After watching the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboy's at Texas Stadium on Christmas night, I now realize the Eagles are now the favorite to win the NFC.  Philadelphia clinched a playoff berth with a 9-6 record, and with a win next week against Atlanta, they will clinch the NFC East title.  This has been a major turn around for a team that was considered "dead" after a primetime loss to Indianapolis just over five weeks ago.  But, in fact, that game truly was the beginning.

With the Eagles having won four straight, (including three straight on the road against the entirety of their division) they now control their own destiny in the NFC East.  They control their destiny because of how they completely destroyed the Cowboys in the two games they played this year.  The first game was a 38-24 win in Philly.  The second – and most recent – a 23-7 shellacking of Dallas in ‘Big D.’

As if you didn't already surmise, TO stands not only for Terrell Owens but also could mean Terribly Offensive – which is how Terrell played against Philadelphia this year.  Terrell caught a combined five balls for a minuscule 68 yards, including a touchdown, but dropped three crucial passes.  In these two tilts, he racked up only six percent of his total receiving yards.  Clearly, the Eagles held him in check.

Cliché as it may sound, the Eagles have finally "spread their wings."  Since Donovan McNabb went out with a season ending ACL tear, the Eagles have gone 4-1 under the guidance of Jeff Garcia.  And believe it or not, I think the Eagles are better off with Garcia, then they would be with any other quarterback in this league.

For the sake of full disclosure, I – like every other person who follows the NFL – thought Jeff Garcia was done with football.  After becoming a Pro-Bowl quarterback in San Francisco, Garcia went through a rough patch that included stops in Detroit and Cleveland, cities where signal callers traditionally go to die. 

But because of how he is playing now, Garcia has to be considered one of the top five QB's in the NFL.  For evidence look no further than his  96.2 rating, along with his 1,280 passing yards, and 10 touchdowns.  Even more astonishing is that he has thrown 185 passes and only two have been intercepted.  That is a pretty amazing stat for a quarterback that was written off by most NFL pundits.  With the pressure rising, don't expect his performance to decline in the coming weeks.

Another piece of the Philadelphia puzzle, is running back Brian Westbrook.  When the NFC Pro Bowl rosters were announced I was shocked to see Westbrook's name not mentioned.  I mean come on.  He is the Eagles most valuable player.  In brief, what is so fantastic about Westbrook is that in an offense that passes 65% of the time he has run for over 1,000 yards.

Also, Westbrook has close to 700 yards receiving for the season.  And he also returns kicks.  For the season, he has accumulated 1,923 yards and scored 11 times.  Look for Westbrook to rush and receive for 125 yards this weekend, putting him over 2,000 all-purpose yards for the season.

With Philadelphia now in the driver's seat of the NFC East and already having clinched a birth in the post-season, I will turn my attention to their chances of reaching the Super Bowl for the second time in three seasons.  To acquit there championship aspirations properly, remember: what’s past is prologue.

For my money, Philadelphia is the second best team in the NFC.  When you look at their first seven games, you can see that they were all "winnable".  Philly gave up 17 unanswered points to the Giants and lost in overtime.  They then lost to Tampa Bay because of a 62-yard field goal as time expired.  The New Orleans Saints beat them by a field goal as well.
So if you take away three plays through the first seven games Philly would be 7-0.  By some measures, Philly should be 13-2 right now.  If the playoffs were to start today, Philadelphia would host the Giants.  But I don't believe New York will beat Washington to make the postseason, thereby matching them up potentially with the Green Bay Packers, who they defeated at home on Monday Night Football earlier this season.

If they get past the Pack, they will likely head to New Orleans in round two.  This time I think the Eagles prevail, winning by a robust two touchdowns to advance to Solider Field to take on the Chicago Bears for the right to go to the Super Bowl.

With the NFC Championship in Chicago this year, Philadelphia will face a tough Bears team.  The Bears will give Garcia problems, but the Eagles will defiantly give the untested Rex Grossman problems as well.  I think the Eagles win in overtime.

As you can see I am pretty confident that Philadelphia will rise to the challenge and make a run for the Lombardi trophy.  I will not say whether the Eagles win or lose now, because I think the AFC is just too tough to call.  Look for Jeff Garcia to lead the Eagles to glory, but McNabb will be back next year to continue another Eagles dynasty.

Just 16-years old, Andrew Uxley has a lot to say.  Disagree with his takes?  Email him at andrew.uxley@atomicsportsmedia.com.