FRISCO, Texas — Sunday night’s matchup between the 2-5 Dallas Cowboys and 2-4-1 Philadelphia Eagles will determine who takes first place of the embattled NFC East. Both teams have just two wins through the first seven weeks of the season and have rosters that have been decimated by injuries.
Much like the Cowboys, the Eagles’ offensive line has been a revolving door. Jason Peters and Andre Dillard are both on the reserved/injured list and both Lane Johnson and Jack Driscoll missed the week seven game with ankle injures.
The Cowboys will get Zack Martin back this week (concussion) and he will add much needed reinforcement to an offensive line that allowed six sacks and eight quarterback pressures against Washington. Andy Dalton and Ben DiNucci faced relentless pressure in week seven as the pocket collapsed around them.
Dalton remains in the league’s concussion protocol as the team practiced on Thursday and rookie Ben DiNucci will get his first NFL start on Sunday if Dalton cannot return to the field. As a backup, the job description entitles constant preparation to start at any given moment, but this week DiNucci is receiving all the snaps during practice with the one’s building more confidence and expectation of what is to come vs. Philadelphia.
“ Ben has a lot more movement ability than people realize, “ Mike McCarthy told reporters. “ I go back when the rookies first arrived and going through the conditioning segment, he was posting numbers 20, 21 mph running in some of the drills…At the end of the day, we are getting ready to play a very aggressive defense. Anticipate a lot of blood defenders, close to the line of scrimmage. We will do what we need to do accordingly in our game plan in how we are going to attack that. I would definitely say Ben’s movement skills are definitely an asset.”
With a banged up offensive line, a rookie quarterback, and an increasing need to establish the run game, the Eagles will likely stack the box on Sunday night in an attempt to bottle up Ezekiel Elliott early on like Washington did last week.
Elliott told D210Sports, “ I think there will be more loaded fronts from them…we’ve just got to use our fundamentals, use our coaching, and go out there and execute. If they get too loaded down in there, we have a good amount of weapons on the outside and I think Ben can throw a go ball. “
Washington’s strength on defense was in their frontline and this week it is the same with the Eagles’ front four. Jim Schwartz uses a one-gap scheme generating penetration from the defensive line. For Dallas, winning the battle in the trenches will be critical on Sunday. Philadelphia has recorded 24.0 sacks, which is tied for third in the league and largely without utilizing blitzes due to the pressure applied from the four-man front.
For Dallas, the defense has continued to disappoint week-to-week with its inability to stop the run and big plays allowed by the secondary with opposing receivers running wide open. There has been no gap control by the defense creating open seams for quarterbacks/running backs, and poor eye discipline in the secondary with players not paying attention to the man they are supposed to be covering.
The Cowboys’ defense is ranked last in the league with the most points allowed per game and have given up over 200 rushing yards three times in the last four games, including 208 rushing yards Sunday against Washington.
Owner and General manger, Jerry Jones, said there would be personnel changes at the outset at the week and the team delivered. Everson Griffen was traded to the Lions on Tuesday for a conditional 2021 sixth round pick and both Dontari Poe and Daryl Worley were placed on the trade block but after unsuccessful offers, the team cut both defenders.
McCarthy briefly discussed the decision with media, stating it was “ Based on performance and giving other players, particularly the younger players, an opportunity.”
Dallas will get several key playmakers back on defense this week. Sean Lee (sports hernia) and Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring) returned to practice after being on IR. The defense has not been able to get off the field or create takeaways and this week, it is do or die. If not now, when?
Linebacker Jaylon Smith summed up the team’s urgency on Thursday noting, “We have to change the narrative.”
