Brett's Cowboys Corner

The Eagles are in their kelly green jerseys, looking to clinch the NFC East. A team that hates their guts stands in the way. The Cowboys will look to play spoiler and keep the division race alive, at least for Washington.

Regardless of records, this matchup always brings animosity and a competitive game. As the Cowboys plan to keep playing hard for Coach McCarthy, and the Eagles chase NFL records, we will see what fun this game will bring us.

For the NFL Playoffs, Dallas is eliminated from contention and Philly has clinched a spot. This game still is meaningful for the Eagles, as a win clinches the NFC East and guarantees a home playoff game. Additionally, they can still claim the #1 seed and first-round bye. With a Detroit and Minnesota loss this week, Philly can win out and claim #1 as long as Minnesota beats Detroit in week 18.

• Thomas will likely have an increased role this week, especially if Donovan Wilson is not good to go. There have been flashes for Thomas and this can be a roster statement game.
• With Ceedee Lamb missing, a lot of people will have the opportunity to step up, the 6th round rookie can create a name for himself today.
• Liufau has been stacking good games. Overshown had a big role against Philly in week 10 early on. Liufau will have to step into that role this week.

• DeJean has been apart of a great Eagles secondary. Rush targets the slot corner often, and DeJean has allowed a league low 4.8 yards per target.
• Johnson has not allowed many pressures, and averages 3.95 seconds of throw time for his QB. He will likely see a lot of Micah Parsons this week, which will be a tough matchup.
• Brown has caught plenty of tight window throws, as the Eagles #1 receiver, he will need to make himself available for the back up QB and make their job easier.

1 – Win The Thrilling QB Matchup.

Cooper Rush vs. Kenny Pickett. Get the popcorn.

This may be a rare occurrence of a game where Cooper Rush is the better QB going into it. With Pickett’s career as a starter in Pittsburgh not working out, they quickly moved on from him. Pickett moved across the state and has been Philadelphia’s backup this year.

Pickett replaced an injured Jalen Hurts last week, and did not hold onto the Eagle lead, eventually losing the game to Washington. This will be Pickett’s first start in over a year.

As for Rush, he has gotten more comfortable since the last time he met Philly. Week 10 he failed to complete a pass over 10 yards in air, and had less than 50 passing yards total. Over the past three weeks, Rush has completed 17 of 27 downfield passes (10+ air yards) for 328 yards and 6 touchdowns without an interception.

2 – Shutdown Saquon.

Saquon Barkley will be a focal point of the offense, with a rushing record insight and having a back up QB playing, which tends to lean on over-reliance on a run game.

Saquon Barkley (1,838) is 268 rushing yards away from passing hall of famer Eric Dickerson in 1984 (2,105) for the single-season NFL record. Barkley needs to average 134 rushing yards per game over his remaining two games to break the record. His six total games of at least 134 rushing yards this season is the most in the NFL.

While the Eagles will be battling the internal dilemma of wanting to help Barkley get the NFL record. They also know how invaluable he is to the success of the Eagles offense. With playoffs clinched, is it worth having Barkley be a 20 carry workhorse Sunday.

3 – A New Top Receiver.

The Cowboys decided to shutdown Ceedee Lamb for the rest of the season. He has been dealing with a shoulder injury, and maybe if the Cowboys had the Eagles record he’d still be playing. But with the Cowboys out of playoff contention, this will be a chance for someone else to step up.

Brandin Cooks is the veteran receiver who will get a good chunk of the targets, but missing Lamb means you have slot receiver and outside receiver snaps to go around. Jalen Brooks, a 7th round pick last year and Ryan Flournoy, a 6th round pick this year, are the two guys who could use this opportunity the most.

KaVontae Turpin has already proved his value, and is need of a contract in 2025. He is lined up to get one, hopefully with Dallas but a lot of teams would be interested.

Two guys that will be here in 2025 but just need a confidence boost and prove some value are Jalen Tolbert and Johnathan Mingo. Tolbert has a had some good plays this year, but has a 3rd round pick in 2022, he needs to make a stamp for himself as a legit starting option. Mingo was traded for mid-season for a valuable 4th round pick, many have disagreed with the initial trade and he has yet to show anything that would make the trade worth it.

4 – Micah Parsons Domination.

Since his return, which was against the Eagles in week 10 where he had 1.5 sacks. Parsons has been dominate, he has also improved the guys around him. Zimmer’s defense has looked in tune for the first time this year, and it seems the players have figured the scheme out.

It will be an interesting offseason for the Cowboys coaches, but these late year heroics from Parsons and company, might have saved Mike Zimmer’s job as Cowboys Defensive Coordinator.

Micah Parsons has accounted for over one-fifth of the Cowboys total pressures (24.1%) and total sacks (21.6%) despite having missed four full games this season. Parsons has generated 47 pressures and 8.5 sacks since returning from injury in Week 10, both of which are the most in the NFL during that span.

Parsons will just need a half of a sack today to get him into double digits for the first four years of his NFL career.