PREVIEW – Week 7: Three Keys to the Eagles Beating the Dallas Cowboys
A week after spirits were high, coming off of two consecutive wins, the sky came crashing down in a 38-20 blowout to the Vikings. There really aren’t any words to say about the loss other than that this team is not good enough to compete with elite teams.
The worst part about that is that the next 5 teams the Eagles play are at .500 or above. This week is though, is the big fish: the Dallas Cowboys.
If you’re an Eagles fan, you’ve grown up hating the combination of blue and silver and anything star-shaped. From Aikman to Romo to Prescott, there’s nothing you despise more than seeing anything and everything that has to do with this team.
When Dallas week comes around, there’s just a different feeling in this city.
For the 10th straight season, the Eagles and Cowboys have a date on Sunday Night Football, this year, in Dallas. Currently, the betting line is set to -2.5 in favor of Dallas, but if you know anything about betting, you know that the home team usually gets 3 points regardless.
Just like the Eagles, the Cowboys come in with a 3-3 record, however, their record certainly does not tell the entire story. The Cowboys got off to a 3-0 start against teams with a combined record of 3-14. As you can imagine though, their fans didn’t care for the opponent; the Super Bowl parades had already begun in Texas. In the last 3 weeks, the Cowboys have played teams with a combined record of 11-6, and surprise surprise, they lost all 3 games.
Last week, however, was the most embarrassing of the 3; a game that ended in defeat to the winless Jets. After coming back to Earth, rather crashing down in flames, even Cowboys fans have begun to realize the reality of the situation.
First of all, Dak Prescott is not good, no matter how you spin it. Yes, he has the 6th highest QBR, but he also has the T-6th most interceptions. Dak’s savior, Ezekiel Elliot, is also not having one of his best years, although an off-year for him would be considered a great year for a run-of-the-mill running back. He’s averaging 4.3 yards per carry which ranks 18th amongst running backs. Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup, the offense’s number 1 and 2 ranked recievers, are tied for 5th in the league for drops amongst receivers.
In the last 3 games, the Cowboys have averaged 18.7 points and 406 yards, both lower than their first 3 weeks. As the offense continues to dwindle, it takes another hit this week, as Amari Cooper is unlikely to play and Tyrone Crawford has hit the IR. Defensively, after giving up 14.7 points and 336 yards a game through the first 3 weeks, they’ve given up 23.3 points and 327.7 yards a game over the last 3 weeks. Their defense is certainly a strength, led by a strong front 7, but it is one that has not done well against good offenses. Fortunately, there are no injuries on defense to hinder their success.
As far as the Eagles go, it’s become so hard to assess this team with the lack of consistency. One week they march into Lambeau Field and takedown Aaron Rodgers’ Packers, two weeks later, they give up 447 yards to the Vikings and let Kirk Cousins look like Joe Montana. One thing’s for sure though – this secondary will be a major hindrance to any late playoff-run aspirations.
For a team that’s trying to contend, giving up 280.2 yards through the air (4th worst) is unacceptable. Now that Jalen Ramsey is gone, something has to give, because this team will not be playing in late January into February with the current set of defensive backs. Offensively, Carson Wentz gets a huge addition back into his arsenal, with the return of DeSean Jackson.
Despite the league-worst 11 drops, Carson Wentz has 12 touchdown passes, which is the 4th best in the league, and yet, people will still criticize his lack of play.
I guess I forgot the part where Carson has to catch and run the balls the throws too. If you think Carson Wentz is the problem on this team, reassess your football knowledge.
Keys to Victory
1) Put the ball in Dak’s Hands
Dak Prescott can’t win games by himself. We saw that in 2017 when Zeke was suspended for six games, and Dak threw 5 touchdowns to 7 interceptions in that time frame. Despite the lack of pass rush and secondary coverage, one thing has not changed: teams can’t run the ball on the Eagles. The Eagles are giving up 72.8 yards on the ground per game, which ranks second in the league. Will Elliot be contained to 72 yards in this game? Probably not. But giving him minimal yardage on attempts is going to make it very hard for Dak to win this game.
2) Give Howard his Carries
Last week, Doug Pederson called a run play 20 times. Granted, when you go down 24-3 early, it’s hard to call run plays because you need big chunks of yardage, but it became a 24-20 game at one point, and still, no run plays. You cannot, I repeat, cannot win games by throwing the ball 50 times. A good offense runs more plays on the ground than the air unless the air attack in extraordinary. That’s not the case with the Eagles, so they have to run it.
3) Better Playcalling
This kind of bounces off of number 2, but it’s more than just calling run plays. It’s about not getting too cute or overthinking it. That means no fake field goal with a chance to get 3 points. Doug Pederson has been inconsistent with his playcalling, much like the rest of the team, but if he’s won a Super Bowl before, I’m confident in his ability to make the necessary adjustment.
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