October 12, 2022
No week quite like Dallas Week, especially when the course of the NFC East is in the balance.
The Eagles are 5-0 and at the top, and the Cowboys, despite no Dak Prescott, have kept right behind them at 4-1.
The Eagles have yet to beat Dallas since Jalen Hurts became the starting quarterback, and they're coming off a performance against the Cardinals that was a win, but one that the team wasn't entirely happy with.
Now they'll be meeting their biggest rival under the stadium lights of Lincoln Financial Field in primetime, in one of the most electric sports weekends that Philadelphia hasn't seen in a long time.
How's this gonna go?
Here's what our writers think...
TV: NBC (Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark)
RADIO: 94.1 WIP (Merrill Reese and Mike Quick)
| Book | Spread | Money Line | Total (O/U) |
| DraftKings | PHI -5 | DAL +195 PHI -230 | 43 |
| FanDuel | PHI -5.5 | DAL +184 PHI -220 | 43.5 |
| BetMGM | PHI -4.5 | DAL +200 PHI -250 | 43.5 |
| UniBet | PHI -5 | DAL +175 PHI -225 | 43.5 |
| PointsBet | PHI -5 | DAL +190 PHI -240 | 43 |
I thought the Eagles were better than the Cowboys when both teams were at full strength during training camp, and that thinking has only been fortified further by (a) the potential season-ending injury to LT Tyron Smith, (b) the short-term loss of Dak Prescott, and (c) the Eagles' 5-0 start.
Give the Cowboys credit. It looked like their season was going straight down the toilet after a Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers during which the Cowboys' offense looked atrocious for more than three quarters before Prescott injured his thumb, but they have rallied behind their defense to win their next four games, even with Cooper Rush at quarterback.
Rush hasn't been good, as the Cowboys' offense is mostly impotent. They only have 12 plays of 20+ yards, and they're averaging just 8.8 passing first downs per game. They are bottom five in the NFL in both of those statistical metrics. On the other hand, Rush also hasn't been bad. He has 0 INTs and 0 lost fumbles in his four starts. In this matchup, he's going to have to do more than simply not giving the game away, so we'll see how that goes.
The Cowboys have been able to beat their last four opponents by abusing overmatched Bengals, Giants, Commanders, and Rams offensive lines with strong performances from Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence. The Eagles' offensive line, when healthy, will not be overmatched by anyone. There is some concern with the health of the Birds' O-line, as four starters are on the injury report, but it feels likely that their five starters will be good to go for Sunday night.
If the Cowboys' pass rush is neutralized, as I suspect it will be, at least in comparison to their recent opponents, the Eagles should finally be able to put this team away.
This just feels too good to be true. The Eagles are undefeated, the Sixers have some serious NBA Finals buzz and the Phillies are hanging tough in the NLDS (at least at the time of this posting). Philadelphia rarely has nice things. There seems to be an inescapably realistic scenario where the Eagles falter against the Cowboys, fall into second place behind Dallas and the city crumbles — as so it often does.
As a native of the area who enjoys covering good teams, I hope I am wrong, but the Cowboys' defense will be the best one the Birds will have faced and there is a relatively extended book out there on how the Eagles run their revamped offense. I think it'll be close, but I think the Eagles will fall to earth a tad this Sunday.
The bright lights of prime time against the Cowboys are where Eagles stars are made. The Birds haven’t pulled off a big national TV win in what feels like forever, but that matters not to the likes of A.J. Brown, Jordan Davis and the new key cogs that keep this Eagles machine running.
I don’t expect it to be the prettiest of games with how each defense has performed so far in 2022 and because of the absence of Dak Prescott, but give me the Eagles here even if they don’t cover.
I’ll say Jalen Hurts leads a game-winning drive, much like he did in Arizona last week, but connects with Brown for the go-ahead touchdown score that sends Lincoln Financial Field into a frenzy.
[Kyle is on vacation, but the thought of facing all his friends and family this weekend after picking the Cowboys to win is too terrifying to even consider. He would offer only an obligatory "Birds by a million" when reached for comment.]
Regardless of whether it's Dak Prescott or Cooper Rush under center for Dallas, this game is huge. Since Jalen Hurts became the starting quarterback, the Eagles haven't beaten the Cowboys, and despite their cap crunch, injuries, and seeming lack of depth on the roster, Dallas has managed to stay afloat in the NFC East.
Last week against Arizona was shaky, but so was Week 1 at Detroit, and the Eagles responded to that by coming home and blowing out the Vikings.
Now they're coming into another primetime matchup at the Linc after a performance that the team wasn't entirely happy with. I'm hesitant to predict another blowout, but I do think the Eagles come back with a much more complete effort. They'll beat the Cowboys and make it clear that the NFC East is their division again.
The Cowboys are in an interesting spot trying to rush back their QB, despite their backup winning every game he's played. The Eagles are dealing with some injuries to their bread and butter - OL - and face the toughest defense so far.
The spread is ridiculously too large for a divisional game, but the reality is the Eagles won't find a way to lose this one. It's probably going to be the first 4th quarter comeback of the season, but expect Jalen Hurts to outplay the QB position on Dallas, and the Eagles to win 31-30.
There is only one unbeaten team left in the NFL but there are two starting quarterbacks with no blemishes: Jalen Hurts and Cooper Rush. If you were able to get that prop bet Las Vegas is calling. The 5-0 Eagles host the 4-1 Cowboys on "Sunday Night Football" and Rush, who has 14 transactions on his resume since arriving in the league as an undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan in 2017, has game-managed Dallas to a 4-0 record since Dak Prescott went down with a thumb injury that required surgery in a season-opening loss to Tampa Bay.
The Cowboys have had the Eagles' number recently but the landscape has done a 180 in 2022 and it's now the Eagles with the explosive offense and Dallas with the smaller margin of error.
What the Cowboys do have is perhaps the most dominant defender in the game in former Penn State star Micah Parsons, who is expected to play despite a tweaked groin, and noted Eagles killer Trevon Diggs, who already has four interceptions against Philadelphia in his young career, including a 59-yard pick-six of Jalen Hurts last season.
The small path to a Dallas win is turnovers and while the Cowboys are still great at taking it away, the Eagles lead the NFL in turnover differential with Hurts managing to steward an offense that generates explosive plays yet takes care of the football. That's a recipe you can't game-manage your way past and 6-0 is right around the corner for Philadelphia.
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