who will win this key NFC East showdown on Sunday? For the answer, connect to NFL Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and playoffs. StatFox Dave is 55% ATS (28-23-1) in Best Bets during the past 12 weeks, while StatFox Scott is 54% ATS (27-23-1) in Best Bets since Week 3. to improve to 54.4% ATS (31-26) on the season. StatFox Gary is 63% ATS (10-6-1) in his past five weeks of NFL Best Bets, while StatFox Brian is on a 4-1 ATS run.

The Cowboys are coming off of a solid victory in Chicago, winning the game behind the excellent running of RB DeMarco Murray (1,606 rush yards, 9 TD). In the loss to the Eagles in Dallas two weeks ago, Murray rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. The Cowboys will look to ride Murray more in this game, and he should be able to find some bigger holes against the league’s 18th-ranked rushing defense. QB Tony Romo (2,923 pass yards, 25 TD, 8 INT) threw for 205 yards with three touchdowns and no picks in the win over the Bears last week. He will need to remain cautious with the ball and make high percentage throws in this game, as the Eagles picked him off twice in their last meeting. Looking WR Dez Bryant’s (73 rec, 1,034 yards, 10 TD) way more often could be a good start for Romo, as he targeted his top receiver just seven times in the Week 13 meeting. Bryant is as tough of a cover as any receiver in the league and Romo will need to utilize him if Dallas is going to win this game. Defensively, the Cowboys are allowing 30.5 PPG over their past two weeks. They will need to clean things up against this potent Philadelphia offense.

The Eagles hosted the Seahawks last week and just couldn’t get anything going offensively against Seattle’s elite defense. QB Mark Sanchez (1,500 pass yards, 10 TD, 7 INT) struggled in the game, but he did throw for 217 yards with a touchdown and no picks against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. He also rushed for a touchdown. Sanchez and the Eagles had plenty of success getting the ball out quickly, and they’ll need to continue to do so against a Dallas defense that is really struggling. RB LeSean McCoy (1,068 yards, 4 TD) had a huge game when these teams met on Thanksgiving, taking 25 handoffs and rushing for 159 yards with a touchdown. The Eagles are going to feed McCoy often in this game, and he should be able to really put up some huge numbers against this Dallas defense that is seemingly getting worse each week. WRs Jeremy Maclin (74 rec, 1,109 yards, 10 TD) and Jordan Matthews (56 rec, 709 yards, 7 TD) should be able to find plenty of space to operate with against a Dallas defense that is allowing 251.9 passing yards per game (25th in NFL). The Eagles defense is a nightmare to play against this season, picking off opposing quarterbacks 10 times while also forcing a league-high 21 fumbles. They’ve recovered an NFL-best 14 of them, and will certainly be looking to put pressure on Tony Romo in this game.


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