It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the Cowboys and Eagles play a game where both teams were considered among the very best in the NFC.
With the Cowboys sitting at 4-1 and the Eagles at 5-0, Sunday will mark the first time the two teams are at least three games above .500 since Dallas beat Philadelphia on the road in December of 2014.
The Eagles enter Sunday night as a clear 6.5-point favorite, but this is a game that the Cowboys can absolutely win on the road.
Here are three keys to victory for the Cowboys in Philadelphia on Sunday:
Make Jalen Hurts beat you as a passer
Jalen Hurts has greatly improved as a passer, and his ability to stress the defense with his mobility creates a lot of favorable looks for him to throw the ball. It’s one of the main reasons Philadelphia leads the NFL in net yards per pass attempt.
But while Hurts has indeed improved, there are still some real deficiencies when he’s asked to carry the Eagles offense with his arm.
Hurts’ passer rating when tied or trailing in games this year is 77.7, which puts him 29th in the NFL among 40 qualifying quarterbacks. When the game becomes more about what Hurts can do from the pocket with his passing ability, he still tends to struggle.
If you keep Hurts confined to the pocket and force him to throw the Eagles into the game then Dallas has a better chance of winning this game.
Find Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
There was a lot of groaning when the Eagles acquired defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson from the Saints this offseason, but it’s been a really rough start to his Eagles career.
Whether it’s playing centerfield, up in the box, or in the slot, Gardner-Johnson has struggled in all aspects of his play. Gardner-Johnson has been credited with 3 passing touchdowns allowed, which is half of the total the Eagles have given up this year. His missed tackle percentage is north of 20%, and Pro Football Reference has him allowing a career-high 103.0 passer rating in coverage.
Gardner-Johnson isn’t playing a ton in the slot this season (it’s only accounted for about 15% of his snaps) but if the Cowboys come to the line of scrimmage and see him in coverage on the inside against someone like CeeDee Lamb, they need to take advantage of it. That might mean having checks built in at the line of scrimmage so Rush can audible easily audible to the mismatch in the slot.
Attack the right side of Philadelphia’s defense
If there’s one area where the Cowboys offense might be able to find some consistent success, it’s probably running behind the left side of their offensive line.
The Cowboys have run the ball efficiently to the left side of their offense to the tune of 5.6 yards per carry, which is more than a yard per carry better than their showing on the right side of the offensive line.
Dallas’ strength in running to the left side of their offensive line – which is the right side of the defense – fits perfectly with Philadelphia’s weaknesses against the run. The Eagles have allowed a whopping 6.5 yards per carry on runs to the right side of their defense, one of the worst figures in the league. That’s almost twice as many yards per attempt as Philadelphia is allowing on the left side of their defense (3.3 yards per attempt).
The running game will be a big part of Dallas’ approach on Sunday, but it’s crucial that Dallas attacks the right side of Philadelphia’s defense specifically until they prove they can slow it down.
