The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles face off at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Both teams are 7-7; Philadelphia is 4-3 at home, while Dallas is 3-4 on the road. Philadelphia enters this marquee matchup having won two consecutive games, while Dallas crushed the Rams last week after losing three in a row. In their first meeting this season, the Cowboys dominated the Eagles, winning 37-10. Dallas is favored by 1.5-points in the latest Eagles vs. Cowboys odds, while the over-under is set at 46.
Les Bowen of the Inquirer is one of many who think the Eagles’ defense will be severely challenged in this one, even though Dak Prescott is nursing a sore throwing shoulder.
“After 14 games, you know who you are. The Eagles secondary is mediocre at best. You can talk about the importance of being able to refocus quickly after a bad play, but when the Eagles’ secondary lines up Sunday opposite Amari Cooper (71 catches, 1,073 yards, 8 touchdowns), Jason Witten (57 catches, 491 yards, 4 TDs), Michael Gallup (56 catches, 911 yards, 3 TDs) and Randall Cobb (45 catches, 674 yards, 3 TDs), it will be in survival mode.”
“It might not look pretty, but as long as you get the job done, that’s all that really matters, at the end of the day,” nickel corner Avonte Maddox said during the week. Maddox suddenly cropped up as “questionable” Friday on the final injury report, with a knee issue.
Late stops by the Eagles mitigated sloppy secondary play through a long stretch of the Redskins game. Maddox’s missed tackle turned a 15-yard Terry McLaurin gain into a 75-yard touchdown. Bowen is concerned like many of us that “sloppy early, better later” won’t hold up against the more opportunistic offense of the Cowboys.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz talked this week about the defense needing to complement the offense. The Eagles, digging deep into their practice squad for weapons, have a grind-it-out offense that often needs 10 plays or more to score. Schwartz’s defense has given up scoring passes of 75, 35, 55, and 43 yards the past three weeks.
The Eagles haven’t made much of Prescott’s injury, for a couple of reasons. One is, you prepare for him being at his best. If he isn’t, you don’t need to make some radical, complicated adjustment, you just move the safeties down and focus more on Ezekiel Elliott (270 carries, 1,188 yards, 11 TDs.) The Eagles are planning on focusing on Elliott anyway, because he has had more to do with beating them the past three seasons than Prescott.
“Stopping the run,” safety Rodney McLeod said, when asked what he felt the defense needed to do differently this time, in the wake of the 37-10 loss to Dallas on Oct. 20. “That was a problem for us. That’s something they do very well. They’ve been very effective the last few weeks, particularly in this last game, both Ezekiel and the rookie [Tony Pollard]. It’s going to be imperative that we’re good stopping the run, making them one-dimensional, and then getting them behind the sticks early on first, second down. That’s going to be key.”
That plan is easier said than done. One thing that stands out on tape is how effectively the Cowboys block downfield on run plays. It’s stunningly well-executed at times, and their big agile guys are difficult to shed. RG Zack Martin may be playing on one healthy ankle, but he seems to have his best games going up against DT Fletcher Cox.
Current injury status is not in our favor, either.
Right tackle Lane Johnson has been ruled out for Sunday’s game with a high-ankle sprain, and the Eagles have four starters questionable leading into the showdown for first place in the NFC East. Linebacker and special teams ace Kamu Grugier-Hill is now out for the season with a lower back (compressed verterbra) injury.
Defensive end Derek Barnett, receiver Nelson Agholor, running back Jordan Howard, and cornerback Avonte Maddox head into the weekend with uncertainty surrounding their availability. Agholor, dealing with a knee injury suffered earlier this season, didn’t participate in Friday’s practice. The rest of the players were limited participants.
With Johnson sidelined, the Eagles will call on Halapoulivaati Vaitai to try to contain Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. The edge rusher is coming off two consecutive seasons with double-digit sack totals, but has just five this year. One came against Johnson in Week 7, the first time he’s recorded a sack against Johnson.
Don’t just key on Lawrence, though. Keep an EYE on RDE Robert Quinn, who has been racking up 9.5 sacks so far this season, and will give LT Jason Peters a very tough matchup.
It’s difficult to predict the outcome in this game just based on raw talent. Both teams are banged up and missing key players. Dallas is without their best playmaking linebacker in Leighton Vander Esch (neck). They’re also likely without LB Joe Thomas (knee) and CB C.J. Goodwin (thumb). It probably boils down to which team has the better success at controlling the line of scrimmage. At some point the intangibles kick in, you know, the will to find that extra dose of fight when guys are fatigued and inevitable setbacks in game plan occur. You’d also like to say the coaching staff which makes the better adjustments as the game unfolds would be a clear indicator of the result on the scoreboard. But no matter what, both teams are expected to leave it all out there on the field for this one— a loss would be the final stamp of disapproval upon their respective 2019 season.
I’ve got the Eagles finding a way in a 24-21 overtime win. After all, ’tis the season.
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