Cowboys vs. Eagles: Dallas will take control of the NFC East
By Tyrone Starr
As a hated division rival comes to town, the Dallas Cowboys find themselves in position to take control of the NFC East. Can they do so or will the falter?
Everything the Dallas Cowboys could ask for is right in front of them this afternoon. Five weeks ago, none of this seemed possible.
The Cowboys were on the wrong end of an embarrassing 28-14 loss on Monday Night Football. They were 3-5 and in third place in the division. Talk surrounding this team was not of playoffs but layoffs. Everyone was in trouble.
Fast forward to the middle of the holiday season and the Dallas Cowboys are in the driver’s seat in the NFC East. At 7-5, they have a one-game lead over both Philadelphia and Washington.
The Redskins are fading fast, on their third quarterback in as many games and the Eagles are in the building today.
A win all but buries Philadelphia. With two losses to Dallas and the next two games at the Rams and home against Houston, things would be bleak.
Can the Dallas Cowboys put a nail in the coffin of the defending Super Bowl champs? Here is what to watch for in this pivotal NFC East showdown.
- Even though the Eagles are tenth overall in rushing defense, they can be run on as of late. Going back to that Cowboys loss four games ago, the numbers are ugly. Ezekiel Elliott, Mark Ingram and Saquon Barkley all got them for 100+ yards. Adrian Peterson would have as well if not for a Mark Sanchez sighting.
Now, they face Elliott once more, who has been historically dominant over Philadelphia. Even though he has faced Philly just three times, he averages over 115 yards on the ground against them in those games. Look for Dallas to continue to feed Zeke today often for Elliott to fill up on yards.
- This game reads as a tale of two teams going in opposite directions. Dallas is riding a four-game win streak while the Eagles, winners of two straight, lost two straight before that. Philadelphia has allowed almost 28 points per game in their last four. Dallas has allowed exactly ten points less per game in that same time span.
Look for that trend to continue as the Eagles struggles offensively have been a season-long thing, while their defense is decimated with injury.
- As if the Dallas Cowboys did not have enough motivation, one Eagle did them a favor this week by providing more.
Little known linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill offered his opinions on how he thinks this game will go earlier in the week by telling ESPN’s Tim McManus the following:
"“I mean, you look at Dallas’ history, they always choke, so we’ll go down there and make them choke.”"
Maybe someone should provide Grugier-Hill an accurate history lesson as the Cowboys have five Super Bowl trophies to the Eagles one. It’s the Cowboys with 12 more playoff wins than Philadelphia. It’s Dallas with the 64-51 head-to-head advantage in these matchups, including five of the last six in the Eagles backyard.
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Congratulations to this guy for making sure Dallas has the appropriate fire in their belly come game time. The Eagles ran their mouths before the last meeting and it didn’t work out well. My feeling is neither will this. Grugier-Hill’s fifteen minutes are up and so is the Eagles season.