Here’s how Cowboys can beat the Eagles: Avoiding laundry, stressing seams
The Dallas Cowboys extended their home undefeated streak to 14 straight games Thursday night, but it was unlike any game at AT&T Stadium thus far in the 2023 season. The Cowboys weren’t sitting their starters with a significant lead in the fourth quarter. Instead, they needed nearly every second to put away the Seattle Seahawks 41-35. The offense showed up like they have every game since their bye week. Dak Prescott continued to play like an MVP candidate, and CeeDee Lamb kept up his dominant performances in 2023.
The defense was a surprising letdown, but they came up with big stops late to help seal the victory for Dallas. That was enough against Seattle, but if the Cowboys want to beat the 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles, the offense must continue to carry a considerable burden, and the defense will also need to play much better. Here are some things the team must do to beat Philadelphia and take over the lead in the NFC East.
How they win: Attack using Ferguson
In a blowout, the QB is free to open things up, but in close games they focus on their go to guys. Jake Ferguson is one of those key players. In the Cowboys close games, Ferguson has been at his most impactful. Against the Seahawks he had six receptions for 77 yards and the go-ahead touchdown. The next close game was when Dallas went to Philadelphia, and he had his best game. He had seven catches that game, for 91 yards and a score.
That performance is why Ferguson is key in their next contest. The Eagles haven’t been good at covering the tight end position. They don’t have top-end players at the safety or linebacker position who can take away the tight end like they did with C.J. Gardner-Johnson last season. Ferguson had the best performance, but George Kittle had four receptions on six targets for 68 yards, Dalton Kincaid caught five of his six targets for 38 yards, and Travis Kelce caught seven of his nine targets for 44 yards and a score while being double teamed most of the game.
Philadelphia can be attacked with the TE position. Ferguson has been Prescott’s go-to guy other than Lamb, and the best linebacker the Eagles have might be newly signed Shaquille Leonard who has had no time to learn their system. Dallas has to make it a point to match up Ferguson in the pass game against Philadelphia’s linebackers and safeties. They can exploit that mismatch, especially on third downs or in the red zone.
How they lose: Allow Swift to get loose
D’Andre Swift was the original trigger that set off the Philadelphia offense this season. After the Eagles had only 251 total yards and 18 points against the New England Patriots in their opening contest, they went to Swift as a workhorse in Week 2 in order to beat the Minnesota Vikings. They handed it to him 28 times for 175 yards and a touchdown.
In the next three games Swift rushed the ball 47 times for 256 yards. He became the key to the Philadelphia offense. Them the New York Jets held him to 1.8 yards per rush on only 10 attempts and beat the Eagles. It started a trend of QB Jalen Hurts playing poorly when Swift wasn’t able to be a big contributor to the offense. Hurts was intercepted three times in that Jets game.
In four of the next five games Swift was a bigger contributor again, rushing 57 times for 275 yards, nearly five yards an attempt. The only outlier was Dallas, who held him to 2.4 yards a rush and nearly upset the Eagles in Philadelphia.
The Cowboys need to be able to do the same because the Philadelphia offense isn’t the same without him. The San Francisco 49ers held Swift to 13 yards on six attempts and blew them out.
Swift gets the offensive line moving the opposition’s defense and wears them down, which opens up the big plays down field and screens underneath that the Eagles offense is known for. Shut him down and it’s easier to shut down their defense overall, let him loose and the Eagles don’t lose.
How they win: Limit self-inflicted mistakes
The biggest key in each and every Cowboys game has been self-inflicted mistakes. When the Cowboys blowout their opponents they average six penalties for 43 yards and Prescott has only throw two interceptions in seven contests. In the losses to the Arizona Cardinals, 49ers, and Eagles, plus their close victories against the Seahawks and Los Angeles Chargers, the discipline isn’t the same.
The 49ers picked off Prescott three times, and the Cowboys committed six penalties for 60 yards. The Cardinals intercepted Prescott once and the team committed a season high 13 penalties for 107 yards. The lost to the Eagles saw Dallas commit another 10 penalties for 83 yards. In their two close victories they combined for 20 penalties for 212 yards.
Penalties are a clear issue that Dallas needs to clean up with this gauntlet of games that include the Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and Detroit Lions upcoming. It is more than just that, its cleaning up even more self-inflicted mistakes like they had last game in Philadelphia.
With the game on the line, a pass came up inches short to Luke Schoonmaker. Instead of a touchdown it was a turnover on downs. The QB stepped out of bounds on a two-point conversion. With a 1st-and-5 from the six-yard line the Cowboys committed a false start, then gave up a sack and ended up with a 2nd-and-21 from the 22-yard line. If Dallas wants to win, they can’t beat themselves, make their opponent have to beat them.
How they lose: If they can't protect Dak
The last game against the Eagles was lost due to a lack of protection for the QB. Terence Steele gave away a late sack that Dallas couldn’t overcome, but it wasn’t just that late play. Steele had a PFF pass-blocking grade of 15 overall on 57 pass block snaps. He allowed 12 pressures, seven hurries, and four sacks.
When any QB has to worry about the pass rush too much, it makes it difficult to go through all of their progressions in the pocket. The Philadelphia defense can be attacked through the air if the QB has time. Sam Howell threw for 397 yards and four touchdowns. Josh Allen was able to put up 339 yards and two scores. Purdy had 314 yards and four TD passes in their last game.
Even with poor offensive line play, Prescott was able to rack up 374 yards and three scores himself. Dallas should be able to win in the passing game, Howell threw for 290 yards and a single TD in the Washington Commanders first meeting with the Eagles, but he threw for 100 more yards and three more scores with a second shot at them. The Cowboys QB would be hard pressed to put up better stats, but with a little better protection the offense could be better in key situations like in the red zone or late in the game. If they can’t protect the QB a key sack or turnover could be what losses them the contest and a shot at the division.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or YouTube on the Across the Cowboys Podcast.
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