Brett's Cowboys Corner

In Cooper we trust.

The Cowboys will play a familiar opponent this Sunday, in a place where their luck has run dry, AT&T Stadium. The Eagles come into this game 6-2, on a nice 4 game heater. The Eagles will likely try to make quick work of Dallas, as they’ve seen done by others. But more importantly, Philly has a short week, playing another divisional opponent Thursday, the first place Washington Commanders.

The Cowboys will have to hope the Eagles under prepare for them this week and get the offense moving quickly. In a season that may be fading, the Cowboys don’t like these guys and will not lay down against Philly.

• Rico is the Cowboys best back, this is a week where he will be needed and ultimately can prove that we need to stop this nonsense with the other guys and that Dowdle is RB1. There should be plenty of shares for Rico.
• Lamb needs to be a playmaker for a chance to win this week. This is an offense that will need a spark and need big plays, look towards the best guy to give the football too, Ceedee Lamb.
• Diggs will have an opportunity to matchup against AJ Brown, who is a physical receiver and someone he is very familiar with. Diggs can help his team and himself as he is battling a lot of allegations about his play ability and physicality.

• Smith will line up in the slot primarily. He is a big chunk play receiver, and will look for the big time plays. If the Eagles want to slash the Cowboys, they will likely look for DeVonta Smith.
• Goedert always seems to find a good game against Dallas, he will attack the short first downs and keep the ball going for Philly. The Cowboys matched up well with the tight end Pitts last week, need a repeat performance here.
• Carter is a powerful force in the middle. He will be looking to cause all sorts of pressure on Rush. This will be an interesting matchup as Zack Martin will line up against him who hasn’t had his best season so far.

1 – Parsons And Friends Get to Hurts.

The return of Micah Parsons to the line up is much needed. Micah is going to be looking to make up for lost time, and no better matchup than Fred Johnson the left tackle. He is responsible for most sacks and pressures, as they generally come from that left side. We have also seen some moments from Carl Lawson, that will need to continue.

Jalen Hurts has been sacked 22 times this year. He has some fumbles and forced interceptions. If you can apply the pressure to Hurts than you can force some mistakes. Head Coach Nick Sirianni, will get into his own head sometimes. He has seen the big blowouts other teams have done to Dallas. He absolutely wants to be apart of that…meaning there will be some ill-advised pass plays called. Take advantage of that, which leads me to the next key.

2 – Win The Turnover Battle.

You have to win the turnover battle, the real key is keeping that number to zero offensive turnovers, and maybe forcing an Eagles turnover. This will be big for the Cowboys defense, Hurts has had a clean track record the past 4 weeks, but to start the season he had 7 turnovers. We need to get Jalen back to that style, defense needs to take away a possession or two, giving the offense more opportunities.

Cooper Rush has had some success starting for the Cowboys, 6-1 as a starter but that lone loss was the Eagles. Starting 5 games in 2022, Cooper didn’t throw a single interception until that Eagles lost. He needs to channel those early games here. Keep the throws short and sweet. Smart throws, find the open guy or dump it off. We also need to avoid throwing the ball 30 times this game, which leads to me to…

3 – Run The Football.

This will be a big game for the running back room. It seems the past 9 weeks we have been asking for Dallas to figure out the run game. They need it more than ever this week. The more we run the less we have to be in a throwing situation. This also goes towards the defense, because as long as we aren’t getting blown out, we won’t have to feel the need to throw.

But if the backs are dominating on the ground, than they’ll keep getting the ball. The key on the Eagles is running toward the edges, other than Brandon Graham, they have not been a great edge setting team. It doesn’t matter if it is Rico, Zeke, Cook, Luepke, or even Deuce…someone needs to dominate on the ground.

4 – Don’t Let Saquon Make This Easy.

Saquon Barkley has been a dominate force for this Eagles team. He balances out a lot of struggles in the run and passing game. If the Eagles are smart, they go to him early and see if he can dominate this entire game. The Cowboys can’t make it look easy for him. This will allow Philly to get into situations where they need to throw and make more plays down the field.

Saquon Barkley has accounted for 33.8% of the Eagles’ scrimmage yards this season, the highest share by any player in the NFL. With 925 yards rushing, he will be looking to eclipse 1k Sunday.

In the favor of the Cowboys, Saquon is 0-10 against Dallas, so something is always off when playing the Cowboys. We will see if that stays true or if it was just a much needed change of scenery.