Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas Cowboys Week 3: Know thy enemy

Welcome to Week 3 of the 2021 Dallas Cowboys season. After an exhilarating showdown with Tampa Bay, the Cowboys traveled west last week to face off against the Los Angeles Chargers. Unlike their first attempt, Dallas was able to pull off a shocking upset, evening their record to 1-1.

This week, the Cowboys are thrust, once again, into the national spotlight, playing their first divisional game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. The Eagles are also 1-1 making this game a pivotal early-season matchup.

Last week, the biggest narrative heading into the game against Los Angeles was the number of influential defensive players the Cowboys were missing. Unfortunately, the same could be said about this week as well. While Dallas will be getting back defensive end Randy Gregory, they will be without defensive end Bradlee Anae and linebacker Keanu Neal due to COVID.

Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles is the best rivalry in NFC East

Defensive end Dorance Armstrong and defensive tackle Carlos Watkins will also miss this week due to injury. This will make the line’s rotation awfully thin so it is likely we will see more linebacker Micah Parsons filling in to help.

As short-handed as Dallas is, there are still plenty of ways they can keep up their winning ways. Let’s get to know thy enemy a little better as we break down the matchup between Philadelphia and Dallas.

Philadelphia has had two far different weekends so far in 2021. After facing the defensively challenged Atlanta Falcons in Week 1, they had a much tougher obstacle last week against San Francisco. As you can imagine, the outcomes were quite opposite.

After putting up 32 points and over 400 yards of total offense in their first game, the Eagles could barely muster 11 in Week 2. Quarterback Jalen Hurts’s quarterback rating dropped nearly 50 points from game one to game two. After combining for 12 catches, 120 yards, and two touchdowns vs. Atlanta, receivers Devonta Smith and Jaelon Reagor only caught four balls for 21 yards together against the 49ers.

Still, the Eagles’ defense showed up in both games, helping preserve a blowout and keeping another game very close. This unit boasts the third-best passing defense and the second-best scoring defense early in 2021. As such, it may be wise for the Cowboys to replicate last week’s game plan and unleash their super-duo at running back in Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard.

No matter the year or the record, this matchup is the best this division has as far as rivalries go. It may even be on the shortlist of best in the league. Thankfully, the Cowboys have been on the better end of it lately, winning five of the last seven matchups. In those five victories, it’s been the Dallas defense that has done most of the heavy lifting. The Cowboys have averaged just 14 points allowed to the Eagles.

Coming off of an impressive showing against one of the best offensives last week, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Dallas could duplicate that effort this week.  Even with the Cowboys’ defensive line having some players unavailable, the Eagles are facing issues on their offensive line too. This should even things out a little, giving the rest of the Dallas defense an opportunity to keep the Eagles’ offense from flying high.

If the Cowboys do elect to put the game in quarterback Dak Prescott’s hands instead of the running game, the Eagles do have an obvious target in which to attack.

So far in 2021, Philadelphia cornerback, Darius Slay is playing like his old self. Allowing just 55.6% of the passes thrown his way, Slay’s quarterback rating against is just 63.7. On the other side, however, cornerback Steven Nelson is far less frugal. Nelson is allowing almost 64% of passes he is targeted on to be caught. Quarterbacks currently own a rating of 109.3 when attacking him.

Either Amari Cooper or CeeDee Lamb should be able to take advantage of Nelson. Both have been dynamic early on, putting up big numbers or making big plays at key times. If the Eagles decide to roll coverage in an effort to help Nelson, Dallas should be able to work the intermediate areas and control the ball with a shorter passing game.

When predicting the season, game by game, I had Dallas winning this game 31-20. Nothing has changed in my mind. With this being the Cowboys’ first home game of 2021, I expect them to be a little off to start, undoubtedly a little overexcited. Ultimately, I just don’t think their offense will let them down here.