Eagles, Cowboys put seasons on line tonight

As with any NFL playoff game, the Eagles and Cowboys enter tonight's contest teetering on the precipice between success and failure.

If the Eagles win the first- round game in Dallas, last week's loss to the Cowboys is but a distant memory.

If they win, they instantly become one of four NFC teams with as good a chance as any of reaching the Super Bowl.

And if they win, they get another chance at the New Orleans Saints and a possible shot at their sixth NFC title game in nine years.

If the Eagles lose, however, a postseason that seemed so promising only two weeks ago would end with a thud.

If they to lose to Dallas for a third time this season, they would head into the off-season with the specter of the Cowboys looming above them in the NFC East.

And if they lose, Donovan McNabb and the Eagles would instantly face questions about the quarterback's future with the team.

"No matter what happens, I will be here for a bunch of years," McNabb said Tuesday. "Does that clean it up? Do I have to answer this question every year?"

The decision is not his, however, even though McNabb has another year left on his contract. The team could release or trade him.

Dallas, meanwhile, has as much at stake.

If the Cowboys win, they erase the dubious distinction of six straight playoff losses dating back to 1996.

If they win, head coach Wade Phillips and quarterback Tony Romo would own their first postseason victories.

And if they win, Dallas would reclaim some of its glorious past.

If the Cowboys lose, though, it's fodder for those who say Phillips and Romo can't get it done in a big spot.

If they lose, Phillips could be out of a job and Romo could be swept back into the dustheap of mediocre quarterbacks.

And if they lose, owner Jerry Jones and his new $1.5 billion toy of a stadium would remain a curious NFL sideshow.

"We don't think about or even talk about that stuff," Romo said. "It's just about winning the next game."

The general consensus is that the game is the Cowboys' to lose. They beat the Eagles on the road in November, 20-16, and humbled them again last week at home, 24-0. A sampling of predictions favors Dallas by about 4-1. Las Vegas has the Eagles four-point underdogs.

Phillips said his players weren't capable of being overconfident.

"I don't think so," Phillips said. "We keep hearing how many times they've lost in the playoffs or hadn't won in so many years and all that. That's something coming at them all the time."

The Eagles' albatross doesn't usually arrive until the NFC title game. Head coach Andy Reid is 4-0 in the wild-card round and has never lost the first game of a postseason in seven tries.

But he has never had to face a team in the playoffs a week after it out-everythinged his squad.

The Cowboys "outsmarted us the last time," Reid said. "They did a better job than we did. That's our challenge, from a coaching standpoint - to do a better job."

The players said all week that they beat themselves, that they made just a few mistakes and if they could correct the correctable errors, they would keep pace with the Cowboys.

"I think guys here are very upset for the fact of what was at stake and the way that we played," tight end Brent Celek said. "We're not happy. The good thing is that we got a second opportunity."

If they hope to make the best of that opportunity, they're going to have to improve in all areas - offense, defense, and special teams.

In 21 possessions in the two games against Dallas, the Eagles' offense found the end zone just once. Although the Eagles set a franchise record of 429 points for the season, they were blanked last week. Getting on the scoreboard first, which they didn't do in either meeting, may jump-start an explosive offense.

"We put a lot of time and effort into that," Reid said. "Nobody wants to start like we did the last time."

In the first game, the Eagles stayed with the run even though they trailed early. Last week, they abandoned the ground game and mustered only 37 yards.

"In this league, you have to run the ball," fullback Leonard Weaver said. "The run sets up so much. It sets up the pass. It sets up the play-action pass."

The passing attack has been fueled all season by the big play, but the Cowboys have neutralized the Eagles' receivers, namely Pro Bowler DeSean Jackson.

As a group, the receivers have fewer receptions, yards, and touchdowns against Dallas (14, 218, and 0) than the tight ends and tailbacks (22, 232, and 1).

That has to change if the Eagles are to advance.

They have to find ways to get Jackson open, Celek said, "because when he is taking that top off the defense, he leaves a lot of open room underneath."

The Eagles' defense is nowhere near as suffocating as last year's version, but it's an opportunistic one that has to get to the quarterback and create turnovers. Romo, though, appears to have cast aside any anxiety that has plagued his playoff performances.

On special teams, the units have to avoid stupid penalties, the kickers have to be sound, and a long punt return from Jackson wouldn't hurt.

The mercurial receiver has verbally sparred with the Cowboys all week. He kicked off the back-and-forth on Twitter when he wrote that the Eagles would "sting" their posteriors.

Whatever tonight's outcome, one team will exit Cowboys Stadium stung.