IRVING, Texas — The last time the Dallas Cowboys played the Philadelphia Eagles, the buildup was all about Terrell Owens — just the way he likes it.

Sorry, T.O. This Christmas afternoon rematch is about something far more important: deciding the NFC East champion.

That will definitely be the case if the Cowboys (9-5) win. A victory would seal Dallas' first division title since 1998, the last full season that Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin played together.

If the Eagles (8-6) win, they'll need to follow with a victory over Atlanta in the finale to seal their fifth division title in six years. Philadelphia also could do it by beating Dallas and losing to the Falcons, but only if the Cowboys end up losing their finale at home against Detroit.

It would be a stunning rally for the Eagles. Coming off their T.O. tumult of 2005, the Eagles were 5-5 when they lost quarterback Donovan McNabb to a knee injury. They dipped to 5-6 when Jeff Garcia lost his first start, forcing them to take a losing record into December.

"That was even more reason for people to believe that this team couldn't battle through those difficult times and find a way to turn around," Garcia said.

Then how did they do it?

"I really give credit to my teammates, the coaching staff and the people within the organization for believing in themselves, continuing to battle week in and week out even when everybody else was counting us out," he said.

Philadelphia coach Andy Reid kept his spirits up with some encouragement from a surprising source.

"Coach Parcells called me up and told me not to be pessimistic," Reid said. "He relayed to me the story of about when (Phil) Simms went down and they had the quarterback change and they kept on winning at a championship-caliber level. If I had any plan of keeping my head down, he took care of that."

Say what you want about potentially helping a division rival. To Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, sharing the story of his 1990 New York Giants was treating a younger coach the way older coaches had treated him.

"There's kind of like a little kinship even though you're rivals," Parcells said. "When I was a young coach in this league, several of the more senior coaches, several, not all but several, took time for me. I'm not trying to be corny or anything, but I made up mind that if I was ever in that spot I would always do that for any young coach, and I have done that."

Considering how things have turned out, does he regret it?

"No," Parcells said. "If you've got to be doing something on Christmas, it might as well be something important."

DOLPHINS-JETS

MIAMI — The Miami Dolphins have spent the past few days saying all the right things about their approach to the final two weeks of another playoff-free season.

The stated goals are clear. They want to win their last two games and finish at .500, take some momentum into the offseason, proving to fans and themselves that there's reason for optimism for better things in 2007.

Oh, and there's one other little thing, too.

"It couldn't be a better Christmas present," Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas said, "than beating the Jets and knocking them out of the playoffs."

Sounds like somebody's yearning to play spoiler.

The Dolphins (6-8) can make the possible postseason path for the New York Jets (8-6) considerably tougher when the AFC East rivals meet tonight in Miami. The Jets' best hope to get into the playoffs is by finishing the season with two wins, starting against a Dolphins team they've beaten in four of their last five meetings, including 20-17 on Oct. 15.

"There's been a lot of discussion about the different possibilities, more on the outside than on the inside," Jets coach Eric Mangini said. "Really, what we're talking about is just working on the Dolphins and what a challenge that's going to be, and make sure our preparation is as good as it possibly can be."