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 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 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 lowly 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.”