Eagles at Cowboys predictions for Week 14 of NFL season
Eagles at Cowboys predictions for Week 14 of NFL season originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Eagles (10-2) are on the road to face the Cowboys (9-3) in a huge NFC East battle on Sunday Night Football.
To the predictions:
Reuben Frank (10-2)
I’m picking the Cowboys for the same reason I picked the 49ers. I don’t know how the Eagles can stop their offense. I’ve been very concerned about the Eagles’ defense for a while now. They won some games despite getting gashed, but it all caught up with them on Sunday. Now they have to go on the road and face a team with an even more explosive offense than the 49ers. The Cowboys are averaging an NFL-high 32.3 points per game and 34.1 at home. They’ve won 14 in a row in North Texas, winning by an average of 36-18. Over their last five games, the Eagles are allowing 29 points and 435 yards per game. They haven't been pressuring, they haven't been getting turnovers, they haven't been stopping the run and they've been allowing an alarming number of passing yards. This is the No. 1 scoring offense in the NFL vs. the 24th-ranked scoring defense. And the Eagles are going from one MVP candidate quarterback to another. Dak Prescott in his last six games has 20 touchdowns, two interceptions, 71 percent accuracy, 317 yards per game and an NFL-best 123.1 passer rating – just above Brock Purdy’s 120.2. CeeDee Lamb already has 90 catches and nearly 1,200 yards. Tony Pollard is on pace for 1,400 scrimmage yards. The Eagles will have Zach Cunningham back, and that’ll help. And Shaq Leonard will have a role, and that should help. But the Cowboys have scored at least 38 points in five straight home games, the first team to do that since the Lions over the 1952 and 1953 seasons. The Eagles have lost five straight at AT&T Stadium, and they haven’t swept Dallas since 2011. A win would be huge and a loss would be crushing. I expect the Eagles to score big points. Just not enough.
Cowboys 33, Eagles 31
Dave Zangaro (8-4)
There are plenty of reasons to expect the Eagles to lose this game. They got pummeled by the 49ers last week and will have to face an explosive offense on the road at AT&T Stadium, where the Cowboys rarely lose. Not to mention, the Cowboys are coming off an extra three days rest, which really does matter.
But I’m going to zag. I think the Eagles are going to win this game. Maybe that’s a tad foolish but we’re talking about a team that hasn’t lost back-to-back games with Jalen Hurts over the last two seasons. And, heck, they’ve lost a total of three games with Hurts at QB since the start of the 2022 season. I’ve like the mood of the team all week after an embarrassing loss to the 49ers and have some faith they’ll be dangerous with their backs against the wall a little bit. As far as the on-field stuff, the Eagles will get back Dallas Goedert in this game, which is a huge deal for both the pass game and run game. On defense, Bradley Roby will have an important role after missing the first Cowboys game. I don’t have a ton of faith that the Eagles will be able to stop the Cowboys’ offensive attack but I do have some faith that they’ll be able to score. The Eagles stalled out in the red zone last week, which really doomed them. But the pass protection was fantastic against the 49ers and if the offensive line can do that again, I think Hurts can throw on the Cowboys like we saw the Seahawks do last Thursday. I expect to see a big performance from one of the two top wideouts and I expect to see the Eagles run the ball more effectively against the interior of the Cowboys’ defensive line. This is going to be a nail-biter but I have the Eagles pulling off a somewhat unexpected win.
Eagles 31, Cowboys 28
Mike Mulhern (10-2)
First place is on the line Sunday night, but the good news for the Eagles is that no matter the result, they’ll still control their own destiny when it comes to the NFC East crown. If they simply win their last four games, they’ll become the first repeat winner of the division since the 2003-04 Birds. However, a win in Dallas would almost cement their finish ahead of the ‘Boys.
In his last seven games, Dak Prescott has 21 touchdowns to just two interceptions, good for a passer rating of 121.5. I know the familiar refrain when it comes to the Cowboys quarterback is “can he do it in the playoffs?” That’s a question for another day. He’s been on an absolute heater and generally saves his best performances for the Eagles. In the Nick Sirianni era, he’s got 14 touchdowns and just one pick in four meetings. With the shape the Eagles defense has been in of late, it will be imperative for the pass rushers to win in the trenches against the Cowboys offensive line. They really kept Prescott clean for most of the first matchup until late in the fourth quarter. If the Eagles aren’t going to get home until the closing minutes this time around it will already be too late.
While Prescott has been making his own case for MVP, the Cowboys defense has started to show some flaws. Daron Bland has been picking off passes, but he’s started to get picked on. The Seahawks went after him all game long a week ago, so expect him to be in Jalen Hurts’ crosshairs come Sunday night. Hurts has taken some completely off-base criticism this week from all corners, and I expect he’ll be out to prove a point. But I don’t see them getting enough stops to win. The Eagles have been on the losing end of some epic shootouts in Dallas (see: last season, even all the way back to 41-37 in 2008). I think it happens again.
Cowboys 37, Eagles 35
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