Dak Prescott’s financial future at stake against the Eagles

The Dallas Cowboys face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football. Against a leaky Eagles secondary, Dak Prescott’s play will effect his new deal.

Coming off of three enormously disappointing losses over the past three weeks, the Dallas Cowboys have a huge opportunity to right the ship this upcoming week.

Not only do they get a chance to face off against a divisional rival in the Philadelphia Eagles, but they are also the team most immediately threatening to the Cowboys’ current chances of postseason play.

Being practically tied in the division, with the Cowboys holding the slight edge due to both having played and thus winning more divisional games as of now, the Eagles are the only team that seems like they should be a threat in the NFC East.

With the Eagles coming off a tough defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings though, Eagles’ coach Doug Pederson seemed to be all but certain that his Eagles will win the game this upcoming Sunday night. Here is a clip of his guarantee from a Philadelphia CBS affiliate.

Although Pederson has since walked this declaration back, it is surely something to keep in mind. Something else to keep in mind is the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles have one of the worst secondaries in the entire NFL. Although their stats and rankings won’t tell you that alone, if you’ve seen them play this season, then you know what’s being said here.

According to NFL.com, the Philadelphia Eagles are ranked number 29th in the NFL when it comes to passing yards allowed per game, at 280.2 passing yards allowed per contest. They rank number 14th overall at 353 total yards allowed per contest. This means that they rank near the very bottom in the passing yards allowed, while only allowing around 73 rushing yards per contest.

This is a phenomenal synopsis, based on the fact that if a team is typically holding the opposition to that few rush yards per game, they are usually a really good team. In comparison, they are ranked second in rushing yards allowed per game, ahead of teams such as Chicago, New England, Buffalo, Baltimore, and Minnesota, who are all upper echelon defenses in the league.

What this says is that they are not a bad defense as a whole, but one with a massive hole in their secondary. If they had just a little bit better of a defensive backfield, they could be one of the best defenses in the league, but they don’t have those guys back there. This speaks towards a very important notion, prediction, and set of circumstances for one Dak Prescott.

While he has struggled over the past three weeks, throwing four interceptions to just two touchdowns, he has a chance to right the ship this week against a porous and putrid Philadelphia secondary. With the Dallas Cowboys being second in the NFL in total yards achieved per game at 443.8, along with them ranking third in passing yards per game at 305 per game, this should be a week where Prescott’s eyes are lighting up at the chance to face this secondary.

If he can’t get some things done for the better this week, not only will it be a long rest of the season for him and his Cowboys, but he will be snipping away at the overall figures of his upcoming payday as well. Although expected, if he can go into Sunday night and dice this secondary up as he is supposed to, along the way to a win, he will do wonders for his future. Not only will he put his team back in the driver’s seat for the NFC East division, their playoff hopes, and fate, but he will be back on the right side of potentially securing the deal he wants to get from Jerry Jones and Co.

I expect Dak to right the ship against this secondary in particular, but if losing to a 0-4 team handily that is being led by a second-year quarterback returning from a multiple game mononucleosis absence has taught me anything, it’s to not count your chickens before they hatch. I see this game finishing somewhere around 27-34 in favor of Dallas.

Let’s hope so, because if not, there goes the season. There goes Dak Prescott and there goes Jason Garret. The season down the toilet bowl, Dak Prescott further into no-mans-land, and Garrett into the lost void of fired NFL coaches.