The Cowboys have a sort of chance to play spoiler on Sunday.
The Dallas Cowboys already know their season is over. They were eliminated from playoff contention just a few hours before kickoff against the Buccaneers on Sunday night, but it didn’t stop them from playing their hearts out and stealing a win from a team firmly in the postseason mix.
Now, the Cowboys have two games left, both of them against divisional foes. First on the schedule is a road trip against the Eagles, who just lost their first game since the last week of September.
The first time these teams met this year, it was Cooper Rush’s first start of the year after Dak Prescott went down for the year. Things were surprisingly close in the first half, as Philadelphia led just 14-6 at halftime, but Rush lost two fumbles and the Eagles outscored Dallas 20-0 in the second half for a big win.
Since then, though, the Cowboys have been much better. Rush has gotten into a groove, ranking 16th in EPA/play over the last five games, ahead of the likes of Kyler Murray, Geno Smith, and C.J. Stroud. The offense as a whole has stabilized as well, but it’s their defense that has taken off.
Since Micah Parsons returned from his injury the week of that game against the Eagles, Dallas is 10th in EPA/play allowed. More specifically, they’re second in EPA/dropback allowed and rank fourth in both pressure rate and sacks on the season. Parsons is also eighth in the league in individual pressures despite missing four games.
Parsons’ elite play has been partnered with some exceptional games from CeeDee Lamb, who will not be suiting up for this one. On Thursday, it was announced that Lamb would be shut down for the year so he can get rehab his shoulder, an injury he had been playing through in recent weeks.
The Eagles aren’t exactly a clean bill of health either, with their biggest question being Jalen Hurts. Their star quarterback left this past game with a concussion in the first quarter and he remains in the concussion protocol as of Thursday. Hurts’ backup, Kenny Pickett, is also on the injury report with a rib injury. He was limited on Wednesday’s practice but participated fully on Thursday,
The general sense from Philadelphia is that Hurts is likely to miss this game, though you can never say never. If that is the case, it will mark Pickett’s first start of the year and his first start since early December of last year.
Pickett was a first-round pick in 2022 by the Steelers, becoming their starter during his rookie year. Last year, Pickett led Pittsburgh to a 7-5 start but injuries knocked him out. When Pickett did return to full health, the Steelers chose not to put him back in the lineup, which led to their decision this offseason to pursue both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Not long afterwards, Pickett was traded to Philadelphia, where he has been Hurts’ backup all year.
Coming into this last game, Pickett had attempted just three passes on the year and played a total of 28 snaps. When called into action against the Commanders this past week, Pickett completed 58.3% of his passes for 143 yards with a touchdown, an interception, and a fumble. He came in during a touchdown drive for the Eagles, but after that drive Pickett produced just 12 points the rest of the game, while Washington was able to come back in the fourth quarter for the win.
Needless to say, there isn’t a wealth of optimism from Eagles fans if Pickett is the starter. Still, though, this offense runs through Saquon Barkley. The former Giants running back accounts for 38% of the Eagles’ offensive yards and leads the league in scrimmage yards with 2,114 yards. That said, one of his worst games of the year came against this defense, as Barkley averaged 4.7 yards a carry. His 67 rushing yards in that game was the third-fewest he’s had in a game all year.
The Cowboys will need to have similar success against Barkley in this one regardless of who plays under center. Mike Zimmer’s defense has surged lately because they don’t let run games go wild, creating more passing downs for Zimmer’s chaotic pressure schemes to run loose. Similarly, Mike McCarthy will have his work cut out for him trying to scheme things up in the passing game without Lamb anymore.
This game brings a lot of uncertainty for both teams, but it probably figures to be closer than the last time these teams met. The Eagles are favored by a touchdown, but the Cowboys have been exceeding bettors’ expectations in recent weeks. Can they pull out another surprise win and play spoiler for their bitter rival, who still haven’t locked up the NFC East?
