NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
Here we go. The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 6 and this is easily the Game of the Week for the NFL. The Eagles come in at 5-0 and the Cowboys will enter at 4-1. While this may be for the right to be ranked as one of the top teams in the NFL, this is also for bragging rights in the surprisingly tough NFC East. It’s being billed as offense vs defense.
The Eagles come in averaging 419 yards per game on the offensive end while the Cowboys are giving up 311 yards per game. But what’s not being mentioned here is that the Eagles, well, at least on paper are giving up fewer yards on defense (294 per game) than the supposedly defensive-minded Cowboys. All in all, this will turn out to be a great game for tops in the NFC.
Attack The Heart Of The Cowboys Defense
The Eagles have the 2nd ranked offense in the NFL as far as yardage goes. Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, AJ Brown, Miles Sanders, and Dallas Goedert can get up and down the field with the best of them. Now, it’s time to start putting it in the endzone. Sanders is having a great year with 414 yards rushing despite only 87 rushing attempts through 5 games. The name of the game this week is run the ball. Dallas can get at the QB and for a defense ranked 19th in stopping the run, the Eagles are just the team to crumble that stifling defense.
Despite the close game against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, the Philadelphia Eagles are still moving the ball. Hurts is making the right throws when need to. Last week, they ran the WR Screen more, and while it wasn’t as successful as they would hope, it did keep the defense honest. This week against the Boys, they will need to be relentless. Use Sanders and Kenneth Gainwell to set up that RPO to keep Diggs on his heels in the secondary.
Show Why Your Defense Is Better
Don’t get all the talk confused. The Philadelphia Eagles’ defense is just as good as the Cowboys’ defense. The Eagles can also get after the QB as they rank 5th in the NFL in sacks with 17. As far as yardage per game goes, the Eagles actually rank higher than the Cowboys in that department. With Darius Slay and James Bradberry in the secondary, the Eagles are giving up the 5th fewest yards through the air. As for the run, the Eagles also know how to stuff the run where they rank 10th in that category. With Cooper Rush, the Eagles may blitz all afternoon and force Rush and the backfield to beat them.
Are the Cowboys better without Dak Prescott? No. Despite what Rush has done so far, the Dallas Cowboys still need their leader. What has helped the Boys had been the steady running of Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott. While Elliott is no longer the back he was a few years ago, he gets his yardage in a bruising way. The passing game is still deadly with Cee Cee Lamb and Noah Brown now stepping up. But the Eagles’ secondary is not one to take for granted. All week long, the talk has been about the Cowboys’ great defense. But everyone outside of Philly is overlooking what the Eagles have done on that side of the ball.
Philadelphia Eagles Must Forget The Records
Despite their success early on, the Eagles must come into this game with a mind-frame that both teams are 0-0. Heading into the Bye Week 6-0 would be nice but if they look past the opponent in front of them, they will exit that game with their first loss of the season. The Cowboys haven’t won anything either. At 4-1, their job is to finish the game 5-1. It’s up to Nick Sirianni to have his team focused on the task at hand.
Whoever wins this game will more than likely be picked as the favorites to come out of the NFC no matter how many games are left on the schedule. What’s also important for the Philadelphia Eagles is to remember that they have one more date to tassel with the Cowboys. Yes, this is a big game but not big enough that they just place the success of their entire season on it. If they lose, they’re 5-1. It’s not the end of the world. The goal is to ignore the outside world and continue on their path.
