IRVING, Texas – The Cowboys lost both games to the Eagles last season and enter Sunday’s game with an identical 3-5 record with their division rivals from Philly. The DallasCowboys.com writing staff shares its expectations for the game against the Eagles. Here is the gut feeling of Nick Eatman, Rowan Kavner, Jonathan Auping and Bryan Broaddus.
Rowan: Jason Garrett may not want to call his team desperate, but the fact of the matter is the Cowboys and Eagles are both desperate for a victory. The loser of this game can practically kiss the playoffs goodbye. As I wrote earlier this week, these two teams aren’t all that different. The winner of this game will be the one that commits fewer errors. The offensive line situation in Philadelphia seems even worse than in Dallas, and if the Cowboys can take advantage and get to Michael Vick, they should pull out the critical road win.
Bryan: I have said this all week and I will say it again, I don’t like the matchup against the Eagles. I really don’t care about how bad their offensive line has played and the turnovers that they tend to suffer with Michael Vick. I know one thing, if the Cowboys don’t come ready to play, they will get beat. If they don’t pressure Vick, tackle McCoy, cover Jackson or block Babin again, they get beat. We should not act like this is one of those games where the Cowboys just roll their helmets out there on the field Sunday afternoon and the Eagles will see it and die. If Jason Garrett, Rob Ryan and these players don’t take this game, then shame on them. The time of talking about turning things around have now passed, it’s time for someone to step up and do something about it. One team will destroy the others will to compete, Cowboys fans hope it’s theirs.
Nick: Not feeling this one for the Cowboys. I know there has been a lot of talk about these teams being very similar in a lot of ways – record, quarterback stats, offensive line woes, red-zone struggles, turnovers, penalties … and on and on. That sounds great but all I know is what I’ve seen last year. And while the Eagles and Cowboys were both 8-8, they weren’t that close on the field. Something about playing there at the Linc with all this talk surrounding Philly’s losing streak and Andy Reid on the hot seat – I just don’t see a good scenario for the Cowboys. The only exception is if they can somehow get an early lead on the Eagles and then put tons of pressure on Vick. I don’t think he’s that good when it’s time to rally and come back. But overall, I see the Eagles using their team speed on both sides of the ball and creating more problems for the Cowboys all day.
