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Forget the Titans; it's time for the Cowboys

Once again, it's time for the Eagles to stand next to the growth chart. This time, the measuring stick has a blue star attached to it and a Thanksgiving Day carrot that can give the Eagles control of the NFC East title they won a year ago on the final day of the season in Jerry's Giant Screen Pleasure Palace.

Jeremy Maclin and running back LeSean McCoy talk along the sidelines late in the the game against the Tennessee Titans. (Clem Murray/Staff Photographer)
Jeremy Maclin and running back LeSean McCoy talk along the sidelines late in the the game against the Tennessee Titans. (Clem Murray/Staff Photographer)Read more

Once again, it's time for the Eagles to stand next to the growth chart. This time, the measuring stick has a blue star attached to it and a Thanksgiving Day carrot that can give the Eagles control of the NFC East title they won a year ago on the final day of the season in Jerry's Giant Screen Pleasure Palace.

It is Dallas Week, and nothing gets the blood boiling around here more than that.

Even as the 8-3 Eagles worked their way through a flawed 43-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday that told us nothing about where this team is ultimately headed, the crowd at Lincoln Financial Field made it clear where its attention was focused.

"We want Dallas!" they started chanting in the second half. They chanted other things, too, and you can guess what they were based on what they have been in the past.

It confused Mark Sanchez, a novice when it comes to the utter disdain with which Eagles fans view Dallas.

"We're in the third quarter and people are screaming about the Dallas game and this game is still going on," the Eagles quarterback said after an uneven performance that might not have been good enough against a better opponent such as the one he will face on Thanksgiving. "I know it's a big-time rivalry. I'll get a good taste of it next week."

If Sanchez wants a crash course on what Dallas Week means around here, he need only consult some of his veteran teammates.

"It's a big one," said tight end Brent Celek, who is 6-9 in 15 career games against Dallas. "It's going to be big for them and big for us. I'm excited. Playing on Thanksgiving, everyone is watching, Cowboys against Eagles - it don't get much better than that."

Celek has been a part of two Eagles teams that beat Dallas on the final day of the season to clinch the NFC East. He also was part of the 2009 team that suffered a lopsided loss on the season's final day and then again six days later in a first-round playoff game.

If you don't like the Cowboys, imagine how Celek feels about them.

"We have taken on a little bit of what the fans feel," Celek said. "If fans dislike a team, we dislike a team. We're all in this thing together, so I don't like Dallas, and we're excited to play these guys."

The Eagles love to do things in a hurry, and they have no choice this week. Three days stand between them and the Cowboys, the only other team in their division capable of winning it. The result of Dallas' game against the New York Giants on Sunday night really did not matter to the Eagles because they control their own fate.

What matters is the next three games: Dallas, Seattle, Dallas. We'll know at the end of that three-game sequence whether the Eagles are capable of making a long postseason run or even winning a playoff game for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

In the majority of games against elite competition this season, the Eagles have come up short. They had a good road win at Indianapolis in Week 2, but are 0-3 against teams with winning records since then. All the losses have come on the road, so not only is this Dallas Week, it is also a chance to reverse that disturbing trend.

To get where they want to go, the Eagles probably will have to pull out a win on the road against a playoff team at some point. And if they want home-field advantage, they need to win at least two of these next three games.

"We definitely have to do a better job on the road," center Jason Kelce said. "There is no question about that. I don't know that there is any single reason or any outlying thing that is an easy fix for that. I think we just have to do a better job of going about business as usual on the road and not letting other teams and other places dictate to us. We have to stay really true at what we are good at."

The Eagles under Chip Kelly have been really good at taking care of business after losses and at home. They have not lost two games in a row since October of last season, and they have won 10 straight at home in the regular season since ending a 10-game home losing streak last November.

Kelly had his team ready to play the Titans after being crushed at Green Bay. Now, it's Dallas Week.

"We've looked at them a lot," Kelly said. "They play extremely hard on the defensive side of the ball. I think that's the one thing that really jumps out at you, and then obviously offensively they're running the ball at a very, very high rate and putting up a lot of really good yards in terms of what DeMarco Murray is doing. And then you've got a quarterback in Tony Romo, a tight end in [Jason] Witten, some outstanding receivers, so it's going to be a heck of a game on Thursday."

Does anybody still remember which team the Eagles played Sunday?

@brookob