The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles will line up against each
other for the first time this season Sunday night at AT&T stadium. The
Eagles come into this game flying high having won seven straight games.
The Cowboys are coming off a disappointing loss in Atlanta.
At 5-4 the Cowboys face a must win for the Cowboys to have any hope of
clawing back in the division race to catch the 8-1 Eagles.
The Cowboys will of course be without Ezekiel Elliott who is serving the
second game of his six game suspension. Earlier this week, Elliott and his
team decided it would be in his best interest, as well as his team’s best
interest to drop the appeal.
THE INJURY REPORT
Dallas Cowboys Philadelphia Eagles
Tyron Smith Questionable Alshon Jeffrey Questionable
Sean Lee OUT Tre Sullivan OUT
Dan Bailey OUT Harold JonesQuartey Questionable
Jeff Heath OUT Zach Ertz Expected to play
Mailiek Collins Questionable Ronald Darby Expected to play
Geoff Swaim Questionable Jaylon Watkins Expected to play
Chidobe Awuzie Expected to Play
Dez Bryant Expected to Play
2016 MEETINGS
Week 8 – Cowboys 29-23
The Dallas Cowboys had to fight and claw to get this matchup to
overtime. Dak Prescott didn’t have his best game and the Cowboys found
themselves trailing the majority of the game. Dak finished the game19-39 with two touchdowns, including the game winner to Jason Witten in
overtime.
Week 17 – Eagles 27-13
Coming into this game, the Cowboys had homefield advantage locked up
so the starters for the Cowboys didn’t see much action, if they played at
all. This game was the last game we saw Tony Romo throw a touchdown.
Romo came in and completed 3 passes on four attempts and a touchdown
to Terrance Williams.
DAK OR WENTZ – A LOOK INSIDE THE NUMBERS
A lot of the talk this week has been about the two second year
quarterbacks. Both guys are having unbelievable success and have alluded
the infamous “sophomore slump.” These two obviously do a lot of things
well and this will be a comparison we hear about for the next 10-15
years.
Jon Machota from the Dallas Morning News took a look inside the numbers
earlier this week. Through 25 games, this is how it looks.
| Dak Prescott | Carson Wentz | |
| Wins | 18 | 15 |
| Pass Attempts | 748 | 898 |
| Completion % | 66% | 61.8% |
| Passing Yards | 5,661 | 6,044 |
| Touchdowns | 39 | 39 |
| Interceptions | 8 | 19 |
| Passer Rating | 101.6 | 87.3 |
| Rushing Touchdowns | 11 | 2 |
THREE KEYS TO VICTORY FOR THE COWBOYS
PROTECT DAK – GET CREATIVE
If Tyron is indeed out Sunday, this task becomes very difficult as we saw
Sunday afternoon. There are different ways to do this even without
Tyron. It will take calling more plays that gets Dak out of the pocket,
quick passes, including screen passes.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz on Dak: “I’ve been around the NFL
for a pretty long time now. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better thrower
on the run than Dak Prescott.”
OVERCOME NOT HAVING LEE
Sean Lee is the most important player on the Cowboys defense. He is
responsible for lining the guys up as the quarterback of the defense and
he can diagnose plays before they happen. In two games without Lee
earlier this season, the Cowboys gave up 35 points in each game and lost
both. The Cowboys are 0-5 the last five games they have played without
their defensive leader. Justin Durant is expected to see a lot more playing
time this week to see if having another veteran replace Lee helps.
CAN THE YOUNG DEFENSIVE GUYS STEP UP?
Xavier Woods is going to get his first start with Heath being out due to a
concussion. Woods recorded his first interception last Sunday against
Atlanta. Awuzie is also expected to make his return to action Sunday. We
haven’t seen much of the rookie so far this season due to injuries. He and
the other young defensive guys will have their hands full with the Eagles
offense that is in the top 5 in most offensive categories.
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