The Eagles have only played a divisional opponent once this year, beating the New York Giants 28-3! The Cowboys have the advantage of being at home, but it has yet to be much of an advantage for them this season. Dallas has yet to win a game at home this season and hasn't done it since December of 2023. Philly is 3-1 on the road, their only loss being to the Buccaneers in Tampa. The two teams split the season series last year, each winning at home, with the Cowboys winning 33-13 the last time the two teams played.
The Cowboys are winning the record, 74-56, against Philadelphia, one of the biggest rivalries in all sports. All signs point to the Eagles winning this game, especially with Dak Prescott being placed on IR. However, you can't count out Cooper Rush, who is 5-1 as a starter; his only loss came against Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles. The last time he faced the Eagles, the defense held him to 181 yards, one touchdown, and THREE interceptions while completing just 47% of his passes.
Game Info
Date: November 10th, 2024
Start Time: 4:05 PM ET
Location: Arlington, TX
Stadium: AT&T Stadium
TV Info: CBS (Jim Nantz and Tony Romo on the call)
Eagles Uniform Info: Green helmet, green jersey, white pants
Cowboys Statistical Rankings 2024
Points Per Game: 21.4 (20th)
Points Allowed Per Game: 28.1 (31st)
Offensive Yards Per Game: 336.1 (14th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Per Game: 254.1 (2nd) | 82.0 (31st)
Defensive Yards Allowed Per Game: 364.8 (27th)
Passing/Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game: 217.0 (18th) | 147.8 (30th)
Third Down Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 37.86% (19th) | 35.35% (12th)
Red Zone Offensive/Defensive Conversion Rate: 45.45% (31st) | 76.92% (32nd)
Penalties: 62 (9th)
Penalty Yardage: 446 (18th)
Players Already Ruled Out
Cowboys: QB Dak Prescott, DE DeMarcus Lawrence, WR Brandin Cooks, CB Amani Oruwariye
Eagles: OT Jordan Mailata, CB James Bradberry, WR Britain Covey,
Dallas Cowboys
Defense
The Cowboys' defense has been one of the worst in the league this year, ranking bottom five in PPG allowed, rushing yards allowed per game, and total yards allowed per game. They give up 28 PPG, and the Dallas offense has only scored more than 28 points once all season, which was in Week 1 against the Browns. They are currently on a three-game losing streak, have given up 34.6 PPG in those three games, and have given up 40+ points twice this season. The main area of concern for this defense should be Saquon Barkley and the Eagles' vicious rushing attack. Barkley averages 115.6 rushing yards per game, and the Cowboys give up 147 rush YPG, the second worst in the league. Philadelphia averages 4.9 YPC as a team, and Dallas gives up 4.6 per carry, the ninth worst in the league.
The Cowboys' best defensive weapon, Micah Parsons, has only played in four games this year and is questionable to play this week. He hasn't had much of an impact in his games, totaling just 14 tackles, one sack, and two TFLs. Dallas' CB1 Trevon Diggs and Eric Kendricks are also questionable. Kendricks leads the team in tackles and forced fumbles and has two sacks, two TFLs, and an interception. The team only has 18 sacks in the year, the seventh least of any team. Luckily for them, OT Jordan Mailata will not be playing on Sunday. Still, the team has faired well enough to keep winning in his departure. Dallas has six takeaways on the season; if they want to keep it close with Philly, they will most likely have to give Cooper Rush and the offense an extra possession or two.
Offense
The biggest storyline for this offense is that QB Dak Prescott was placed on IR. He is most likely done for the season as he plans to undergo hamstring surgery. This season hasn't been his greatest, totaling 11 TDs and eight interceptions while completing 65% of his passes, but he is still eleventh in passing yards and has led the Cowboys offense to have the second-highest pass yards per game in the league. Cooper Rush has seen the field this year, completing 56% of his 39 pass attempts for 167 yards, one TD, and one INT. He has yet to be sacked this season. However, Dak has been the tenth most sacked QB this year, and the Eagles' pass rush has picked up, totaling 22 sacks on the year. You also can't forget about Saquon Barkley, who
The Cowboys run game has been deplorable, to put it lightly. Their leading rusher has been Rico Dowdle, who has 321 yards and 71 carries. Ezekiel Elliott re-signed with the team after taking a year off to play with the Patriots last season; he only got the ball 48 times and ran for 149 yards, just 3.1 YPC. Zeke does have two of the team's three rushing TDs; Dak has the other. Only one Cowboy has run longer than 20 yards, and it was their quarterback. Elliott was a healthy scratch in last week's contest for disciplinary reasons, and HC Mike McCarthy said he is available for this week's game but did not confirm whether or not he will play. Regardless of whether he plays or not, the Eagles should be able to contain the Cowboy's poor run game, as they have yet to let a team rush for 80 or more yards in the past three weeks.
Philadelphia Eagles
Defense
This is the only thing this defense should look out for this week: whatever magic happens when a backup starts their first game. If that doesn't make sense, let me explain. In his first start of the season, Andy Dalton threw for 319 yards and three TDs while completing 70% of his passes. Joe Flacco threw for 359 yards and three TDs, completing 75% of his passes, and Jameis Winston threw for 334 yards and three TDs. If the Eagles' defense can stop Cooper Rush from randomly going for 300 and three TDs, they should be fine, and it shouldn't be a challenging task. However, don't be surprised if this random trend continues for whatever reason.
The Eagles' run defense, combined with Dallas's practically no run game, should eliminate that aspect from the game, so then they just need to stop the pass. Quinyon Mitchell has yet another tough task ahead of him lining up opposite of CeeDee Lamb, but no receiver has gotten the best of Mitchell yet. It's gotten to the point where they're making Derrell Revis-type graphics for him as a ROOKIE.
Cooper DeJean has been one of the top nickels in the league since taking over as a starter. Darius Slay should be able to play this week, but his presence hasn't been anything special this season; there hasn't been much of a difference whether he or Isaiah Rodgers is lined up opposite of Quinyon. The season's surprise has been Zach Baun, who has played lights out since the first game. Nakobe Dean is also coming into his own and starting to live up to his potential. The defense is starting to click on all cylinders; if they can maintain it, they should go on a deep playoff run.
Offense
Jalen Hurts and company have been tearing it up during the teams' win streak, averaging 28.2 PPG since the bye week after averaging 21.7 before the bye. Jalen Hurts has 12 TDs, no turnovers in that span, and has completed 72% of his passes. We haven't seen Hurst play like this since his 2022 MVP campaign, and he's arguably looked even better than he did that year. DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown have remained a top WR duo this season, but they don't see the field together as often as usual. In the four games that both receivers started and finished, AJ Brown has 408 yards and three TDs, while Smitty has 231 and two TDs. In the only game they both were out, Hurts only threw for 184 yards, and the Birds lost 33-16. And, of course, you can't forget about Saquon Barkley, who LeSean McCoy predicted earlier this season would go for 200 against the Cowboys.
AJ Brown left last week with an injury but was considered day-to-day after the game. He was a full participant in practice after being limited on Wednesday. DeVonta Smith was taken off the injury report after being limited, and Dallas Goedert is expected to return after missing the last three games. What better place to return from injury than the city you're named after? Mekhi Becton and Cam Jurgens were on the injury report but are good to go Sunday. An almost wholly healthy Eagles offense should have no problem against this weak Dallas defense, but it's a division game, so you can't be too sure. Take the 2-7 Browns win over the 7-3 Ravens in Week 8 as an example.
Betting Info
Points Spread: PHI -7.5 (-110) | DAL +7.5 (-110)
Moneyline: PHI (-360) | DAL (+285)
Over/Under: O 43.5 (-110) | U 43.5 (-110)
Lines Via Draft Kings as of 11/8/24
Prediction
The Eagles should win this game somewhat comfortably. I would be much more confident if it weren't a divisional opponent, especially the Cowboys. It seems like the two teams always split their season series and have each other's numbers regardless of record. The Eagles finally figured out how to score in the first quarter last week and should continue that trend against a Dallas defense that has allowed every team to score in the first quarter. I think the Eagles will score easily, but Dallas will manage to hang around; as long as Nick Sirianni doesn't try to give the game away like he did last week, Philly should be able to win by 8+ points.
Final Score: Eagles 31, Cowboys 23
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