When: Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia TV: NBC

Just 17 days after the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys 33-10 in Texas, the teams meet again in Philadelphia with the NFC East lead on the line.

It is almost as momentous as the teams’ second confrontation last season. That game, played in Dallas, decided the division winner on the final day of the regular season. The Eagles won that one 24-22, but Tony Romo was not able to play.

Romo will be at quarterback for the Cowboys this time. Mark Sanchez will be behind center for the Eagles. DeMarco Murray and LeSean McCoy are the marquee running backs. Two improved but still unproven defenses will be trying to establish their credentials with the playoffs hanging in the balance.

ESPN NFL Nation reporters Todd Archer, who covers the Cowboys, and Phil Sheridan, who covers the Eagles, discuss the big rematch.

NFL Nation: Week 15 Previews Our NFL Nation reporters break down the Week 15 schedule: • Arizona at St. Louis

• Cincinnati at Cleveland

• Washington at N.Y. Giants

• Miami at New England

• Oakland at Kansas City

• Houston at Indianapolis

• Jacksonville at Baltimore

• Tampa Bay at Carolina

• Pittsburgh at Atlanta • Green Bay at Buffalo

• Denver at San Diego • N.Y. Jets at Tennessee

• Minnesota at Detroit

• San Francisco at Seattle

• Dallas at Philadelphia

• New Orleans at Chicago

Phil Sheridan: The Eagles beat the Cowboys on Thanksgiving with Romo looking very uncomfortable after the short week and, it turned out, without taking a painkiller. A year ago, the Eagles beat the Cowboys to clinch the division in a game Romo didn’t play in. Are the Cowboys feeling like a healthier Romo will be the difference this time around? Are they right?

Todd Archer: Let me take this from the Thanksgiving Day angle first. The Cowboys and Romo believe things will be different in the second meeting. Not in the potential outcome, but in how they play. They won’t use the quick turnaround from a Sunday night game at MetLife Stadium to a Thursday afternoon game at AT&T Stadium as an excuse, but I’ll call it a reason. On a normal Thursday, Romo would be going through his first practice of the week. That time he had to play a game. And, for some reason, he chose not to take a painkilling injection before the game. He was not the same quarterback that day. Things weren't “firing” as he likes to say. Given the state of his back, he needs rest. He had a full week to get ready for the Chicago Bears and completed 81 percent of his passes and threw three touchdown passes. As for last year, the Cowboys were driving to win the game with their backup quarterback, Kyle Orton, late in the fourth quarter before he threw a pick. I think they feel confident about their chances. That doesn’t guarantee a win, but the Cowboys will not walk into Lincoln Financial Field with any fear.

I wasn’t thinking the NFC East would be on the line after the Eagles whipped the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, but it is. Do you think the Eagles’ loss to Seattle does anything to bruise their confidence, or does the fact that these teams played such a short time ago and the Eagles won so easily help them?

Sheridan: I would see bruised confidence as a concern if not for the way these Eagles bounced back from that 53-20 abomination they played in Green Bay. They came back the next week and took care of Tennessee 43-24. Then they had the short week and the 33-10 win in Dallas. This team seems to maintain an even keel regardless of what happened the week before. So I do think they’ll file the Seattle game away and turn the page pretty quickly.

But I also think they did that with the Thanksgiving Day game. Everything went very well for the Eagles in that game. But they’re talking this week about how they expect a completely different Romo and a much more rested Dallas team. Winning the past two against Dallas has to boost their confidence, but I don’t think there’s much risk of overconfidence from this team. In that sense, a beating like the Seattle game helps keep the Eagles grounded.

The win over the Bears last week got the Cowboys over that eight-win hurdle. Is there a danger they’ll feel satisfied with that, or do you sense this team is really driven to win the division and get to the postseason?

Archer: That’s a good point, and we asked a ton of guys that very question. They all said the same thing: Getting past eight wins means nothing. For as young as this team is, I do believe it is pretty mature. All the Cowboys have guaranteed is a winning record. If they lose Sunday, then they could very well win the last two games, finish 11-5 and miss the playoffs. I don’t think they have any sense of accomplishment. A lot of these guys are playing for their futures, including coach Jason Garrett. The Cowboys put a lot of people on make-good deals. Getting to nine wins is a start, but it’s not a finish. This team needs to get to the playoffs. Garrett needs to get to the playoffs. The Cowboys still have a lot to prove. Instead of playing a winner-take-all game in Week 17, which is what they have done the previous three seasons, they have it essentially in Week 15.

As you look back to the Thanksgiving game, what surprised you the most about what the Eagles were able to do offensively or defensively? To me, it was how the Eagles' front controlled the game.

Sheridan: That’s a very good place to start. In the locker room afterward, the offensive linemen were talking about how much it felt like last season, when McCoy led the NFL in rushing. The Eagles had their no-huddle tempo going as well as it has in two years. Having publicly picked Dallas to win, I have to say I was a bit surprised by all of that.

It’s funny, though. Because they scored 33 and won, the Eagles got away with some stuff. They went only 1-for-5 in the red zone, for example. They aren’t likely to get away with that in the rematch. And they probably can’t count on Romo just failing to see an open Dez Bryant, as he did a couple of times in that game.

So I guess the answer is, I was surprised the Eagles dominated so thoroughly, but I also feel they were a millimeter or two from not dominating at all.

On Thanksgiving, the Eagles did a very good job of getting their no-huddle offense into a rhythm. Do the Cowboys have any answers for that or for McCoy this time?

Archer: There is a sign on one of the walls at Valley Ranch that says: Do Your Job. I’m sure every team in the league has a sign that says something like that, but in the first meeting, the Cowboys had players trying to do everyone else’s job, and it hurt them. When they won at Philadelphia a year ago, they were able to hold McCoy to 55 yards on 18 carries. They need to do something like that Sunday. To do that, they must contain the edges. On the first play of the Thanksgiving game, they did it perfectly. For the rest of the day, not so much. The Cowboys have to stay disciplined. They know they can’t get out of their gaps or else McCoy will expose them. Of course, they knew this on Thanksgiving, and they didn’t do it. To me, McCoy makes everything go with the Eagles' offense. If he’s running it, the passing game clicks. If he can’t run it, the passing game suffers. For as well as Sanchez played in the first meeting, I still think the Cowboys want to see if he can beat them with his arm.

In Dallas, we like to say the game is always about the quarterback. With Sanchez, is this game about him or is it about Chip Kelly’s system?

Sheridan: It’s kind of about both, or about Sanchez playing within Kelly’s system. If Sanchez can do that the way he did it in Dallas, the Eagles will be fine and Sanchez could emerge as the quarterback here. If Sanchez gets as flustered as he did against Seattle Sunday, the Cowboys are going to have a fine day, and the Eagles will be lighting candles to hasten Nick Foles' return.

I think it will be interesting to see if Dallas takes any cues from the Seahawks’ approach. Seattle didn’t do anything the Eagles didn’t expect. The Seahawks just played their base defense very soundly and turned those fast players loose. The Eagles weren’t able to control the line of scrimmage at all against the Seahawks. Dallas can’t upgrade its front seven dramatically by Sunday, but there is probably a blueprint for how to disrupt the Eagles’ offense that can be adapted.

If the Cowboys can get Sanchez out of his comfort zone, however they go about it, they can change the nature of the game.