At watered-down strength the Cowboys are 5 point underdogs to the Eagles this Sunday according to the Bovada book in Vegas. The Over/Under is 43 points. But the Odds Shark computer crunched out a predicted 27-19 win for Dallas.
None of that matters much unless you’re betting on the game. I’m more interested in the feeling we fans have about the Eagles coming out of this final afternoon of a mixed-results season. As long as I see our guys flying around the field and making plays, I’ll be satisfied this team is headed in the right direction and that better things are yet to come in the New Year.
That’s the thing about a so-called meaningless game—you can glean from the energy on the field whether guys still believe in the system and whether they’re playing hard for their coaches. The last thing you want to see is players checking out of difficult pursuits or tackles, or entire position groups ignoring their unit coaches on the sidelines.
WR Jordan Matthews is questionable with an ankle injury for Sunday’s season finale against the Cowboys, per head coach Doug Pederson. They may decide to shelve Matthews to protect his ankle from further damage, but it’s a gameday decision.
Left guard Allen Barbre is doubtful with a hamstring injury. If Barbre is inactive, Stefen Wisniewski will start at left guard. Rookie Isaac Seumalo is questionable with an ankle injury, but Pederson said that the Eagles want to get him some reps at guard. Tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai is also questionable, but is set to be active for the first time since suffering the knee injury back in Week 11 at Seattle.
Linebacker Jordan Hicks is also questionable with an ankle injury, but practiced all week. Fellow linebacker Mychal Kendricks was added to the injury report on Friday as questionable with a quad injury.
The Eagles promoted RB Terrell Watson from the practice squad on Friday. The 6-1, 240-pound Watson (free agent, Azuza Pacific) originally joined the practice squad on December 20, giving him just a little over a week to learn the Eagles’ offense.
The Cowboys announced that seven players are out for Sunday’s game due to injury: cornerback Morris Claiborne (groin), defensive end Tyrone Crawford (shoulder/hamstring), linebacker Justin Durant (elbow), defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (back), defensive tackle Terrell McLain (ankle), tackle Tyron Smith (knee) and defensive tackle Cedric Thornton (ankle).
Dallas added running back Darren McFadden to the injury report with an illness. He did not practice on Friday and is questionable for the game. If the Cowboys rest Ezekiel Elliott, McFadden is expected to receive a majority of the reps in the backfield.
Team stat comparisons probably go out the window in this one, since the Cowboys will be substituting deep into their depth chart as the game goes on. However, just for giggles, here are the team stats going into the game—interesting to note that the biggest difference between a 13-2 team and a 6-9 team appears to be as slim as 1 TD per game—i.e., Dallas scored 4 more points and gave up 3 less on average than did the Eagles:
So our 2016 journey ends and here’s to a healthy and prosperous New Year for all, especially the loyal fans who have made their comments and ideas here a big part of my life.
As Tommy Lawlor reminds us, the Eagles “only have to look across the field on Sunday to see how quickly things can change in the NFL.”
He’s right—Dallas won a total of 4 games last year. They battled but couldn’t win a close game to save their lives in 2015. That fact in and of itself should inspire the current core group of Eagles players and management to stay the course. I think we’re just a few key pieces away from where we want to be. What better way to break in the New Year than for our guys to play on Sunday like they believe it, too.
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