Behind enemy lines: Eagles expert chats ahead of Cowboys’ Week 6 rivalry game

Any Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles game is a fun one. Rivalries are exciting. However, this year’s Week 6 contest brings a lot more than just a rivalry game. This time around, we have two teams coming in with a lot of momentum and excellent players. Plus, it’s all happening under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football.

Last year, the Cowboys easily swept all their NFC East matchup games. While they have one their first two against the New York Giants and Washington Commanders, this matchup is against the only undefeated team left in the NFL, and the Eagles look better than they have in many years.

Ahead of the season, we assumed Jalen Hurts would continue to be a non-factor and that their roster of older veteran players would slow them down. Now, watching this team have played for five weeks, it’s become abundantly clear what can happen when your GM works tirelessly to make as many changes as possible to get ahead.

This will be the Cowboys’ toughest test yet.

A Q&A with the Inside the Iggles expert ahead of the Cowboys vs Eagles Week 6 matchup

To get everyone prepared for the matchup, we wanted to go behind enemy lines. We sent some questions to our FanSided Eagles expert Geoffrey Knox who runs Inside the Iggles.

We learned a lot from Knox and we hope you do, too!

TLH: Although they look incredible, what are the Eagles’ top 3 weaknesses right now?

GK: The first relates to the scheme. On offense, and honestly, this may be true for every team in the NFL, Philly has this tendency to go on long and sustained offensive droughts. Some of that is play calling. Some of that comes from Jalen Hurts (he’s improved but still ascending and learning), but at the end of the day, I wouldn’t be opposed to retiring the run-pass options from the play sheet.

Football is a simple game. Running the ball sets up the play-action passing game. You throw screens when the opposing defense gets over-aggressive and blitzes too often. Philly, on the other hand, ignores the running game and tries to throw in a little play-action when it’s obvious that they only want to pass, and throw screens at every opportunity (except when they see the blitz coming).

Secondly, they could stand to use players in areas where they excel more often. For instance, on defense, Haason Reddick doesn’t need to drop into coverage as often as he does. He should normally be involved in the pass rush. I understand that he can’t do that every time, but it needs to be more often than not.

On offense, there’s a tendency to become one-player reliant and/or attempt to force-feed the ball to someone to make them feel more involved when they aren’t getting the ball enough or didn’t see the ball during the last game. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s also nothing wrong with sticking with what’s working or allowing game flow to dictate play calling on both sides of the ball.

As far as a third weakness, I guess we can talk about personnel. The safety position may be this team’s weak link on the defensive side even though C.J. Gardner-Johnson stabilized the position some. Marcus Epps is solid, but he’s small and can be run over. He’s fearless. He won’t shy from contact, but he’s also figuring the game out still. On offense, I’m worried about consistency. Miles Sanders, Boston Scott, and Kenneth Gainwell are all talented, but Scott sat out of Week 5’s game with an injury, we know Miles Sanders will be injured at some point, and Gainwell can’t be trusted on third down. I believe Trey Sermon should be used more, and that brings me back to play calling.

Jalen Hurts can’t be this team’s top rushing threat long-term. Maybe most of those designed runs should be handoffs to your tailbacks instead.

TLH: Who is one underrated player on offense and defense that fans need to keep an eye on?

GK: I’ll give you two on each side. I love Avonte Maddox. He sat out of the Week 5 game because of injury, and if he’s out again (or in the game but still anything less than100% healthy), Dallas may be able to attack the slot area. Kyzir White is better than I thought he’d be. I mean I knew that he was good, but I didn’t know that he was this good. He and T.J. Edwards are a force at the second level. They’re smart and lack nothing physically.

On offense, though it seems crazy to call Lane Johnson underrated, he always has been. He doesn’t allow sacks. He doesn’t even allow pressure. I believe he takes DeMarcus Lawrence out of this one. I also have to give credit to Zach Pascal. A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Quez Watkins are the stars. Zach does the dirty work. Honestly, I think he needs to be involved in the passing game more, specifically in the red zone and on third down. 

TLH: How can the Cowboys take down the only undefeated team left?

GK: Maybe throw Dak in the lineup and score points? I’m teasing. But in all seriousness, I think the Cowboys only have seven offensive TDs all season. As I mentioned earlier, Philly’s offense can disappear, but they can also put up points in bunches. They just need to find some consistency.

I hate Ezekiel Elliott. I truly do, but he’s saved a lot of his best performances for his games versus the Birds, sort of like Jason Witten used to do. A heavy dose of Zeke and Tony Pollard keeps the Eagles’ offense sidelined. It also wears a defense down that tends to get winded and forget how to tackle.

Dallas’ defense is tough, but I don’t fear most of the stars. Trevon Diggs can be beaten, so I don’t really worry about anyone outside of Micah Parsons. If Dan Quinn continues to use him creatively, that could be an issue because this Eagles team is so well prepared, the only thing that could rattle them is a surprise, something that they haven’t studied.

TLH: What is your prediction for this primetime rivalry game?

GK: Coming into the season, I thought they’d split. I figured Dallas would win in Week 6 at Lincoln Financial Field. I thought Philly would win on Christmas Eve in Arlington. I’ve altered that theory some. I believe the Birds earn a sweep.

I look at Dallas and I wonder where they’ll get points from. Tony Pollard isn’t taking one 57 yards on the Eagles. Cooper Rush has yet to exceed 250 yards passing, and he only threw for 102 yards versus the Los Angeles Rams.

I like the line. I think the Eagles are better at every position and better coached, though Dan Quinn is a better defensive coordinator than Jonathan Gannon. All that being said, I think Dallas comes back to Earth and the Birds pull this one out. Let’s say 27-20 as a final score.

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A big thanks to Geoffrey for his time. We can’t wait to see what happens on Sunday!