NFC East: Romo, Cowboys ready to go following respite

Football Betting Lines

11/11/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys had this week's upcoming matchup with the Washington Redskins circled on the calendar, but not because the game presented an opportunity to avenge an earlier season loss to a bitter division rival.

The injury-ravaged Cowboys had earmarked the nationally-televised showdown as the return date for standout quarterback Tony Romo, as well as a host of other wounded players who had been on the sidelines during most or all of the team's recent swoon. By taking full advantage of a much-needed bye week, Dallas is expected to have its full arsenal of weapons available when it visits FedEx Field for a pivotal mid-November showdown with the Redskins.

Romo, who hasn't played since breaking his right pinkie finger in an overtime defeat at Arizona on October 12, resumed practicing on Wednesday and reported no problems gripping the football or handling snaps under center. Barring any unforeseen setbacks, the two-time Pro Bowl performer will be back directing an offense that couldn't get out of its own way during the time he missed.

In the six games Romo has competed in this year, Dallas has averaged 29.3 points, 401.8 total yards and 274 passing yards. With the comedic combo of a past-his-prime Brad Johnson and journeyman Brooks Bollinger at the controls of the club's usually fearsome attack, the Cowboys averaged measly totals of 13.3 points, 232 total yards and 140.3 passing yards per contest.

Romo isn't the only notable player whom Dallas plans to have back in the fold against Washington. Top cover man Terence Newman and starting left guard Kyle Kosier are also slated to be in uniform this Sunday after missing extensive time due to injuries, while star tight end Jason Witten is recovering well from a fractured rib that rendered him a rare non-factor in the Cowboys' loss to the New York Giants that preceded the bye week.

Newman has sat out the Cowboys' last five games after undergoing groin surgery on October 10, while Kosier has played just once this season due to a lingering foot sprain. Their anticipated availability is welcome news for a reeling Dallas squad that has dropped four of six tilts following a 3-0 start, a slide that began with a frustrating 26-24 home loss to the Redskins on September 28.

The team is less certain about the status of running back Felix Jones. The rookie, who has averaged an eye-popping 8.9 yards per carry as a change-of- pace alternative to bruiser Marion Barber, missed Monday's practice with a strained hamstring that has caused him to miss three straight games.

NEXT UP: The Cowboys will be seeking to end a pair of three-game losing streaks in Sunday's clash with Washington. Dallas has fallen to the Redskins at FedEx Field in each of the past three seasons, and has also lost its last three overall tests on the road. The Cowboys are 2-3 as the visitor so far his year.

N.Y. GIANTS: Brandon Jacobs has proven to be awfully hard for enemy defenses to stop whenever the powerfully-built running back gets a head of steam. Those same teams are finding the task of beating the New York Giants to be an equally difficult challenge during the times when the 264-pound battering ram is on top of his game.

Jacobs was one of the central figures in the defending Super Bowl champions' latest victory, a hard-earned 36-31 triumph at fellow NFC East member Philadelphia this past Sunday that further strengthened New York's grasp on first place in the division. The fourth-year pro bulldozed his way to 126 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, eclipsing the century mark for the second consecutive week.

Over the last two seasons, the Giants are 8-1 when Jacobs runs for over 100 yards, including a 4-0 record in 2008.

New York amassed a gaudy 219 rushing yards for the game, no easy chore against an Eagles defense that entered the matchup ranked eighth in the league versus the run, and held the football for an astounding 39 minutes and 10 seconds.

Jacobs is now fourth among NFL backs with 806 yards on the ground this season, while his nine rushing touchdowns are tied for second in the league. Even more impressively, the 26-year-old is averaging nearly 120 yards and six yards per attempt in the G-Men's three games against the rugged NFC East.

It wasn't a perfect performance for New York's offensive catalyst, however. Jacobs lost a fumble in the second quarter that Philadelphia converted into a touchdown, and nearly coughed up the ball twice near the goal line on a key scoring drive in the fourth quarter.

"I am happy we won but [think] that I could have played a better game tonight," Jacobs said afterward. "I felt like I just did enough tonight to do my part."

The Giants are now averaging an NFL-best 168.9 rushing yards per game for the year and surpassed the 200-yard barrier for a second straight week. New York grinded out an even 200 yards in its 35-14 win over Dallas on November 2.

QUICK HITS: Second-year tight end Kevin Boss established career-bests with six receptions for 69 yards in Sunday's win and caught an Eli Manning touchdown pass for a third straight week...Rookie safety Kenny Phillips, New York's first-round pick in last April's draft, made his first career start in place of the injured James Butler (sprained knee) and was credited with five solo tackles...Kicker Lawrence Tynes, who missed the early portion of this season while recovering from knee surgery, was active for the first time this year on Sunday but was used solely on kickoffs. Veteran John Carney continued to handle placekicking duties and made good on all three of his field goal tries...Carney's 12 points for the game gave him 1,902 for his 20-year career, making the 44-year-old the fourth player in NFL history to reach 1,900 points.

NEXT UP: The 8-1 Giants will attempt to build upon their NFC-leading record when the surprising Baltimore Ravens enter the Meadowlands this Sunday for an intriguing interconference encounter. Baltimore improved to 6-3 with this past weekend's 41-13 rout of Houston, the team's fourth win in a row. The Ravens also bring the NFL's No. 1 ranked rushing defense into the Meadowlands, having yielded a paltry 65.4 yards per game on the ground.

PHILADELPHIA: While the Giants ran the ball with authority in Sunday's marquee matchup with Philadelphia, the Eagles' glaring inefficiency in that area wound up being a contributing factor in the team's latest hard-to-swallow defeat against a divisional opponent.

Brian Westbrook failed to showcase his customary game-changing form against New York's sturdy front seven, with the All-Pro running back mustering a meager 26 yards on 13 rushing attempts and failing to gain more than seven yards on any of his carries. Westbrook, who did add 33 receiving yards on a trio of grabs, had compiled over 100 yards from scrimmage in Philly's last eight regular-season meetings with the Giants, a streak that dated back to 2003.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb led the Eagles with 35 rushing yards on three scrambles, while rookie wideout DeSean Jackson had the club's lone touchdown on the ground on a nine-yard scamper on a shotgun snap in the game's opening minutes.

Philadelphia's struggles in the run game were most apparent during a crucial late series. Trailing by five points with two minutes to go, Westbrook was stopped just short of a first down in a 3rd-and-3 situation near midfield, then was stuffed by Giants' linebacker Chase Blackburn on the ensuing play to turn the ball over on downs.

"We just didn't get it done," remarked offensive guard Max Jean-Gilles afterward. "We came up short once again. It's on us."

The painful loss ensured the Eagles will have an uphill climb in their quest for a sixth NFC East title under head coach Andy Reid. Philadelphia has now lost its first three battles with divisional foes this season, two of which have come at home, and fell to three games behind the first-place Giants in the standings.

Earning a playoff spot figures to be a tough assignment as well for the Eagles, who dropped to 5-4 overall with the setback and had a streak of three straight wins halted. Five of Philadelphia's final seven games are against teams that currently sport winning records.

QUICK HITS: Starting left guard Todd Herremans sat out the first quarter of Sunday's tilt as an unspecified disciplinary measure. Nick Cole made his second career start in Herremans' place...Jackson, who took back a punt for a touchdown in a loss to Washington earlier this season, became the first Eagles player since Westbrook in 2003 to have a rushing, receiving and return score in a single year...Defensive tackle Mike Patterson set up Jackson's touchdown by intercepting New York's Eli Manning on the game's third play. Patterson also recovered a Jacobs fumble in the second quarter, making him the first Eagle to have a pick and fumble recovery in the same game since Michael Lewis accomplished the feat against the Giants on December 28, 2002...Tight end L.J. Smith returned to action after missing last week's win at Seattle with a concussion and caught three passes for 36 yards.

NEXT UP: Philadelphia will try for a rebound in this Sunday's bout with the lowly Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium, the first of back-to-back road games for the Eagles against AFC North squads. The team will also visit surging Baltimore on the swing. Philadelphia will be making its first appearance in Cincinnati since coming up on the short end of a 33-30 decision to the Bengals in 1994.

WASHINGTON: The Redskins refused to sit idly by during their bye week, using the break to fortify their defensive backfield with the signing of suddenly- available cornerback DeAngelo Hall this past Friday.

Hall, a two-time Pro Bowl selection during his four-year tenure with the Atlanta Falcons from 2004-07, was released by the Oakland Raiders last week after a brief and disappointing eight-game run with the Silver and Black. The 24-year-old was traded by Atlanta to the Raiders in March and subsequently signed a lucrative seven-year, $70-million contract with a reported $24.5 million guaranteed with Oakland.

While bringing in a player that wore out his welcome with two organizations because of perceived character issues carries a potential locker-room risk, Hall's acquisition gives Washington one of the NFL's deepest secondaries on the field. The Virginia native is expected to initially serve as the Redskins' nickel back alongside starters Shawn Springs and Carlos Rogers, and gives the team a good insurance policy for the injury-prone Springs.

In order to make room for Hall on the active roster, the Redskins released reserve corner Leigh Torrence, one of the team's top special teams players who had acquitted himself well when used in the defense's nickel and dime packages.

Hall will make his Redskins' debut when the hated Cowboys invade FedEx Field this Sunday, while Springs is expected to be back for the key divisional test after missing more than a month with a lingering calf injury. There's a chance Washington will be without its most important cog on offense for the Dallas game, however, as head coach Jim Zorn termed running back and league MVP candidate Clinton Portis a "50/50" proposition to suit up.

Portis, whose 995 rushing yards through the season's first nine games trails only Minnesota's Adrian Peterson for tops in the NFL, is dealing with a knee sprain he incurred during the Redskins' 23-6 home loss to Pittsburgh in Week 9 and was held out of Monday's practice. The workhorse back's absence would be a severe blow to a Washington offense that ranks fourth in the league in rushing yards (144.7 ypg) and is already without sturdy backup Ladell Betts due to an injured knee.

The Redskins' 26-24 victory over the Cowboys in Dallas back in September was fueled by a 21-carry, 121-yard effort by Portis, which allowed the Burgundy and Gold to control the football for more than 38 minutes.

NEXT UP: Washington takes aim at its first series sweep of the Cowboys since 2005 when the two rivals square off this Sunday at FedEx Field. The Redskins, who have not lost back-to-back games yet this season, have posted a win after the bye in each of the last three years.