The de facto NFC East Championship game happens this Sunday in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field. The 7-7 Dallas Cowboys would clinch their second consecutive NFC East title with a win due to a head-to-head tiebreaker over the 7-7 Eagles, rendering the outcome of Week 17 moot. In the meantime, Philadelphia would still need a win in Week 17 to take the division if they come out victorious on Sunday, but they would be positioned well within the driver’s seat should they defeat the Cowboys.
Dallas doesn’t want to count on help nor put destiny in the hands of the Eagles so a Week 16 win over their rivals is the path of least resistance for the Cowboys to lock up a home playoff game. The good news for the Cowboys is that the Linc is a place that they have felt right at home under Jason Garrett with a 7-2 record.
The Cowboys will be looking for their 3rd straight victory in the Eagles’ building and, should they pull it off, their postseason ticket would be punched allowing Dallas to head back home for a Week 17 walkthrough against Washington with nothing more than preparation to host a Wild Card playoff game at AT&T Stadium on the line.
The Cowboys are 4-0 against the NFC East in 2019 but the 2018 NFC East champs haven’t won the division in back-to-back seasons in over 20 years. In addition, the Eagles always give the Cowboys their best. Despite the issues from these two teams this season, a division-clinching victory won’t come easy.
Here’s a look at the ways Dallas can utilize their strengths to come away with the NFC East crown:
Thunder and Lightning
The dynamic duo of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are coming off a game in which they combined for 248 yards rushing and three touchdowns with both going for more than 100 yards on the ground for the second time in 2019. They added another 55 yards in the air to finish the game against the Los Angeles Rams with 303 yards from scrimmage. The Cowboys were able to rely on their one-two punch to secure their first win against a team with a winning record.
With news that Dak Prescott has an ailing throwing shoulder, the Cowboys may need to call on their rushing attack to go for a third game where the duo goes for over 100 yards. The key, as is often the case, is getting the lead early on which would allow them to keep pounding away with the running backs.
When the Cowboys beat the Eagles 37-10 back in October, Dallas jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the first quarter on TD runs by Tavon Austin and Elliott and they never looked back. With that lead, Dallas finished that contest with 189 rushing yards.
With Elliott in the lineup, Dallas is a perfect 5-0 against their bitter rivals. If they make it 6-0, the Cowboys are celebrating a division title.
Targets for ailing Prescott
It is no secret that Amari Cooper has struggled on the road versus at home. If Prescott is able to fight through his injured throwing shoulder, then look for Cooper to be the receiving option that Dak looks for early and often. To combat the road doldrums, the Cowboys will no doubt try to get Cooper going against a team that he has loved to face since coming to Dallas.
Cooper has feasted against the Eagles since joining the Cowboys midway through last season. In three games against Philadelphia, Cooper has caught 21 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns. The Eagles’ secondary has struggled mightily and, with his elite route running skills, Cooper won’t be doing them any favors.
If the Eagles are able to bottle up Cooper, Cowboys’ second-year receiver Michael Gallup will be waiting on the other side of the field. Gallup has produced at a pace that is leaps and bounds above what he did in his rookie year and has genuinely blossomed into a threat opposite Cooper.
With two games remaining, Gallup has an opportunity to double his production from a year ago. He is just 89 yards away from a 1,000-yard season where he would join Cooper. The Philadelphia defense allowed some big passing plays against Washington last week which should have an even more formidable passing attack from Dallas salivating as long as Prescott’s arm can get the ball to the receivers.
Send in the Tank
The injuries to Philadelphia have been piling up this season and they just keep getting worse as the Eagles will be without All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson against Dallas. That’s bad news for them but great news for the Cowboys as that is where DeMarcus Lawrence lines up.
Without Johnson in the lineup, the Eagles will likely need to give help on that side but with Michael Bennett, Maliek Collins and Robert Quinn all ready to get after the quarterback, it will be hard to give everyone attention.
With a weak receiving corps, the Eagles will likely need to get the ball to their tight ends and running backs which means the Cowboys’ defensive line needs to get at quarterback Carson Wentz quickly. If Dallas can put on the pressure, they can assist with causing turnovers which Wentz has struggled with. In his last three games against Dallas, Wentz has thrown two interceptions and lost three fumbles.
Bottom Line
When you look at this game on paper, it would appear to be very much in favor of Dallas. However, games aren’t played on paper and you never quite know what you’re going to get in an NFC East match-up. For the Cowboys to prove that they can make some noise in the postseason, they need a big game across the board and they need to prove they can go on the road and bring home a victory. The Cowboys are 1.5 point favorites on the road.
Prediction: Cowboys 31, Eagles 27. NFC East Champs.
Do you think the Cowboys will beat the Eagles and win the NFC East? Share your predictions with Patrick on Twitter @DraftCowboys.
