It’s “Dallas week” for the Philadelphia Eagles, but who are we kidding? It’s Eagles week for the Cowboys! Let’s face it, the lack of success of the New York Giants and Washington Whatevers over the last 20 years has made the NFC East really about the Cowboys and Eagles. Over the last dozen years, the division has been won 10 times by either the Cowboys or the Eagles, with each of them winning it five times. Washington has done it twice, while the New York football Giants have a good ol’ goose egg.
The Eagles and Cowboys are sitting first and second in the division, with one team trying to win its second-straight Super Bowl while the other team is just looking to win its second-straight game. The gap in the standings between these two teams may have taken a little of the luster off this otherwise huge NFC East matchup, but there are still plenty of things to play for. Despite their respective records, both teams have a lot to prove. Here are five things to watch when these two teams battle it out on Sunday.
1. Speed kills
Stopping the run will always be a big topic whenever you have Saquon Barkley in the backfield or if you’re going against the Cowboys’ defense. The opportunity for a huge day running the ball exists. The last time these teams squared off, the Cowboys’ defense did a good job keeping Barkley in check as he finished the game with only 60 yards rushing on 18 carries.
The trade for Quinnen Williams has added strength in the interior of the Cowboys’ defensive line, so space between the tackles may not be as readily available as they were before, but that doesn’t mean the Eagles can’t find some space to get up the field. Look for the Eagles to push outside by hitting Barkley out of the flat or quick passes to wide receivers. And as always, quarterback Jalen Hurts is always a threat to take off running. The Cowboys may have added some muscle on their defense, but the speed of their back seven will be equally important in keeping the Eagles from running up and down the field.
2. Force Hurts to beat you
The Eagles will take the easy stuff all day long if the Cowboys let them. If the defense does a good job of filling gaps and wrapping up, it will force Philadelphia to look upfield more. Hurts is a good football player, but he’s not the most accurate passer. He has a 76% on-target passing percentage, ranking outside the top half of the league, which isn’t atrocious, but shows he has a tendency to misfire at times. Often, his throws are a tad off, making it difficult for the receivers to catch the ball. Being on the “same page” as the receivers has been a bit of a bugaboo for Hurts in recent games.
Not only do the Cowboys want Hurts throwing the ball a lot, but they also want to ensure that the defenders create some congestion. They don’t have to smother A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Just have defenders close by. Any off-coverage zone stuff will make things easy for him. Don’t do that. Instead, they need to make him make some good throws. With DaRon Bland, Caelen Carson, and now Shavon Revel Jr., the Cowboys have the corners who are physical enough to jam at the line of scrimmage and stay close in man coverage. If the Eagles have to rely on Hurts stringing together good throws to win the game, the Cowboys’ chances go up.
3. Crossing route confusion
Everywhere you look, the Eagles have good defensive players. They don’t really have areas to exploit. But they also aren’t so dominant in any area that opposing offenses must avoid them. For that reason, the Cowboys’ offense must play to its strengths. Yes, they’ll try to balance things out with the run like they always do, but at some point, this game needs to become the Lamb and Pickens show.
Philly has great corners. Second-year guys Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are rock solid, with the third corner being Adoree’ Jackson, who the Eagles signed to a cheap one-year deal in March. These guys will make things challenging for the Cowboys’ passing attack, but Brian Schottenheimer and company should have some nice tricks up their sleeve to free up their star receivers, CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Look for the Cowboys’ play design to include some nice layering and have these guys flying across the middle, hoping to get them the ball with some room to run.
4. Fourth-down decisions
The last four times Dak Prescott has faced the Eagles in AT&T, we’ve seen some big offensive performances. In those games, the Cowboys have scored 33, 40, 41, and 37 points for an average of 38 points per contest. Prescott has thrown nine touchdowns and just two interceptions in those four games. It would be great to see the offense come out firing against their divisional foes, but this Eagles defense will have other plans.
The Eagles’ defense has not allowed more than 10 points in each of their last two games. If that happens a third time, the Cowboys aren’t winning this football game. While the point totals should land somewhere in between the previous high-scoring affairs and the more recent Philly games where points are scarce, each team will want to make every possession count. Last week, the Dan Campbell-led Lions missed out on points and squandered field possession by turning the ball over on downs five times! Even Nick Sirianni is notorious for making some questionable fourth-down decisions that almost come back to bite him. Don’t be surprised if a big fourth-down play ends up being the difference-maker in this one.
5. No freebees!
Watching the Eagles bat down five of Jared Goff’s passes on Sunday night creates a little fear, considering how many times Prescott’s passes have been clipped at the line of scrimmage. Dak has a habit of flying a little too low to the ground, resulting in deflected passes. It’s not a big deal. It happens. But whenever these two teams meet up, it always feels like the ball somehow migrates into the hands of an Eagles’ defender.
Make no mistake about it, the Eagles’ defense is coming for Prescott. The offensive line will have its work cut out for them, and Dak’s likely to be under duress enough times to make us uncomfortable. But Prescott must handle the pressure and not make a bad play worse. Last week, Maxx Crosby caught him unexpectedly, resulting in a fumble that gave the Raiders the ball deep in Dallas territory. Even in those aforementioned games at AT&T where Dak and the Cowboys dominated, those nasty turnovers showed up. It didn’t end up hurting them then, but they’re not likely to survive such an occurrence on Sunday. No free touchdowns!
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