The Eagles offense is finding itself right now which is highly annoying.
The Dallas Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend. Unfortunately, due to injury and poor performance, this doesn’t look like it will be the close fought contest it should be. The two division rivals are far apart right now in terms of strength of roster, but how do both offense’s stack up? Let’s take a look and match each position group from both teams.
QUARTERBACK
Cooper Rush/Trey Lance
vs.
Jalen Hurts
There’s no sugarcoating things this week, the quarterback position for Dallas has more questions than ever before. Dak had his problems this season and there is no denying he’s underperformed this year. Is he the root cause of the team’s failures this year? That’s more debatable. He’s set to miss several weeks after pulling his hamstring in last week’s game against Atlanta. He will go on injured reserve. So now we get to see Cooper Rush enter the field once again.
Rush stepped in back in 2022 when Dak injured his hand during the Tampa Bay game and delivered four consecutive wins. That of course was a different time with better offensive weapons and a stronger defense, so now Cowboys fans have to truly hold their breath. More to the question is whether Dallas plays Rush for the entire stint Dak is out or play Trey Lance to see what he’s got.
Jalen Hurts ranks eighth in passer rating and seventh in completion rating. But beyond that as a passer he has had a down year so far. What Hurts lacks as a passer though he makes up for as a rusher. He’s second in the league in rushing touchdowns and fifth in the league in rushing first downs. He’s also second among quarterbacks in rushing yards per game. Against a Cowboys defensive line that has struggled consistently to defend the run and has a history of issues defending mobile quarterbacks, this makes for a big day for Hurts.
Conclusion:
This isn’t hard to decipher this week. One team is playing a backup quarterback, the other is starting a quarterback that has helped deliver a 6-2 record this season so far.
Win: Eagles
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
RUNNING BACK
Rico Dowdle/Dalvin Cook
vs.
Saquon Barkley/Kenneth Gainwell
Last week, Dallas made the decision to leave Ezekiel Elliott back in Dallas after a week of tardiness and disappointing behavior. He’s averaging just three-yards per carry and his best game came in Week 1, since then he’s been very disappointing. If you thought Dalvin Cook is the answer then guess again. He’s played in the last two games and totaled just 20 yards for an average of 2.5 yards per carry.
Rico Dowdle, however, has been playing much better. Against the Atlanta Falcons he averaged 6.3 yards per carry and made five receptions, with one being the bobbled catch in the endzone for a touchdown.
Saquon Barkley may have made one of the most athletic plays your eyes will witness. Last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars he hurdled a player— backwards! The play was insane and a testament to his explosiveness which is on form this year. He’s second in the league in rushing yards and average yards per carry. Then to top off Hurts’ eight rushing touchdowns, Barkley ranks fourth in the league with six rushing touchdowns. He did experience back issues after the game so keep an eye on his name during practice reports.
Conclusion:
This is a huge mismatch and that’s without counting the rushing threat of Hurts. The Eagles are second in the league in rush yards per game, the Cowboys defense rank third-worst in rush yards allowed.
Win: Eagles
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images
WIDE RECEIVERS
CeeDee Lamb/Jalen Tolbert/KaVontae Turpin
vs.
A.J. Brown/DeVonta Smith/Jahan Dotson
The Cowboys decided to make a deal and trade with the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo. They sent a fourth-round pick for the second-year receiver to help add weapons to the offense. The timing of the trade is confusing considering Dak has just been sent to IR, and the fourth-round price tag is extremely steep. Mingo has yet to score a touchdown or eclipse 100-yards in a game. The high price tag will take into account he’s only in his second year and was taken with the Panthers 39th pick in the 2023 draft. Another reason for the trade could also be based on Lamb having to deal with a shoulder injury that’s been tagged day-to-day. He looked in discomfort throughout last week’s game after landing on it during a catch.
For a team that’s so heavily predicated on its ground game, the receivers for the Eagles all naturally take a hit. Smith leads the team in receptions and ranks outside the top 32 receivers in the league. He also ranks top in the team with 473 receiving yards which ranks 21st among wide receivers. Next to Smith is A.J. Brown who has missed time this season. He is questionable this week with a knee injury so keep a watch on his practice news.
Conclusion:
Neither Eagles receiver is close to matching Lambs production at the moment but both of them combined are a better WR1/2 duo than what Dallas currently has. Add in the fact the Cowboys will be playing with a backup quarterback, and that will affect the production of the wide receivers.
Win: Eagles
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
TIGHT END
Jake Ferguson
vs.
Dallas Goedert
Jake Ferguson played a huge role last week and made a number of explosive plays early in the game. His 71 receiving yards were the most on the team last week against Atlanta.
Dallas Goedert hasn’t played since Week 5 for the Eagles after injuring his hamstring. Keep a close watch as he will be listed as questionable going into the game this week. In his place is TE2, Grant Calcaterra. He’s made nine receptions for 93 yards since stepping as the starting tight end. He has yet to score to a touchdown in his career and his biggest game came against the Cleveland Browns after Goedert went out.
Conclusion:
If Goedert is out then Ferguson wins this round. But there is one point to note here, the Eagles have yet to allow a tight end to score against them and Ferguson has zero touchdowns this year.
Win: Cowboys (unless Goedert is good to go)
Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
OFFENSIVE LINE
This Cowboys offensive line is in serious trouble, we mean stupendously serious trouble. They faced the worst statistical defensive line in the NFL last week and failed. Zack Martin had trouble locating blocks and missed a huge block that would have helped score a touchdown. Terence Steele looks like he’s having an extremely hard time in every facet.
Tyler Guyton miss time in the second half with a neck strain injury. Cooper Beebe faced a lot of inside pressure from the Falcons and had his problems.
Even the touchdown pass from Prescott to Dowdle symbolized many of the offensvie line’s failings. Dak was forced to dance around in the backfield trying to make something happen, every offensive linemen was all over the place trying to keep back their guy and the whole thing looked a mess. The saving grace to the play was the touchdown; in most other ways it was a disaster for the offensive line.
Inconsistent is the best way to describe the Eagles offensive line in pass protection. They’re not bad but have moments where they allow the pressure to break through, especially on the left-hand side. The run-blocking, however, is exceptionally good. We all know the “tush-push” play all too well, but they generally are excellent in helping create huge run lanes for Barkley and get to the second level.
The Eagles are a very physical and mobile offensive line, and will look manhandle the inside defensive line from Dallas that has trouble out-muscling anything this season.
Win: Eagles
