(Sports Network) - The Philadelphia Eagles began the final day of the NFL's regular season in an anxious state of uncertainty, not knowing whether their tenuous playoff chances would remain intact when they took the field for last Sunday's mid-afternoon clash with the rival Dallas Cowboys.

The stars wound up aligning perfectly for Andy Reid's club, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' shocking home loss to a 4-11 Oakland team and the Chicago Bears coming up short in their finale at Houston keeping Philadelphia alive in the race for the NFC's sixth and final playoff seed. The Eagles still had to take care of business on the field in order to sew up a postseason spot, but that turned out to be the easiest of the tasks at hand.

Philadelphia took full advantage of a dysfunctional Dallas squad that was in the most giving of moods, as a swarming defense forced five Cowboys turnovers that fueled a 44-6 rout that propelled the Eagles back into the playoffs following a one-year hiatus.

A pair of second-quarter touchdown drives, each highlighted by third-down pass completions that went for big gains, staked Philadelphia to a 17-3 advantage late in the first half. The Eagles weren't about to take their foot off the accelerator, however, and feasted on the fragile Cowboys' comedy of errors to swiftly put the contest out of reach.

Cornerback Sheldon Brown intercepted Dallas quarterback Tony Romo on the following drive to set up another touchdown, and a fumble by the Cowboys' Adam Jones on the ensuing kickoff led to a field goal that gave Philly a commanding 27-3 lead at halftime.

The Eagles then scored two defensive touchdowns within a span of 3:12 in the third quarter, with veteran safety and emotional team leader Brian Dawkins forcing fumbles on both back-breaking scores, to spur Philadelphia's most lopsided victory in the 96-game history of its long-running series with Dallas.

Seemingly left for dead after last week's head-scratching 10-3 loss at Washington, the Eagles will now enter this Sunday's Wild Card round matchup with NFC North champion Minnesota riding a tidal wave of momentum. Reid's troops closed out the regular season with wins in four of their final five games, including crucial decisions over two playoff-bound teams in Arizona and the top-seeded New York Giants.

"If we keep playing the way we've been playing the last couple weeks, except for the Redskins (web | news) game, we have a good shot to go far," said defensive end Darren Howard. "Chances are we go deep in the playoffs and we'll see the Giants again. I know they still have a sour taste in their mouth from the last time we played against them."

QUICK HITS: Defensive end Chris Clemons recorded two of the Eagles' four sacks against Dallas and returned a Romo fumble 73 yards for his first career touchdown...Reserve cornerback Joselio Hanson had the defense's second score with a 96-yard fumble return, which tied the second-longest runback in team history for that category...Wide receiver DeSean Jackson finished the game with 46 yards on two catches to set an Eagles' rookie record for receiving yards in a season. His 912 yards bests the previous mark of 869 set by Keith Jackson in 1988...Running back Correll Buckhalter compiled 122 total yards (63 rushing, 59 receiving) and hauled in a touchdown pass in Sunday's win...Second-year tight end Brett Celek, starting in place of an injured L.J. Smith (shoulder), also had a touchdown catch and ended with three grabs for 30 yards.

NEXT UP: The Eagles head to the Metrodome this Sunday to battle the third- seeded Vikings (10-6), who wrapped up the NFC North crown with a 20-19 home win over the Giants in Week 17. Philadelphia has won both of its two previous postseason meetings with Minnesota, including a 27-14 triumph in an NFC Divisional Playoff at Lincoln Financial Field in 2004. Vikings head coach Brad Childress served on the Eagles' staff under Reid from 1999-2005 before taking his present position.

DALLAS: A season that was labeled as Super Bowl or bust can now officially be termed the latter for the Cowboys, whose embarrassing curtain call on Sunday provided a bitter yet fitting conclusion to a season chock full of turmoil and unmet expectations.

The loss was also a clear-cut indicator that changes, whether radical or minor, need to made to team that has now fallen short of the mark for three consecutive years. Over that span, Dallas has gone 5-10 during December and January and suffered early playoff exits in both 2006 and 2007.

The Cowboys won't have an opportunity to atone for those recent postseason failures this time around, as losses in three of the final four games have left the expected championship contenders out of the NFC's six-team tournament with a 9-7 record.

An expected offseason makeover will apparently not include an overhaul of the coaching staff, however. Moments after Dallas' devastating defeat to the Eagles, team owner Jerry Jones reiterated that he has no plans to replace the embattled Wade Phillips as head coach after just two seasons.

"You give it more than two years," a somber Jones stated following Sunday's game. "Here is my experience with (making sudden changes): I made a change with Chan Gailey (Dallas' head coach from 1998-99) after two years that I have regretted ever since. I didn't allow, in my mind, the opportunity for the continuity to be a factor."

Don't expect many major personnel renovations to the current roster to take place over the coming months as well. Jones has spent much of the past year locking up many of the Cowboys' core players, with controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens, fellow wideout Roy Williams, running back Marion Barber, defensive backs Terence Newman and Ken Hamlin and offensive tackles Flozell Adams and Marc Colombo all having been signed to long-term extensions since February. The team's only key members slated to become unrestricted free agents this spring are defensive end Chris Canty and 35-year-old linebacker Zach Thomas.

With its nucleus firmly in place, the Cowboys' primary goal over the offseason will be attempting to repair a fractured locker room and ending the soap-opera atmosphere that the lack of chemistry and litany of off-field distractions have created. Both Owens and Williams openly complained off a lack of involvement in the game plan during the late-year swoon, and even quarterback Tony Romo made some veiled comments critical of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's play-calling after Sunday's loss.

QUICK HITS: Dallas suffered its most lopsided loss in a season finale in franchise history and worst overall defeat since a 43-3 shellacking by Minnesota in 1988, which was Hall of Fame head coach Tom Landry's final season...Owens caught six passes for 103 yards on Sunday and finished with 1,052 receiving yards for the year. The star receiver now has three straight 1,000-yard seasons and nine over the course of his 13-year career...Romo, who threw for only 183 yards and committed three turnovers (2 fumbles, 1 interceptions), suffered a rib injury during the locker and briefly collapsed in the locker room shower after the game, according to the Fort Worth Star- Telegram...Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware, the NFL's leader with 20 sacks, was shut out in that category for only the second time this season on Sunday.

OFFSEASON OUTLOOK: Although the Cowboys don't figure to be overly busy in free agency, you can count on an offseason with plenty of intrigue regarding "America's Team". High on Dallas' wish list will be acquiring a proven backup quarterback to supplant 40-year-old Brad Johnson and landing an impact player at inside linebacker, where Thomas wasn't an ideal fit for the team's 3-4 scheme and likely won't return.



N.Y. GIANTS: Unlike Philadelphia, the Giants won't be heading into the upcoming playoffs with a head of steam. The defending world champions dropped three of their last four games to close out the regular season after losing a one-point verdict to Minnesota this past Sunday on a last-second 50-yard field goal by the Vikings' Ryan Longwell.

The most recent setback can hardly be considered troubling, however, since New York held out a number of starters for the game after clinching home-field advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs with a 34-28 overtime victory over NFC South champ Carolina in Week 16. Many other regulars, the most notable being quarterback Eli Manning, were rested for all or most of the second half.

David Carr saw his first extensive action of the season upon relieving Manning after halftime and completed 8-of-11 passes for 110 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Domenik Hixon that gave the Giants a 16-10 lead.

Running back Derrick Ward, fresh off a career-best 215-yard performance in the comeback win over the Panthers, amassed 77 yards on 15 carries in Sunday's loss and finished the season with 1,025 rushing yards. With backfield mate Brandon Jacobs having surpassed the 1,000-yard mark earlier in the year, the Giants became only the fifth team in league history to have two players reach that coveted number in the same season.

Jacobs, who compiled 1,089 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns in just 13 games, was one of four New York starters rendered inactive for the finale. The burly back has been bothered by a sore left knee for much of the season's second half.

Tight end Kevin Boss (ankle/concussion), defensive tackle Barry Cofield (knee) and cornerback Aaron Ross (concussion) also did not play against the Vikings, but Giants head coach Tom Coughlin stated in his Monday press conference that he anticipates each of them being ready for his team's playoff opener.

New York will have a bye in the Wild Card round and will host the conference's lowest remaining seed in the Divisional Playoffs on Sunday, January 11.

QUICK HITS: The Giants rushed for 135 yards against Minnesota's top-ranked run defense and completed the season with franchise bests of 2,518 yards on the ground and an average of 5.0 yards per attempt...New York did not commit a turnover on Sunday and had just 13 for the season, setting a NFL record for the fewest giveaways over a 16-game schedule. Miami also had only 13 turnovers this year...Kicker John Carney booted 4-of-5 field goal attempts in the loss, which gave the 44-year-old 35 on the season. He tied a club record shared by Ali Haji-Sheik (1983) and Jay Feely (2005)...Veteran cornerback Sam Madison fractured his ankle in the third quarter of Sunday's test and will miss the playoffs...The Giants' final 10 regular-season games came against teams with winning records, with Big Blue going 7-3 over that stretch.



WASHINGTON: Year one of the Jim Zorn era ended with last Sunday's 27-24 road loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which foiled the Redskins' chances for delivering back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since the 1996 and 1997 campaigns.

Washington blew a 10-point halftime lead in the game but rallied to tie the contest at 24-24 with a 10-play, 55-yard drive capped by quarterback Jason Campbell's two-yard touchdown run with 1:09 remaining. However, a weary defense allowed a pair of big pass completions in the closing seconds that enabled the Niners' Joe Nedney to kick a tie-breaking 39-yard field goal with no time left.

That inability to finish could very well sum up Zorn's first season with the Burgundy and Gold. After jumping out to an encouraging 6-2 record over the first half, the Redskins lost six of their final eight games to wind up in the basement of the NFC East with an 8-8 mark.

Washington now enters the offseason with quite a few decisions to make in hopes of challenging the Giants, Eagles and Cowboys in a well-stocked division. One priority will be attempting to obtain an influx of youth at a number of key positions, particularly on defense and along the offensive line.

All five starters on the front wall will be at least 32 by next September, and injuries and the unit's lack of depth were a big reason why the Redskins' offense struggled mightily in the second half. The team is confident that Campbell will improve in his second year directing Zorn's offense in 2009, but the former first-round pick needs more playmakers in order to take the next step as a quarterback.

Age is a concern on the defensive end as well, with six current regulars slated to be 30 or older by next season. And while the group yielded the fourth-fewest yards in the NFL, it didn't force many turnovers and finished near the bottom of the league with 24 sacks.

End Jason Taylor was expected to alleviate that problem after being acquired via trade over the summer, but the six-time Pro Bowler managed just 3 1/2 sacks in an injury-riddled season. The Redskins are hopeful he'll more of a factor with better health next year, although he'll turn 35 in September.

Washington will also need its three 2008 second-round draft picks -- wide receivers Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly and tight end Fred Davis -- to make a greater impact after lost rookie seasons in order for the offense to better its meager average of 16.6 points per game.

Among the Redskins' impending unrestricted free agents, the team figures to make a push to retain cornerback DeAngelo Hall, a midseason pickup who played well in his short stint, and defensive lineman Demetric Evans, a good run stopper who can play either end or tackle. It's unclear if Washington will bring back veteran left guard Pete Kendall, who'll be 36 in July.

QUICK HITS: Wide receiver Santana Moss caught six passes for 68 yards against the 49ers and ended the year with 1,044 receiving yards, his first 1,000-yard season since 2005...Chris Cooley also had six catches on Sunday and finished with a career-best 83 receptions, the most by a tight end in team history for a single year...Defensive backs coach Jerry Gray will interview for the Detroit Lions head coaching position, which become vacant when the organization fired Rod Marinelli on Monday, in the coming weeks.

OFFSEASON OUTLOOK: The Redskins presently don't have a whole lot of salary cap room to sign free agents, but could create some flexibility by cutting lose a few high-priced veterans, with linebacker Marcus Washington and cornerback Shawn Springs potential casualties. The team will have the 13th overall pick in the 2009 draft, but could trade down to recoup the second and fourth round selections it lost in previous deals for Taylor and Kendall. If the Redskins stand pat, they could target such need areas as the offensive line, outside linebacker and a pass rusher.









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