Five Storylines for Eagles-Cowboys Matchup

Everything from the crowd to Miles Sanders and Jalen Hurts, and more right here

USA Today

The Eagles will be looking to get to 6-0 heading into next week’s bye while the Cowboys are trying to extend their winning streak to five games and pull even in the win-loss column at 5-1 with a win.

Here are five storylines heading into Sunday night’s primetime matchup (8:20/NBC) at Lincoln Financial Field.

EAGLES DEFENSE

Dallas’ defense has gotten most of the love nationally and has been discussed plenty of times in local media outlets. Yes, they are good, and Micah Parsons is a beast, and DeMarcus Lawrence is nothing to sneeze at on the other side, though he has just three sacks in 14 career games against Philly.

The Eagles’ defense, though, should not be overlooked in this game.

The Eagles have the higher-ranked defense, checking in at fourth in the league to Dallas’ seventh. The Eagles are better at stopping both the run and the pass.

The Eagles have taken the ball away 11 times to the Cowboys’ seven.

It’s true that Dallas has more sacks with 20, but the Eagles have just three fewer at 17.

Still, get ready for a Dallas defensive love fest by the NBC crew on Sunday night.

“Yeah, but that’s cool,” said linebacker Kyzir White. “We like being the dogs. We feel we have a bunch of underdogs on our defense. I feel that’s what gets everybody going, but Dallas for sure has a real good defense.”

DAK OR COOPER

The Cowboys have seemingly left ajar the door for the return of their franchise quarterback, Dak Prescott, listing him as questionable. He wants to play, and he just might.

The Cowboys prepared all week with Cooper Rush as their starter. He took first-team reps all week, so he will probably be the guy.

By keeping the decision up in the air, Dallas has won the competitive advantage battle that Nick Sirianni always talks about having by playing his personnel decisions close to the vest.

CROWD FACTOR

The vibe in the city right now is off-the-charts electric, thanks to the Phillies blasting their way past the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves.

A visit from the Cowboys doesn’t typically need any additional jolts of electricity, but somehow, with what took place so far this weekend across the street at Citizens Bank Park, the guess here is that’s going to happen.

And that sort of juice could be a difference-maker for the Eagles.

JALEN HURTS

This feels like a big game for Hurts to show that, yes, he can beat the Cowboys. He is 0-2 against them as a starter and the Eagles are 1-3 vs. Dallas the last two years.

Hurts has lost both starts by 20 points each in games that weren’t even close.

In those two games, he completed just 58.9% of his throws, and, though he as over 300 yards passing in each, a lot of those yards were in garbage time when the outcomes were virtually sealed.

He has thrown just three touchdowns while throwing four interceptions, was sacked five times, fumbled twice, and lost one. On the ground, Hurts has been stymied as well, with just 104 yards on 18 carries and zero touchdowns.

It’s not a good body of work, and that must improve Sunday for the Eagles to win.

RB BATTLE

Ezekiel Elliott may not be what he was when he entered the league in 2016, but he has run for 100-plus yards in five of his 10 career games against the Eagles and Dallas has won all five times he has done that. 

So, it goes without saying it can’t happen Sunday or the Eagles could be in trouble.

Tony Pollard has taken some of Elliott’s snaps through the years, but Elliott is still the go-to back on this team.

On the flip side, at least statistically, the Cowboys aren’t good at stopping the run. They are ranked 19th in the league at doing it.

Miles Sanders seems to be running with more purpose this year and a big game from him would help the Eagles remain unbeaten. 

His best game against Dallas came during his rookie season when he ran for 79 yards on 20 carries and one TD while catching five passes for 77 yards in a 17-9 win on Dec. 22, 2019.

Since then, Sanders has played two games vs. the Cowboys and gained just 84 yards with one TD on 17 runs with seven catches for 55 yards.

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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.