Oh hey, it's Dallas week. The 8-2 Philadelphia Eagles will face the Cowboys in a rematch of Week 1, when the Birds escaped with an opening night win. Here are our five things to watch.
1) Surprise, the Cowboys can run it
The Cowboys were the 27th-ranked rushing offense in 2024, with 100.3 rushing yards per game. During the offseason, they added two running backs who both carried for fewer than 4.0 yards per carry the previous year with their former teams in Javonte Williams (3.7 YPC with Denver) and Miles Sanders (3.6 YPC with Carolina). They also selected OG Tyler Booker in the first round of the draft and inserted him in as the starting RG.
That hardly felt like a reasonable fix, but the Cowboys have been surprisingly good running the football this season, and Williams ranks fifth in rushing yards, league-wide.
RB Rush Yards YPC TD
Jonathan Taylor, IND 189 1139 6.0 15
James Cook, BUF 182 968 5.3 7
De'Von Achane, MIA 164 900 5.5 5
Rico Dowdle, CAR 168 833 5.0 5
Javonte Williams, DAL 161 809 5.0 8
He ran hard against the Eagles Week 1, and got into the end zone twice. On Sunday, the Eagles will have to tackle better than this:
After their bad Week 6 loss to the Giants during which the defensive line got bullied, the Eagles have since done a great job shutting down opposing rushing attacks, holding each of their opponents to under 4 yards per carry. (We've gotten some mileage out of the following chart this week, but it applies here, so, you know, here it is again 🤷♂️):
Opponent Rushes Yards YPC
Vikings 23 89 3.9
Giants 21 68 3.2
Packers 27 104 3.9
Lions 21 74 3.5
TOTAL 92 335 3.6
The Packers have one of the best running backs in the NFL in Josh Jacobs, and the Lions have arguably the best RB tandem in the NFL in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. The Eagles have shut down very good rushing attacks.
In a way, that has been their identity on defense lately.
Stop the run.
Get the opposing offense into long downs/distances.
Attack the quarterback, and get off the field on 3rd and longs.
The Cowboys' ground game will be another good challenge for the Eagles.
2) They can throw it, too (duh)
The Cowboys have the No. 1 passing offense in the NFL, with an average of 258.7 passing yards per game. Their big three in the passing game are CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and TE Jake Ferguson. Lamb is actually having a bit of a down year, as he has missed three games with a high ankle sprain, while Pickens leads the team in receiving by a wide margin. He has had an outstanding season:
Cowboys WR Rec Yards YPC TD
George Pickens 58 908 15.7 7
CeeDee Lamb 40 557 13.9 2
Jake Ferguson 60 400 6.7 7
Pickens ranks second in the NFL in receiving yards:
Receiving Rec Yards YPC TD
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, SEA 72 1146 15.9 5
George Pickens, DAL 58 908 15.7 7
Ja'Marr Chase, CIN 79 861 10.9 5
Puka Nacua, LAR 73 850 11.6 4
Drake London, ATL 60 810 13.5 6
Pickens has made his share of highlight reel catches over the course of his career. He is a slippery route runner and a ball of energy after the catch. Fun player.
Dak Prescott has gotten some MVP buzz this season, which, frankly, is ridiculous. But he has had a good season. He's completing a hair under 70 percent of his passes, and has thrown for 21 TDs vs. 6 INTs, all while being forced to play in shootouts most weeks because the Cowboys' defense has mostly been terrible.
At this stage of his career, Prescott isn't much of a threat to run, but he is capable of dicing up defenses from the pocket when he gets into a rhythm.
"They're one of the best offenses in the league," Vic Fangio said. "They're like [No. 2] in yards, [No. 2] in points, first in passing, yet 12th in rushing, which they’ve got balance. They're really a good offense. With those dynamic receivers, the tight end, Javonte at running back. Prescott makes it go; he's having a hell of a year."
Of course, the Eagles' pass defense has been very good of late, too, as Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean are having All-Pro types of seasons, the safeties have been improved in the last month or so, and the presence of Nakobe Dean and his instincts have brought the back end of the defense to a new level.
The pass rush has also picked up, which brings us to...
3) Where might the Eagles go #Feastin'™️?🍗
The Cowboys' offensive line looks like this:
LT LG C RG RT
Tyler Guyton Tyler Smith Cooper Beebe Tyler Booker Terence Steele
Beebe missed six games this season, but he is back and the Cowboys' O-line is healthy.
Smith is the Cowboys' best offensive lineman, by far, having been to each of the last two Pro Bowls, and Booker has proven to be a good run blocker in his rookie season. Beebe is fine at center. Competent, but unspectacular. Overall, the Cowboys have a good interior line.
The tackle spots are the concern. Guyton is a below average starter, however, he has made major strides in his second season after a nightmare rookie season in 2024. Steele is a good run blocker, but he struggles with speed. Josh Uche had a bunch of good rushes against him Week 1 (video via @JakeRabadi):
The Cowboys got a huge break Week 1 when Jalen Carter was kicked out of the game for spitting on Prescott. The Cowboys will have to deal with him in Week 12. Since that game, the Eagles added Jaelan Phillips, who has had a great start to his Eagles career, and Jalyx Hunt is playing a lot better now than he was early this season.
#FeastinMeter™️: 6/10 turkey legs: 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗
4) The Cowboys' defense looks a little different from the last time they met
The Cowboys are ranked 30th in pass defense, and 24th in run defense. They have been objectively awful for the better part of the season. However, they are playing better of late, as they have had a recent influx of talent.
• They made an asinine trade for Quinnen Williams, sending first- and second-round picks to the Jets for the big man at the trade deadline. Dumb trade, but Williams certainly makes the team immediately better. He's a very good run defender, and he has 1.5 sacks against the Raiders Week 11.
• DeMarvion Overshown was having a fantastic season in 2024, as he had 90 tackles, 5 sacks, an INT, a forced fumble, and 4 pass breakups in 13 games before shredding his knee. He's back.
• The Cowboys added LB Logan Wilson from Cincinnati at the trade deadline.
• The Cowboys were without both starting safeties — Malik Hooker (5 games) and Donovan Wilson (2 games) — but they're both back.
• Rookie edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku has become a factor.
• Trevon Diggs is out. The Cowboys are rolling with a young group of corners in the playmaking DaRon Bland, second-year pro Caelen Carson, and rookie Shavon Revel, who made his debut against the Raiders Week 11.
• They signed Jadeveon Clowney, who obviously has a history with the Eagles, as he helped end the good portion of Carson Wentz's career when he speared him in the head in a playoff game during the 2019 season.
Do the Cowboys have a good defense? No. But it's also not really the same defense that couldn't stop a nosebleed earlier this season.
5) Can the Eagles' offense at least be watchable?
Before the bye week, it felt a little like the offense was starting to emerge, as Jalen Hurts had a monster performance against the Vikings, followed by Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby having huge days on the ground against the Giants.
But coming out of the bye, the offense has been really tough to watch. Whether it's give-up runs to Will Shipley on 3rd and long, playing 10 on 11 with Grant Calcaterra on the field as a run blocker, extremely basic route concepts that a Pop Warner coach should be ashamed of; or just a general malaise exhibited by A.J. Brown, the offense has no juice whatsoever, to put it mildly.
Like, forget the matchups at this point. Can we just see something from this offense that won't bore us to tears?
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