The first real test of the Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts era is already here.
After a frustrating loss last Sunday, the Eagles now stand at 1-1, heading into a crucial game in prime time against the Dallas Cowboys. Not only is this game in prime time, but it is against their biggest rivals and will almost certainly end up carrying playoff implications. As Sirianni and Hurts try to build the Eagles back to a winning team, games like this are big not only in the standings, but in the locker room.
Yes, they could certainly lose and still make the playoffs — but with the upcoming schedule, this is definitely a game they need to win.
The problem? There is a lot stacked against them heading into Monday night.
Here are the 3 biggest concerns heading into the Eagles game against the Dallas Cowboys.
The offensive line: The Eagles have had one of the best offensive lines in the league so far through two weeks, something they hoped would be the case heading the season. The issue? It might have already fallen apart. The Eagles will do into Monday night without Jordan Mailata and Brandon Brooks, replacing them with Andre Dillard and Landon Dickerson. Perhaps one day Dillard and Dickerson will become starting-caliber players, but right now they are reasons to be concerned, even against a bad Dallas defensive line. If the Eagles offensive line is struggling there is almost no chance they are going to win the game.
Cowboys Running Game: The Cowboys are without Michael Gallup and will (at best) have a banged-up Amari Cooper. That is an obvious blow to their passing game, but so far, they have been able to lean on their run game in a big way. The Cowboys are averaging 129 yards-per-game on the ground, doing it behind strong starts to the season from Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard. The Eagles defense, meanwhile, has struggled against the run. Through two games the Eagles are giving up an average of 120.5 yards-per-game, which is 23rd in the NFL.
Cowboys create turnovers, Eagles don't: The Cowboys have created six turnovers so far through two games. Only two teams in the league have created more. The Eagles, on the other hand, haven't created a single turnover in two weeks despite multiple chances to do so. Perhaps the luck will start to swing the Eagles way, but in a league where the team that wins the turnover battle almost always wins the game, the Cowboys seem much-more likely to force the Eagles into a turnover than the Eagles are to take the ball away.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!
