Battle of NFC East best in Philly
The NFC East lead is at stake when the Eagles oppose the Dallas Cowboys Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field (8:20 p.m., Channel 10, WIP 94.1-FM).
There is no love lost between the Eagles (5-0) and the Cowboys (4-1). The 51-26 shellacking the Cowboys starters gave the Philly subs last January and the recent trashing of Eagles fans by Dallas guard Jason Peters, the former Eagle, only add to the bad blood.
“It’s Dallas and we know how they’re going to come at us,” veteran defensive lineman Brandon Graham said. “We’ve just got to play some big boy ball this week. This is for the NFC East. This is the start of it. We’re
playing Dallas. They don’t like us we don’t like them, and we know what it’s going to be like in the trenches. It’s going to be one of those games where we’ve got to fight for everything we want. And I’m excited for that.”
Cooper Rush gets his fifth start in place of quarterback Dak Prescott, still rehabbing from a broken thumb on his throwing hand. The Cowboys have prevailed in all four of his starts largely because they’ve run the football effectively and played opportunistic defense.
Rush has connected on 61 percent of his passes with four touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 93.9 passer rating. He’s been sacked seven times.
The Cowboys offense has just seven TDs, running back Tony Pollard and receiver CeeDee Lamb leading the way with two each.
Micah Parsons has six sacks, Trevon Diggs two interceptions for the Cowboys, who are plus-5 in turnover ratio, second in the league. Dorance Armstrong has four sacks, DeMarcus Lawrence three, along with a fumble return for a score.
The Eagles lead the league with a gawdy plus-9 turnover ratio, partly because they have just two giveaways. With 11 takeaways, the Eagles are tied for the league lead with Buffalo and Baltimore. Darius Slay and James Bradberry have two interceptions each.
Haason Reddick has 4.5 sacks and three forced fumbles for the Eagles, Bradberry a pick-six.
The Cowboys method of operation is to run the ball behind a line that has just one remnant from what was the gold standard in the NFL — right guard Zack Martin. Peters, who played left tackle for the Eagles for 11 years, rotates at left guard with Connor McGovern.
The 40-year-old Peters called Eagles fans “effing idiots when it comes to camaraderie, the Cowboys, any team, really” according to reports. “They know that. They pride themselves on being nasty, vulgar. They’re going to cuss at you. Philly fans are the wildest fans out there.”
That should add to the revelry Sunday.
This will be the Cowboys first game against Eagles nose tackle Jordan Davis (6-6, 345), the rookie out of Georgia who anchors the middle in a 5-2 defensive alignment geared to stop the run. He’ll get his shots against the oft-injured Peters, who plays infrequently.
“He’s a very good player,” Davis said. “He’s done a lot for Philly. He was here for a very long. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who’s in front, we all have to play to a standard we set for ourselves. If Peters is there or not, we’ll have the same game plan. The rivalry, it’s going to be nice. It feels like Georgia-Alabama, but I’m not going to say anything.”
When the Eagles have the ball, quarterback Jalen Hurts has completed 75 percent of his passes in two home games, with a 95.6 passer rating, one TD and two picks.
Last week the Eagles secured a 20-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals partly because they blew another 14-point lead, and partly because they basically ignored star receiver A.J. Brown to get the ball to DeVonta Smith. Brown had three receptions for 32 yards, Smith 10 for 87. To get to where they want to be, the Eagles need to get the ball to Brown, their best player on either side of the ball.
The Cowboys are the only division team Hurts hasn’t beaten. He’s 0-2 versus America’s Team as the starting quarterback.
“They’re a really good football team all around,” Hurts said. “They have great players at every position. They fly to the ball. They have a great scheme. They’re wellcoached. So, it’s a really good opponent that we have to play.”
For the Eagles, it’s a gutcheck. There is no explanation for losing to an archrival playing its backup quarterback
“We ain’t done nothing,” Graham said referencing the team’s unbeaten start. “We ain’t got the ring yet. The Patriots, they went all the way, 18-0 and didn’t win it all. You’ve got to finish the deal. We can’t get too full of ourselves. We’ve got to enjoy the process every week knowing that, right now we’re 5-0, why can’t we keep it going? I don’t think nobody is complacent because we’re 5-0 or undefeated. Let’s just keep building and let’s see where we can go with it.”