Eagles clinch playoff berth, take NFC East lead

IRVING, Texas (AP) -- With their fewest points and yards of the season, the Dallas Cowboys never gave themselves a chance to clinch the NFC East on Monday night.

It was a lot like the meltdown they had two weeks earlier when they had a chance to grab the second-best record in the NFC.

Elias Says

Philadelphia showed fine offensive balance in its victory in Dallas, gaining 204 rushing yards and 222 passing yards. It had been more than 26 years since the Eagles last won on the road while gaining at least 200 yards in each category; in September of 1980, the Eagles beat the Vikings, 42-7, in old Metropolitan Stadium, gaining 249 yards on the ground and 280 through the air. • For more Elias Says, Click here

The only bright side Bill Parcells found after a 23-7 loss to Philadelphia was that the Cowboys are still headed to the playoffs.

"We've got to get together or that's how we're going to be judged," he said. "If we can beat Detroit and get into the playoffs and do something, then we'll be judged differently."

Dallas (9-6) closes the regular season at home Sunday against the lowly Lions. If the Cowboys win and the Eagles (9-6) lose to Atlanta, then Dallas would still win the division and have the No. 3 seed in the NFC.

If either Dallas loses or Philadelphia wins, the Cowboys would have the No. 5 seed, the top wild card, and would play at Seattle.

"We'll find out how good we are when we get into the tournament," Dallas quarterback Tony Romo said.

The Cowboys weren't very good on Christmas, scoring 10 fewer points and gaining 119 yards fewer than any other game this season. They never led and hardly threatened, with the Eagles going up 10-0, just like they did in the first meeting in Philadelphia.

Dallas got within 10-7 on a touchdown pass to Terrell Owens with 36 seconds left in the first half, but Jeff Garcia got the Eagles in position for a field goal that gave them some breathing room. Another field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter left the Cowboys with an uphill climb they couldn't make.

Romo started playing more like a guy who spent 3½ years on the bench than one who earned a Pro Bowl invitation for a half-season's work. He short-circuited the next four drives with two sacks, then two interceptions, the last one sending fans to the exits midway through the fourth quarter.

By then, the chill of a Christmas evening was stronger than the remnants of Romo-mentum.

"I had to throw the ball away a lot," said Romo, who was 14-of-29 for a season-low 142 yards. "I definitely had to move around a bunch. They covered well."

Parcells told the team they were noncompetitive.

"There's nothing good to say. We just didn't make any plays at all, either side of the ball. Just awful."

Worse yet: T.O. is unhappy.

With a somber tone contrasting the goofy Cowboys-branded Santa hat on his head, Owens griped: "I need to be more involved in the offense" at least three times in a 7-minute news conference.

He absolved Romo for it, hinting as he'd done before that the play calling is to blame. He insisted that he needs more balls early rather than late, a strange statement considering both his catches -- for 23 yards, with a 14-yard touchdown -- came in the first half.

As for himself, Owens didn't see anything wrong with visiting the Eagles at their hotel Sunday night ("That's my time, you know? ... I'm not going to shy away from my friends for anybody") and had an excuse for dropping a deep pass at a pivotal time in the game.

"He bumped me way down the field," Owens said, accusing safety Brian Dawkins of breaking the rules. "By the time I looked up and located the ball, it was right on me. ... I thought they were going to throw a flag."

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was in the same grouchy mood, calling the team's performance "just pitiful."

"I'm just stunned," he said. "I think that under these circumstances, with the players that I believe we have on defense, I didn't think there was any way in the world ... that we'd not be able to get this done."

The Eagles (9-6) were written off by many when they took a 5-6 record into December. Now they've won four straight, the last three coming on the road against their division foes; the exact stretch that was supposed to bury them has propelled them toward a fifth NFC East title in six games.

"We took a situation where things weren't looking good, with some major hurdles to overcome, and we found a way to win," said Garcia, who improved to 4-1 since replacing an injured Donovan McNabb. "It's this playoff mentality we've had over the past month that's carried us."

Philadelphia coach Andy Reid laughed about how easy it's been since his club was 5-6 after losing Garcia's first start.

"We thought it would be a cakewalk," he said with a wry smile. "Every one of those games has been huge. The guys have buckled down against some good teams. Our players knew what was ahead of them. Everybody really pulled closer together."

Garcia was 15-of-23 for 238 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and ran for 43 yards. Brian Westbrook ran for 122 yards and Correll Buckhalter had 38 yards and a touchdown.

Garcia set the tone with four third-down conversions on the opening series, then a 25-yard touchdown pass to barely covered Matt Schobel. After the defense made three straight goal-line stands against Marion Barber, the NFC touchdowns rushing leader, Garcia moved Philadelphia from its 4-yard line to the Dallas 2, setting up the first of three straight field goals by David Akers.

"I saw us take control of the game," Garcia said. "It wasn't about them, it was about us."

Game notes
Philadelphia TE L.J. Smith left with a foot injury in the first quarter, but returned in the third, announcing his arrival with a 65-yard reception. ... Dallas' Miles Austin fumbled a first-quarter kickoff return, but CB Anthony Henry got it back with a pickoff of Garcia. ... The Eagles' 205 yards rushing were easily the most Dallas has given up this season and the most by an opponent at Texas Stadium since 2000.