Philadelphia and Dallas play one another this Thanksgiving in the first of two meetings in the next three weeks. Both teams come into this game with identical 8-3 records so it stands to reason that whichever one of these bitter division rivals comes out on top this Thursday will have the inside track to this season's NFC East title.
The Cowboys have been listed as three-point favorites primarily because of the home field advantage given just how closely these two teams match up with one another. The Eagles' offense is ranked fourth in the NFL in passing yards and 12th in rushing yards per game. They are averaging 31.1 points a game, which is the third highest total in the league.
Dallas has done an excellent job moving the ball on the ground behind DeMarco Murray and overall it is ranked second in the NFL with 150.1 rushing yards a game. It is ranked 17th in passing yards and its 26.5 point scoring average is the seventh-best in the league.
When it comes to the defensive side of the ball, Philadelphia has had its issues against the pass and it is ranked 21st in the league in points allowed (25.0). This unit has been tough on quarterbacks with the second-most sacks in league (38) and it is 10th in the NFL in takeaways with 19.
The Cowboys have been slightly better against the pass, but they are still ranked 19th in the NFL in yards allowed. This unit is allowing an average of 21.8 points a game and it is tied for 12th in takeaways with 18.
The bottom line in this Thursday's matchup is whichever team does the better job taking care of the ball and avoiding the crucial miscues that have plagued both the Eagles and the Cowboys in the past should come out on top. I have stayed away from this game as my official NFC East pick for this week's games, but I would have to lean slightly towards Dallas as the favorite at home taking Game 1 in this season's series.
The following link will take you to my complete Week 13 preview and 'pick of the week' in the NFC East as originally posted on Doc's Sports.
Expert NFL Betting Picks: Weekly NFC East Predictions Week 13
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