Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys Preview: NFC East Battle, MVP Implications

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Dallas Cowboys Preview: NFC East Battle, MVP Implications

The Philadelphia Eagles travel to play the Dallas Cowboys in a star-studded Sunday night NFC East battle with playoff and MVP implications. The Eagles have a chance to halt the Cowboys home-winning streak, which at 14 victories is the current longest active streak in the NFL. 

Quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts are two of the top favorites to win league Most Valuable Player and Sunday night could be the turning point.

Rest advantage goes to the Cowboys, who beat the Seattle Seahawks last Thursday night in a 41-35 nail-biter. The Eagles suffered a 42-19 blowout loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.

The Eagles are 3-0 on Sunday Night Football under coach Nick Sirianni. Philadelphia has also won two of the last three matchups against Dallas, including a 28-23 victory at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 9.

Hurts looks to continue his excellence. He ranks second in the league with 31 total touchdowns this season. Alos keep an eye on running back D'Andre Swift, who has the fourth-most rushing yards (783) in the NFL. 

The Eagles signed former Indianapolis Colts linebacker Shaquille Leonard to a one-year deal this week. Leonard visited the Eagles and Cowboys last week and a tug-of-war battle for the right to sign Leonard ensued. 

Leonard will bolster a defense that already features a deep front seven with Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Jalen Carter, Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat along with linebackers Zach Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow.

The Eagles defense will look to get after Prescott, who historically dominates against division opponents. He has a 30-8 career record against the NFC East. Since 2016, Prescott’s 30 wins against the NFC East are the second-most wins against a division, trailing only Tom Brady (31).

Prescott and Smith / © Kevin Jairaj, USA TODAY

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS: Dallas would indeed take the division lead if they win, based on the fact that the Cowboys have won one more NFC East game than Philadelphia.

But if both teams win the rest of their games? It’s an advantage that would disappear, as if the Eagles run the table in their final four games while Dallas does the same in its final five, the third tie-breaker - best record in common-opponent games - would drop the Cowboys.

Philly has the lowly Arizona Cardinals coming up on the schedule ... who Dallas already lost to. 

RECORDS: Philadelphia Eagles (10-2) at Dallas Cowboys (9-3)

ODDS: Philadelphia is a 3-point underdog vs. the Cowboys

GAME TIME: Sunday, Dec. 10th, 2023 at 8:20 p.m. ET

LOCATION: AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX

TV/RADIO: NBC, 94WIP

THE FINAL WORD: Wide receiver A.J. Brown on a short memory after a tough loss to the Niners:

"You have no choice," Brown said. "We have a big opponent coming up next week on the road against Dallas. You have to put your big boy pants on, not everything is going to go your way every single time. We have to focus on Dallas, clean up the mistakes, and continue to grow."

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