Game Preview – DAL at PHI

The Cowboys and Eagles might be the best rivalry in the NFL. Some might argue for Steelers and Ravens, but they play some ugly games. When Dallas and Philly meet, there will be some wild things happening. Sunday should be an entertaining big game, not a 13-10 slugfest.

Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott each went 1-0 in this rivalry last year, because they each missed a game. They are both healthy now. It should be fun to watch them battle it out. Due to injuries and meaningless games, they have only faced each other once (2021).

The Eagles are 7-1. The Cowboys are 5-2. The Eagles have been more consistent. Dallas has shown more dominant potential. They have won four games by 20 or more points. They won two of those by 35 or more. That’s dominance. The Eagles biggest win is 14 points. When Dallas rolls, they really roll. They love to be bullies. If you challenge them, they don’t always handle that well.

Let’s start with the Eagles offense. They average 28 points a game this year, but this will be the best defense they’ve faced. Brian Johnson will have to come up with a really good gameplan and the players will need to execute at a high level. You aren’t going to make plays on Dallas based purely on talent. The key will be neutralizing their pass rush as much as possible.

Micah Parsons might be the best defensive player in the NFL. You don’t shut him down with one guy. It will take good blocking from the OL, the TEs and the RBs. The Eagles have also had success in slowing him down schematically. They like to attack him with runs and plays that require him to read. Make him think rather than just attack. We’ll see if Brian  Johnson can come up with plays that affect Parsons.

As for the OL, there could be a change at RG. Cam Jurgens isn’t healthy yet and Sua Opeta is banged up. We could see rookie Tyler Steen get his first NFL start. He played a few snaps last week and looked solid.

Eagles RG Tyler Steen's 6 snaps vs. the Commanders pic.twitter.com/9Mlw5GeSui

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) November 3, 2023

The Eagles have been incredibly sloppy this year at protecting the ball. That has to change against Dallas. The Cowboys thrive on turnovers. They really want to get offenses into 3rd & long situations where they can go with a bunch of pass rushers and some exotic looks. They love to run stunts. Those can be deadly in passing situations.

If they run the stunt on a run down, you can burn that defense. People aren’t in the right gap and that can make them vulnerable. This would be a great week for D’Andre Swift to have a big game. Boston Scott is out (personal matter) so Rashaad Penny should be active. Maybe he’ll finally get a chance to show what he can do.

Can AJ Brown keep his historic streak going? He’s got six straight games with 125 or more yards. Dallas doesn’t have a shutdown corner, but I’m sure they’ll do what they can to slow him down.

As long as the Eagles protect the ball, they should be able to move it and score some points. Dallas is vulnerable when they face a balanced offense. Arizona beat them by being creative and balanced. SF beat them by being physical and balanced.

The bigger question to me is whether the Eagles have an answer for Dak Prescott. He’s owned the Eagles for most of his career. A lot of that is because Dallas had a good run game and could also throw the ball well. They had the x-factor of Dak being able to run when things broke down. That’s a lot to stop. The Cowboys run game is mediocre this year. That puts more pressure on Dak. That could help the Eagles to slow him down.

Sean Desai had a terrific gameplan for Miami, but it only worked because the players executed it so well. I didn’t love his plan last week, but the execution was the biggest problem. Blown coverages. Missed tackles. Erratic pass rush. You aren’t going to stop anyone if you don’t execute. We’ll see if Desai can get his guys to play with more urgency on Sunday. This will be a big test for them.

Dallas doesn’t have a great OL so the pass rush should have chances to make plays. That only happens if the back seven can cover well enough. It will be interesting to see what Desai does at the nickel. That was a weak spot in the loss to Dallas last year. I’m sure they will also try to get the ball to their TEs, another area where the Eagles can struggle.

This is interesting.

We've elevated LB Ben VanSumeren from the Practice Squad for tomorrow's game. pic.twitter.com/GsNLLt6iEW

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 4, 2023

Could he be a secret weapon on defense?

No. More like an athlete to add to STs. Grant Calcaterra is out so Ben could take his place on STs. They play different positions, but have similar size and both are good athletes.

If the Eagles play smart and execute well, they will win this game. If they have a slopfest like last week in Washington, they will make Yankees/Lakers/Cowboys fans happy people. The Eagles are the better team, but their sloppiness has kept games closer than they should have been. Dallas feasts on mistakes. You could look at it this way…the Eagles are due to play a complete game. If they do that, Sunday will be a lot of fun.

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