The dreaded Saturday Eagles pick

Hope you got your fill of fireworks Friday night, because the Eagles and the NFL are serving up a dud on Sunday at the Linc.

Pay no attention to the 4:15 starting time for this Eagles-Cowboys national TV clash. It won't be a classic.

That's because the Eagles no-show Tuesday night against the Vikings locks them into the No. 3 playoff spot. The only mystery remains who they will play in the first round of the playoffs next week. A betting man would take the Packers.

And a betting man would go nowhere near this game. Kevin Kolb will likely be behind center for the Birds, subbing for a banged-up Michael Vick. That's the smart move, but it will mean Vick goes into the playoffs with the sour taste of two straight shaky performances in his memory. Yes, I am fully aware of Vick's heroics in the last seven minutes of the Giants game. He was spectacular. That does not change what happened in those first three and a half quarters, when he was pedestrian. Vick followed that up with maybe his worst game of the season against the Vikings, hounded by a Vikings' defense and a quad injury he suffered on the first play of the game.

Don't look for Andy Reid to change game plan just becase he has Kolb at QB.  The Eagles will continue to ignore LeSean McCoy and throw the ball all over the lot.

In a way, this is perfect symmetry, the Eagles end the season the same way they started it, with Kolb as their starter and questions surrounding Vick.

The Cowboys? Their season ended about a month ago, and they're now down to their third-string quarterback.

It won't be pretty, and it certainly will not have the edge that most Eagles-Cowboys games crackle with, but the Eagles should prevail.

Try not to fall asleep. Now it's on to the playoffs.

Make it Eagles 23, Cowboys 16.

Last Week: This one was a snow job. It had bad karma written all over it, and that had nothing to do with Gov. Ed Rendell and his rant that postponing the game was leading to the 'wussification' of the nation. The Eagles simply never showed up for the rare Tuesday nighter, and it showed as they got torched by an interim coach, Leslie Frazier, who happens to know them pretty well after years on Andy Reid's staff, and a rookie QB Joe Bennett who likely is not going to wind up in Canton.

Season Record: The loss drops me to 9-6, while the Eagles remain a game better at 10-5 and sitting in the weird position of playing a completely meaningless game to wind up the regular season, and against the Cowboys no less.