NFL
By: Greg Rector
Philadelphia Eagles (13-1) at Dallas Cowboys (10-4)
4:00 PM Saturday AT&T Stadium FOX
Dallas Cowboys fans are not a happy bunch after seeing the Cowboys choke away a 17-point lead to end up losing in overtime to Jacksonville Jaguars 40 to 34. The Philadelphia Eagles meanwhile played in a rather ugly game coming out on top of the Chicago Bears 25-20. The NFC East division is no longer on the table for this rematch. Let’s look at this game. Let’s hope the deep freeze coming to Texas doesn’t affect this game either.
Eagles Offense vs Cowboys Defense
The news broke Monday afternoon and it certainly could impact this game in a big way. The Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts sprained his right shoulder and is doubtful to play on Saturday. So now it’s the Eagles who will go into a game against the division-rival Cowboys with their backup Gardner Minshew. Minshew is nowhere near the running threat that Hurts is and that could help the Cowboys’ defense key in on containing Miles Sanders and limiting the Eagles’ ground game. Not all great news though since that would mean the depleted Cowboys’ secondary will be tested more often. After giving up 503 yards of offense to the Jaguars, the Cowboys defense will need to be ready for a different game plan. AJ Brown and Davanta Smith and a returning Dallas Goedert at tight end will be a challenge. The Dallas pass rush will need to get after Minshew and not allow him much time. That won’t be easy considering the Eagles’ offensive line is no slouches at protecting their quarterback. Just as the Eagles were able to put a lot of pressure on Cooper Rush and force him into mistakes in the first meeting, that has to be the goal for the Cowboys on Saturday. The Cowboys’ secondary, namely Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright had a terrible time against Jacksonville. facing Smith and Brown they both need to step up and prove they can be counted on. I doubted both picks two years ago and from what we’ve seen from the pair my fears have been realized for both. The defensive line simply has to find ways to get at Minshew. If he has the time in the pocket you can bet the young corners will be targeted often. Micah Parsons instead of talking about system quarterbacks better figure out a way to cause havoc and not get caught up by the eagles blocking schemes the way he was in the first game.
Cowboys Offense vs Eagles Defense
Okay, to all the Dak Prescott haters out there. watch the Jaguars game again. On the first interception, his arm was hit and which caused the poorly thrown pass. On the overtime-deciding play, that pass simply has to be caught by the receiver (Noah Brown). The miscommunication with receivers and the quarterback and deflected passes have to come to an end. Now for this game, it will need to be a turnover-free effort. That’s why the Eagles won the first game. The three interceptions gave the Eagles short fields and they made the Cowboys pay. The running game had over 130 yards the first time out and if there is one thing opponents have been able to do it’s get rushing yards against this Eagles’ defense. If there’s been one team in the NFC East that Ezekiel Elliott has always had good games against it’s the Eagles. In 11 games Elliott averages 96 yards a game against Philadelphia. The Cowboys can do themselves a big favor by keeping the ball on the ground as much as possible and controlling the clock. Michael Gallup was a non-factor against Jacksonville and that cannot be repeated. There’s a possibility that recently signed TY Hilton makes his Cowboys debut and that could help Prescott as well. Hopefully, Tyron Smith sees an increased workload in his second game back. He and Jason Peters actually did quite well in the first half against the Jaguars as the pair of veteran left tackles were forced into playing right tackle with Terence Steele’s injury. It was in pass protection that the line was less than stellar and that has to be better against Philadelphia.
Prediction
This game could now be a lot closer than I thought it would be given the absence of Hurts. My question still remains though can the Cowboys stop the mistakes? Can they come out and play a complete game? This is where I get into trouble with some of the more fanatical Cowboys fanbase, just as when the Eagles won their Super Bowl, they play a full 60-minute game, something the Cowboys do not always do. that’s why I respect the Eagles. When mistakes happen the Eagles scratch and claw to find a way, the Cowboys don’t far too often. Dallas simply has to show the Philadelphia Eagles that they are a team to be reckoned with. There is a real likelihood that if Dallas can beat Tampa bay in the wild-card round, then it means a third game against the Eagles back at Lincoln Field. I still have to see the Cowboys prove it so for this game I have the Eagles winning 24 to 20.
Have a great holiday folks.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
