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ARLINGTON – With each Cowboys victory, the stakes increase and the stages grow larger. It just can't get much bigger than a battle for first place with the Eagles in Philadelphia next Sunday.

Unless maybe it was last year's battle there for second.

The Cowboys mostly like to forget about the season-ending 44-6 defeat that allowed the Eagles to reach the playoffs as the NFC's last wild-card team rather than Dallas. As coach Wade Phillips said about last season in training camp, "It is what it was."

But with a three-game winning streak after Sunday's 38-17 victory over Seattle, and with young playmakers enjoying new levels of success, the Cowboys may actually use the frustration of last year's elimination game as a springboard for success.

"Trust me,...