Cowboys Catching Eagles? Jerry Jones: 'We're Not That Far Off!'

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes his team has made enough improvements to catch the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East.

For decades, the Dallas Cowboys smugly ignored their supposed "rivalry" with the Philadelphia Eagles. Back in the days when they actually won Super Bowls, the Cowboys could afford to shrug at the Eagles ... other than the 1980 NFC Championship or the 1990s Bounty Bowl.

When Nick Siranni wore a "Beat Dallas!" t-shirt to a press conference in 2021, the Cowboys responded not with anger or requited intensity but rather "Oh, how cute."

But a quarter-century drought and an Eagles' historic Super Bowl appearance has tweaked, even flipped the relationship. The hunted are now the hunters, and the Cowboys can't stop talking about Philly at their training camp in Oxnard, Calif.

A day doesn't go by when Dallas isn't crowing about adding cornerback Stephon Gilmore, receiver Brandin Cooks and drafting a 5-foot-5 secret weapon in Deuce Vaughn that is supposedly going to help it close the divisional gap on the defending champion Eagles.

At the start of camp, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones warned that the Eagles "need to be on their game" because of his team's anticipated improvement. And last week the 80-year-old with relentless energy and eternal optimism was doubling down.

"What I really should address is something I want to talk about the least, and that's the respect I have for the Eagles," Jones said during an interview with NFL Network. "They have improved, and they were more than we could handle last year. But I'd still say, 'Just give me a few more plays against the Eagles'. We're not that far off. We're better."

The Cowboys and Eagles have dominated the NFC East recently, combined to win six of the last seven titles. And, giving credence to Jones' bravado, no team has repeated as champion since 2004.

Last season each team won on its home field against a backup quarterback (the Eagles beat Cooper Rush; Dallas beat Gardner Minshew). They play in Philly Nov. 5 and at Arlington's AT&T Stadium Dec. 10.

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