As expected, Michael Vick won’t play against the Cowboys in the Eagles’ season finale on Sunday. Vick hurt his quad on the first play from scrimmage Tuesday night in Philly’s loss to the Vikings and with the Dallas game being meaningless in terms of playoff seeding, the Eagles don’t want to take any chances with their star player.

With the No. 3 seed locked up, Kevin Kolb will get the start against the Cowboys. Depending on the outcomes from Week 17, the Eagles will play either the Packers, Giants or Bucs in the first round of the playoffs next week. If Green Bay beats Chicago on Sunday, then Philly will host the Packers. If the Packers lose to the Bears and the Giants beat the Redskins, then the Eagles will host New York. If both the Packers and Giants lose and the Bucs beat the Saints, then Tampa Bay will head to Philly next week.

Vick’s regular season ends with 3,018 passing yards, 676 rushing yards and 30 total touchdowns. He also finishes with a QB Rating of 100.2, which is a career high for him. He finished with an 81.6 QB Rating in his second year with the Falcons, which was his previous high (when he attempted at least 300 passes) before this year. If it weren’t for what Tom Brady has accomplished in New England this year, Vick would probably win the MVP award.

It’ll be interesting to see if Vick is healthy enough to play in the first round of the playoffs. Considering he stayed in the game against Minnesota, chances are good that he’ll start against the Eagles’ first round opponent next weekend. But how effective will he be?

Eagles 37 @ Cowboys 41
The Dallas offense is a juggernaut. Tony Romo shrugged off an awful play early in the game that gave the Eagles defense a touchdown to finish with 312 yards, three TD and a pick. He looks cool, calm and collected in the pocket and with Brady out, he has as good of a chance as anyone to finish as QB1…Terrell Owens (3-89-2) had a big day against his old team, but Romo went to Jason Witten (7-110) when he needed to move the chains. Patrick Crayton (2-23) had a quiet game…Marion Barber is a stud. He racked up 114 total yards on 22 touches and scored twice, once on the ground and once through the air. With LT2 struggling, Barber is a contender to finish as the top fantasy RB…Felix Jones (3-10) was a non-factor in the rushing game, but scored a TD on a kickoff return…The Eagles looked great except for the missed exchange between Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. That turnover was so out of character for McNabb. He finished with 281 yards and a TD, but would have had another score had DeSean Jackson (6-110) not made a boneheaded, showboat play by tossing the ball back before crossing the goal line on his 60-yard almost-TD catch…Jackson’s dumb move gave Westy and extra rushing touchdown. He finished with 24 touches for 102 yards and three TD (2 rush, 1 rec). He’s probably the frontrunner to finish as RB1 with LT2’s gimpy toe…Other than Jackson and Westbrook, no other Philly receiver had more than three receptions, so it looks like Jackson is WR1 for now…L.J. Smith (1-10) had a quiet day.