ARLINGTON, Texas — Regular season games don’t get much bigger in the NFC East than the one set for Sunday night between the host Dallas Cowboys and the visiting Philadelphia Eagles. First place in the division is on the line, and so is a bit of payback for the loss that Dallas suffered in the initial meeting between the rivals.
If the Cowboys extend their winning streak to five games and beat the Eagles, they’ll draw even with Philly in the division and, even though tiebreakers and strength of schedule don’t favor Dallas over the rest of the season, a victory would prove that they can beat one of the best teams in the league. The game kicks off a brutal stretch for the Cowboys in December and getting out to a win would strengthen their hold on a playoff spot.
The Eagles enter this contest after taking it on the chin from the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13 for just their second loss of the season. It was a poor performance from a team that hasn’t had many of them in the last two years, so the Cowboys should expect the best from the Eagles with so much on the line.
Here are the keys to beating the Eagles in Week 14:
Keep the pressure off Dak Prescott…
The Cowboys had been doing a great job of keeping their quarterback out of harm's way in the three games prior to last week's win. When Prescott was sacked four times against the Seattle Seahawks, they were the first four sacks that he had succumbed to since he was taken down five times against the Eagles in the first matchup.
Philadelphia has one of the best defensive lines in the NFL, and it’s a deep and talented front seven that has accounted for all 34 sacks from the unit on the season. Haason Reddick leads the Eagles with nine sacks as an edge rusher, but they also have 11 sacks from the interior of their defensive line, including four from rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter.
Prescott has a chance to eat up a bad pass defense, but he’ll need the time to get the ball out. If the line can get back to protecting the quarterback, the Cowboys should be able to keep rolling on offense.
…So he can attack the secondary
If you said the Eagles had one of the worst passing defenses in the league in 2023, no one would have believed it, yet here we are. Just a season after finishing as the top passing defense in the NFL, the Eagles are struggling to stop opposing passing offenses.
Philadelphia is 29th in the league against the pass and has allowed 27 touchdowns through the air, which is next to last. It’s also a unit that’s been playing worse over their last four games, allowing three 300-yard passers and 15 scores.
That bodes well for the Cowboys and Prescott, who have been on fire since returning from their bye week.
Prescott has also been insanely good at home in his last four games, throwing for 15 touchdowns against just two interceptions at AT&T Stadium. In the first meeting between the two teams, Prescott passed for 374 yards and three scores, so the Cowboys should have no problems throwing against an overmatched secondary.
Get stops and third and fourth downs
The Eagles are one of the more aggressive teams in the league on fourth downs and have converted on a league-high 73.7% of their attempts. They also are one of the best teams in the league in third-and-short situations because of the infamous tush push play that’s difficult to stop.
Dan Quinn’s defense needs to find a way to not only stop the Eagles from getting into short third or fourth down situations, but if they are put in that position, the Cowboys must stop the conversions. That’s easier said than done, and Dallas doesn’t need to stop them all, but the defense will need to limit the gimmie first downs that the Eagles routinely get in those situations.
Winning on defense at a few key moments in the game could swing the momentum for the Cowboys and lead to a win. Dallas needs to push those tushes the other way!
Limit the penalties
There’s very little that the Cowboys aren’t doing well during their winning streak, but discipline is something that they need to drastically improve. Head coach Mike McCarthy’s team is next to last in penalties with 90 committed, and they are third in yards lost at 764.
Some of those infractions are part of the physicality of the game, but the Cowboys also lead the league in defensive offsides, by a wide margin, with 14. That’s six more than the next team. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Eagles are one of the least penalized teams in the league, with 65 penalties called against them. Of that number, they have only been called for four offensive holds through 12 games.
The league average for holds this season currently stands at 11, so four is a ridiculously low number. Only 11 teams in the NFL have less than nine holds called against them, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are the one team with fewer offensive holds than the Eagles, at three.
It’s been a generous whistle for the Eagles this season, and if the Cowboys want to win this game, they’ll need to limit the penalties to match them. Dallas must play a cleaner game than they played the first time around, when they had 10 penalties for 83 yards.
Ultimately, the Cowboys can’t lose the hidden yardage battle and playing a more disciplined game will help them take over first place in the NFC East.
Will the Cowboys take down the Eagles to earn the NFC East lead? Share your predictions with Ben on "X", formerly known as Twitter, @BenGrimaldi.