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Scott Galvin-Imagn Images Here are our bold predictions for this week’s matchup between the Cowboys and Eagles. The Dallas Cowboys are back in action on Sunday afternoon as they return home to host the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles. Things can’t get much worse for the Cowboys, so we’ll see if they can pull a rabbit out of their hat on Sunday and keep this game competitive. Before the two teams square off, here are three bold predictions for the matchup. Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images 1) Trey Lance scores the second rushing touchdown of his NFL career When the news broke this week about the severity of Dak Prescott’s hamstring injury, the 2024 Cowboys’ competitive window closed. Even with a healthy Prescott, the Cowboys didn’t have a great shot to make the playoffs. Without him, they have no chance. Even in a lost season, in Prescott’s absence the Cowboys will need to find ways to move the ball on offense. At this point in his career, it’s pretty clear Cooper Rush isn’t the type of quarterback that can be the sole reason you win games. Rush needs a solid ground game and a good defense behind him to succeed, two things the Cowboys currently lack. Dallas will need to use some creativity on offense to help offset the drop in talent from Prescott to Rush. One way they could do this is by finding ways to get 24-year-old quarterback Trey Lance involved. Lance didn’t do a lot of things all that well during the preseason, but he did have success running the football. The former third-overall pick is a great athlete and he consistently showed off his impressive ability to get outside the pocket and take off and run if nothing was available to him. This is why you don’t give up on Trey Lance. His ability to be a game changer is CLEARLY THERE. He made these defenders with angles look like they were running in place. pic.twitter.com/mBY1xUEo7o — Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) August 24, 2024 With many calling for the Cowboys to give Lance some playing time, Jerry Jones spoke publicly this week about the Cowboys potentially using him in some specific packages moving forward. The coaches might not like this, but Jerry Jones on Trey Lance to @1053thefan: “Oh there is a window for Trey Lance. There’s packages that we can work on … Let me be clear that’s not just to get Lance some playtime. That’s to bring to the table some offense for us.” — Todd Archer (@toddarcher) November 8, 2024 The Cowboys finally show some creativity on offense this week and it comes in the form of using Trey Lance as a runner. The quarterback breaks a 25+ yard run and goes the distance, scoring the second rushing touchdown of his NFL career. Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images 2) Eagles consistently gash the Cowboys on the ground, recording their second 250-yard rushing day of the season If there is one thing the Eagles do well on offense it’s run the football. Eight games into the season, Philadelphia is top five in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and Rush EPA. Saquon Barkley, who the Eagles signed from the rival New York Giants this offseason, has been healthy and playing arguably the best football of his career. The 27-year-old running back leads the league with an average of 116 rushing yards per game and is top 10 among qualified running backs in EPA/Rush and Explosive Rush percentage. Barkley is on pace to shatter his career-highs in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns and has proven to be the X-Factor the Eagles were missing on offense. This week the Eagles go up against a Cowboys’ defense that is one of the worst units against the run in the entire league. According to Rush EPA (0.093), Dallas is the worst run defense in the NFL this season. When facing good competition, the Cowboys have been consistently dominated on the ground. The Ravens, Lions, and 49ers have all had their way with the Cowboys running the football. The Eagles will follow suit and have another dominant day on the ground. Barkley and the Eagles’ running backs are the stars of the game as Philadelphia rushes for over 250 yards in a game for the second time this season. Brett Davis-Imagn Images 3) Jalen Brooks scores his first NFL touchdown With CeeDee Lamb a bit banged up, the Cowboys will need to feature some of their young receivers more prominently in this game. 24-year-old wideout Jalen Brooks will likely see much more playing time if Lamb is only able to play a limited amount of snaps. After high expectations coming into the year, Brooks has had a bit of a slow start to the season. The former seventh-round pick has caught just seven passes for 103 yards and has four games where he has recorded one or no receptions. This week, Brooks will do something he’s never done in his NFL career. With the game slipping away in the second half, Brooks hauls in a 37-yard reception, recording his first NFL touchdown and keeping Dallas within striking distance.

Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images Your Sunday morning Cowboys news. Cowboys LB Micah Parsons to return after 4-game absence-Todd Archer, ESPN The Cowboys will get one of their premier players back in their lineup. Micah Parsons will make his return to the Dallas Cowboys’ defense Sunday against the Philadelphia, sources told ESPN Saturday. Parsons missed the past four games with a high left ankle sprain suffered in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys’ Week 4 win against the New York Giants. He was able to take part in three practices during the week on a limited basis and was officially listed as questionable. Despite the prolonged absence, Parsons still leads the Cowboys in quarterback pressures (21) and is two off the team lead in sacks, currently held by DeMarcus Lawrence with three. Lawrence, with a midfoot sprain, has also missed the past four games. Asked Wednesday whether he would see a full allotment of snaps if active Sunday, Parsons said, “Once I’m playing, I’m playing. That’s just the competitor in me. I was banged up plenty of times and I’m just like once I’m competing, I’m competing. It’s hard to restrain that.” The Cowboys, however, are expected to keep a close eye on his work during the game. Parsons played in 85% of the defensive snaps in the first four games of the season. He was credited with 18 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss and 1 pass deflection. Dak Prescott injury update: Cowboys QB likely to undergo season-ending surgery on hamstring – Jordan Dajani, CBS Sports It’s looking very likely that Dak Prescott’s season is done. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a partially torn hamstring in the Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He was originally expected to miss several weeks, but now reportedly faces to miss the remainder of the 2024 season. Prescott is expected to undergo season-ending surgery on his hamstring, with a final decision coming early next week, CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reports. Prescott was not placed on injured reserve Saturday, which led many to wonder if he would miss more than four weeks, or return in fewer than four weeks. Ultimately, it appears likely Prescott will be turning his attention to 2025. Cooper Rush will replace Prescott as the Cowboys’ starting quarterback, although head coach Mike McCarthy told CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson that there’s a chance we see former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance in some packages. This week, NFL Media reported Prescott’s initial diagnosis was a partial avulsion of his hamstring tendon, meaning the hamstring was partially torn off the bone. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, (H/T The Athletic), that Prescott would be placed on injured reserve, but didn’t know if the QB would be sidelined four weeks, six weeks or the entire season. 50% of Cowboys’ cap space, $127 million, won’t see field vs Eagles in Week 10, K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire Money (not) well spent. There’ll be a lot of money on the sidelines when the Cowboys play tomorrow. The Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones have not come close to capitalizing on their investment in 2024. After spending the entire offseason telling fans that they had to protect the books, the financials are kicking their tails on the way to a lost season. Thanks to a myriad of offseason decisions and untimely injuries, the Cowboys are going to take the field Sunday with barely 50% of their cap space in use against the Philadelphia Eagles. How much? $105.7 million worth; over 41% of 2024’s salary cap of $255.4 million.. When combined with their $21 million in available space, that brings the total to $126.7 million of space that won’t be on the field in Week 10. Led by Dak Prescott’s $40 million and DeMarcus Lawrence’s $20 million cap hits, Dallas has over 20 entries in their ledger of players who will not be able to contribute to the team against the Eagles Cowboys veterans that could be benched as 2024 season falters – Mark Heaney, Inside the Star With the Cowboys season on the rocks, is time running out for Elliott? Last week, Ezekiel Elliott was suspended for a game by the team for “disciplinary” reasons. As it turns out, he had missed three team meetings through the season, and his absence on Fridays before the Falcons game was the “last straw.” I saw quite a few Cowboys fans, including myself, asking the same question: why is he still on the roster? At this point, there shouldn’t be any reason that Elliott gets snaps over them, and if he isn’t being helpful in the locker room as a veteran presence, he doesn’t need to be on the roster. I was a fan of the signing this offseason, but it’s clear that this reunion is just not turning out well. It’s time to move on and start remembering the good times with Zeke. Cowboys Point/Counterpoint: To tank or not to tank, David Howman & Tom Ryle, Blogging the Boys Should the team lose if they ultimately want to win? Tom: Count me in on team tank. Barring a near superhuman performance from Rush, and a lot better play from just about everyone else still healthy enough to take the field, this is as you said a lost cause. I’d even say to just name Trey Lance the starter now. The team needs to see what they have in him, because Prescott just cannot seem to stay healthy. They need to come up with a plan for the future at quarterback, and putting Lance out there to both evaluate and develop would let them know where they stand. The biggest problem with that is getting Mike McCarthy to go along. That is highly questionable unless he has given up on keeping his job. We all know he is gone, but that doesn’t mean he is ready to give up the fight. It would take a direct order from Jerry Jones. That to me is not

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Do you think the Cowboys should try and compete this season or focus on 2025 at this point? The Cowboys were already approaching the point of no return for the 2024 season but now that Dak Prescott is likely to miss a large block of time, the season is effectively over. Jerry Jones insists that Prescott may still return this year, but the team will place him on the injured reserve at some point. When he could return is an unknown. What we know for certain is that Cooper Rush will start this week against the Eagles, who are favored to win by seven points. Only the Chiefs, who host the Broncos, have as large of a point spread this week. Odds seem good that the Cowboys fall to 3-6 before hosting the Texans and, after that, the division-leading Commanders. This prompts a very good question: why not just tank? Prescott will miss at least these next four games, and what’s the point in bringing him back if the team is sitting at 3-9? The front office’s explanation of trading for Jonathan Mingo already hints at this mindset, but should the team fully embrace the tank? And, if so, how should they do it? Our own Tom Ryle and David Howman discuss. Tom: Count me in on team tank. Barring a near superhuman performance from Rush, and a lot better play from just about everyone else still healthy enough to take the field, this is as you said a lost cause. I’d even say to just name Trey Lance the starter now. The team needs to see what they have in him, because Prescott just cannot seem to stay healthy. They need to come up with a plan for the future at quarterback, and putting Lance out there to both evaluate and develop would let them know where they stand. The biggest problem with that is getting Mike McCarthy to go along. That is highly questionable unless he has given up on keeping his job. We all know he is gone, but that doesn’t mean he is ready to give up the fight. It would take a direct order from Jerry Jones. That to me is not nearly as unlikely as McCarthy willingly going in the tank. David: I agree that McCarthy is never going to willingly accept the role of Tank Commander. Even if Jerry directly instructed him to do so, I believe he’d resign before doing that. That said, they don’t need McCarthy to be in on it. The Cowboys are already doing a good enough job of tanking as is, and keeping Rush under center helps that the most. This defense is going to get better with Micah Parsons coming back, but he’s not going to fix the run defense or keep Trevon Diggs from forgetting how to play man coverage. And the offense already struggled to score in the red zone, and I don’t think Rush fixes that. Trey Lance probably doesn’t either, but he’s got the athletic upside to where you might get lucky one of these days and get a supernova performance from him. With Rush, we know what we’re getting, and that’s a team that’s good enough to back up the claim that we’re still trying while still ensuring a top 10 draft pick. Tom: Why just go for a top 10? With Lance, the odds of being top 5 or maybe better increase. Whether Jerry wants to admit it or not, next year is going to be a rebuild. With him at the helm of personnel decisions, it is an open question whether they can successfully do that, but at least they can improve their draft capital. Lance is still raw. He needs to be on the field to find out if there is anything there to develop. Is he the future QB2, could he one day become a starter, or is he just another player that will have to be jettisoned? The only way to try and find out is to get him snaps. I think that at one point they will start him, but I don’t want to see them wait until the last game or two of the season. At some point the Cowboys are going to be eliminated from playoff contention based on the way things are going. With the Eagles, Texans, and Commanders coming up, that is probably going to be soon. I worry that they will still think they have something to play for when the Giants roll around, but that is a great situation to try Lance if they haven’t bowed to the inevitable before then. If he is totally incompetent, they can still go back to Rush, but if Lance shows any promise at all, use him and see what you have. David: We already got to see Lance in the preseason, and it wasn’t all that pretty. I don’t really need to see more of him. He’s extremely raw, and the areas that need the most improvement – footwork, pocket discipline, to name a few – aren’t things that get solved with more playing time, and especially not behind this offensive line. With Lance’s contract up at the end of the year, the only thing you gain from playing him (when it comes to long term planning, that is) is convincing some other team to pay him in free agency. Besides, Prescott is under contract through 2028. The Cowboys aren’t in need of a plan for the future under center, and especially not in regards to Lance. Suppose they were to keep Lance around next year. Barring some disastrous outcome for Prescott, Lance isn’t seeing the field until he’s 29 years old. That’s not exactly a solid succession plan. Prescott is the quarterback of this team, so I’m not moved by any argument about planning for the future. Rush is a solid backup but he’s definitely limited in what he can do, and this supporting cast isn’t

Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The Eagles are likely going to have their way with the Cowboys. Eagles Film Room: Concept of the Week – QB Counter Bash – Jonny Page, BleedingGreenNation.com One play in particular works really well for Philadelphia. Teams with a mobile quarterback often run counter read rather than standard counter. Counter read is a counter in which the quarterback reads the EDGE defender and keeps it himself if the EDGE crashes down on the running back. There’s almost no point running standard counter if you have a mobile quarterback. It will almost always be counter read. Counter ‘bash’ is still counter read, but with a twist. Counter bash is where the quarterback and running back roles are reversed, with the quarterback following the pulling linemen instead. The word ‘bash’ means ‘back away’ because the running back runs away from the pulling lineman. It’s such a difficult play to stop because many linebackers are watching the running back and suddenly have to change direction completely. The Eagles used this a lot down the stretch last year, and it is no surprise that it is a fantastic play to run with a mobile quarterback. It really is a thing of beauty. The Eagles ran the same play later on, but this time, Jalen Hurts handed the ball off to Saquon Barkley. You can see why it is such a difficult concept for a defense to stop. Defensive players are often told to key on the pulling guards, so when the ball is handed off to the running back, it can catch them out. You need really good awareness as a linebacker to handle this play. You have to watch the back, the quarterback, and the pulling lineman. That’s tough. Eagles’ Nick Sirianni says Jalen Hurts dealing with ankle issue despite rest designation this week – Jeff Kerr, CBS Sports Hurts may have had a day off, but he’s also a bit banged up. Nick Sirianni was asked about the injury status of Jalen Hurts prior to Friday’s Philadelphia Eagles practice. Simple question, simple answer right? Instead, something else was revealed. Sirianni said during Friday’s press conference Hurts was dealing with an ankle issue. Hurts was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice and was given the rest designation. The Eagles quarterback practiced in full on Thursday. “It was on the injury report dealing with the ankle,” Sirianni said. “Just making sure we’re precautious with everything.” The Eagles’ final injury report will be revealed later on Friday, and Hurts is expected to play on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. During that Wednesday practice, Hurts was out there in a helmet — but wasn’t throwing during the portion of practice open to reporters. Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee took part in the individual drills as Hurts watched. This is unlike the routine Hurts typically goes through to prepare for a game. “I just do what I’m told,” Hurts said. “I’m just locking in, and doing what I’m asked to do when I’m asked to do it. It was a really good session when you guys were not out there.” Sirianni was informed immediately after his comments the Wednesday injury report listed “rest.” He then pulled a 180 on what he said. “It was a rest,” Sirianni said. “Sorry, I thought you were talking about something else.” Hurts did deal with a knee injury last season, but was never listed on the injury report with the issue as he continually practicing. There was no need to put Hurts on the injury report if he participated fully every week. This time, Hurts had to be listed because we was not participating in a portion of practice. As Hurts said, he’s just doing what he’s told. Eagles Star Could Cut Ties With Philly With ‘Plenty Of Interest’ Expected – Patrick McAvoy, Sports Illustrated It may be hard to keep a forthcoming Philadelphia free agent in town. There’s a lot to like about this Eagles team, and they currently are one of the hottest teams in football, with four straight wins heading into the clash against the Cowboys. Over the next few months, the team will be discussed heavily as the playoffs approach. Now that we are in the second half of the season, free agency after the campaign will start to get brought up as well. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox already put together a list of the top 50 players expected to hit free agency and had Eagles star Josh Sweat at No. 38. Knox also noted that Sweat will have “plenty of interest” on the open market which could make a return difficult. “Josh Sweat has been one of the few consistent pass-rushers for the Philadelphia Eagles this season, though his statistical production peaked back in 2022,” Knox said. “He had 11 sacks that season and only produced 6.5 in 2023. “However, sacks don’t tell the whole story, as Sweat also had 37 quarterback pressures last year. At only 27 years old, he should command plenty of interest on the open market.” Losing Sweat would be tough, but it’s still too early to be thinking about free agency. Here are the final injury reports for both the Cowboys and Eagles. Trevon Diggs (illness), Micah Parsons (ankle), Eric Kendricks (shoulder), Tyler Guyton (neck/shoulder) and Nick Vigil (foot) all listed as QUESTIONABLE against the Eagles.#DallasCowboys pic.twitter.com/VbI2bk3O66 — Nick Harris (@NickHarrisFWST) November 8, 2024