For better or (could it be?) worse, it’s time for Dallas
This is it, Dallas week. The visiting Eagles oppose the Cowboys Sunday at 4:25 p.m. (FOX, WIP 94.1-FM) at AT&T Stadium.
For those who thought he retired, DeSean Jackson is back, and not to clean out his locker. The Eagles activated the once-lethal wide receiver, hoping he can throw a scare into the Cowboys.
All of that said, the Eagles (4-9-1) really go on the clock at 1 p.m. when the New York Giants (5-9) play at Baltimore. And they punch in again at 4:05 p.m., when Carolina and Washington
(6-8) kick off at FedEx Field. Those outcomes are critical to the Eagles’ slim chances of making the playoffs with the league’s worst record in a 16game season.
But if the Eagles beat the Cowboys and if the Ravens beat the Giants and if the injury riddled D.C.ers self-destruct Sunday with quarterbacks Dwayne Haskins and Alex Smith, the NFC East title would be decided next weekend when Philadelphia hosts Washington. If the Giants, however, beat Baltimore, and Washington and Philly lose, the Giants could end up playing Dallas for the East pennant.
Even if there is only an
8 percent probability of the Eagles reaching the postseason according to Playoffstatus.com, at least there is hope on the next-to-last Sunday of the season. Though the players say it’s best to block out anything that takes focus from the immediate task, it’s human nature to look at the scores of the games impacting the division race. That will happen for the Giants,
— Bob Grotz the Cowboys and Washington. It’s not like players will be fined for taking a look at the scoreboard.
Veteran Brandon Graham recalled the 2018 season, when to get into the playoffs the Eagles needed a victory over Washington, and the Chicago Bears, who had nothing to play for, had to defeat Minnesota. The scoreboard showed the Bears up on the Vikings most of that day.
“It does make you a little happy to see when you’re out there in the first quarter and they’re ahead like 7-0,” Graham said. “You’re like, ‘it’s starting good.’ But you can’t worry about it too much because it will sidetrack you a little bit. We’ve got to make sure we do a good job of just staying in the game. … Yeah, you’ll get an update every now and again and you’ll start seeing people cheering. And I’m sure with all the fans there they’re going to update it for sure and you’re going to see people screaming.”
The last time the Eagles played Dallas, just before the bye, the Cowboys and rookie Ben DiNucci had a 9-7 lead over the Birds until Carson Wentz threw a touchdown pass to Travis Fulgham. Rodney McLeod’s fumble return for a score pretty much sealed the deal.
It was the last win of this season for Wentz, who threw for two TDs, was intercepted twice and took four sacks.
Rookie Jalen Hurts is 1-1 as the Eagles’ starter, both starts against winning teams. Hurts grew up in Houston and likely will get to say hello with family as fans are allowed at AT&T Stadium. It’s almost an understatement to say this is a game he circled on his personal calendar.
“The kind of crazy part about all of this and the mentality that I have, and I think we have, is it’s always about us and what we do,” Hurts said. “It’s about controlling what we can, attacking everything that we do. We’re obviously in the situation we’re in but regardless of whatever goes down it’s about us. Not looking at the scoreboard, not worrying about anything external but going out there and playing our best game because we have the opportunity to do that. We’ll play the cards we’re dealt. The chips will fall as they may. We just want to play our best game this week because it’s the next opportunity to go out there and play.”
The Eagles can punch their ticket to victory with their ground game, as the Cowboys are slightly less giving there than that Vikings outfit gashed by the Saints on Christmas. Just say Miles Sanders has a good shot at reaching the 1,000-yard milestone. He needs 190 yards to get there.
“If we take care of business,” Sanders said, “we’ve just got to hope and pray that on the other side everything’s taken care of.”
Defensively, the Eagles must neutralize receivers Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and Cee Dee Lamb. Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and running back Tony Pollard rushed for
69 yards and two scores in place of Zeke Elliott to spark the Cowboys to a 41-33 victory over the San Francisco
49ers last week. Of course, Nick Mullens, a friend of the Eagles earlier this season, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
Dalton is going to have a tough time staying away from Graham, Fletcher Cox and Malik Jackson, even with Derek Barnett scratched due to injury.
When the season began, the Eagles and the Cowboys were supposed to battle for the division pennant. A win Sunday couple with losses by the WFT and the Giants and the Eagles are in the driver’s seat.
The WFT has been battered with injuries to Smith (calf), wide receiver Terry McLaurin (ankle) and running back Antonio Gibson (toe), all questionable for the Panthers. Sunday could be their last stand.
It all begins unfolding Sunday starting at 1 o’clock.