Two teams. Two 2-4 records. And two fan bases wondering where everything went wrong.
The Dallas Cowboys head to Philadelphia on Monday night for a matchup that looked a whole lot more exciting when the schedule first came out. Instead of two NFC East heavyweights fighting for control of the division, we’ve got two teams desperately trying to remember how to win football games.
In fact, this will be just the second primetime meeting between these rivals where both teams enter at least two games below .500. The last one came in 2020, when Carson Wentz and the Eagles beat Ben DiNucci and the Cowboys.
So… we’re in some pretty exclusive company here.
The Eagles have been devastated by injuries, particularly on offense. Dallas, meanwhile, has been relatively consistent.
Consistently allowing defenses to have career-best days against them, and an offense that’s always playing behind.
The Cowboys have scored just 29 points over their last two games, their lowest two-game total with Dak Prescott starting and finishing both contests since 2019.
And yet, if there’s one thing that gives me some hope, it’s Prescott’s history against the NFC East. Dak is 38-11 against division opponents, the third-best record by a quarterback against his division since 1970. His 103.1 passer rating against NFC East opponents ranks second over that span, behind only Aaron Rodgers.
Of course, those numbers don’t mean much if Dallas keeps playing like it has the last two weeks.
Monday night marks the 33rd primetime meeting between the Cowboys and Eagles, the most between any two franchises in NFL history.
Unfortunately, this one feels a little less like a battle for the division and a little more like a battle to avoid embarrassment.
For Philadelphia, they had some suspicious wins to start the year. Then four straight losses- haven’t won a game in a month. Unfortunately, they lost their starting quarterback for the year. Jalen Hurts is dealing with a serious health issue, and hopefully he can make a comeback and make this division fun once again.
Christian Parker’s Homecoming… Sort Of
One of the storylines I was really looking forward to entering the season was Christian Parker returning to Philadelphia.
Parker spent the previous two seasons working under Vic Fangio, helping coach an Eagles defense that became one of the NFL’s best. When Dallas hired him as defensive coordinator, it felt like an exciting opportunity for a young coach to take what he learned in Philadelphia and build something of his own.
Monday night was supposed to be a chance to see that progress.
Instead, we’re six games into the season, and the Cowboys are still trying to figure out their defensive identity.
Dallas has struggled with communication, coverage assignments, personnel rotations and generating consistent pressure. Even after bringing in veteran coach Mike Pettine to help, the defense remains a work in progress.
To be fair, the unit showed some improvement against Green Bay. Rashan Gary generated nine pressures, and Dallas finally created its first interception of the season.
But let’s not throw a parade just yet.
The Cowboys are still particularly vulnerable against tight ends, which could become a problem against Dallas Goedert. Dallas has allowed an 84.6% success rate on short passes targeting tight ends, the highest in the NFL.
Goedert, meanwhile, has averaged 2.1 yards per route in his three full games this season and has been one of Philadelphia’s most reliable receiving options.
Now Parker gets to face his former boss, Vic Fangio, while trying to prove that his own defense is heading in the right direction.
This was supposed to be Parker’s chance to show Philadelphia what it was missing.
Right now, I think Cowboys fans would settle for showing us a defense that knows how to get off the field.
Philadelphia’s Defense Isn’t Exactly Flying High Either
For all the problems Dallas has defensively, Philadelphia hasn’t exactly been living up to expectations either. And that’s surprising when you look at the talent.
Jalen Carter. Jordan Davis. Zack Baun. Cooper DeJean. Quinyon Mitchell.
That’s a pretty impressive collection of defensive players. But the results haven’t matched the names.
The Eagles have recorded just eight sacks through six games, and despite having talented defensive linemen, they’ve struggled to consistently finish plays in the backfield.
According to Next Gen Stats, Philadelphia has rushed four or fewer defenders on 75.9% of opposing dropbacks, the fifth-highest rate in the NFL. On those plays, they’ve generated pressure just 31.7% of the time, slightly below the league average of 32.5%.
And even when they get pressure, they’ve struggled to turn it into sacks.
That’s forced Vic Fangio to occasionally get more creative with his pressure packages, potentially opening opportunities elsewhere in coverage.
Opponents have also found success attacking the intermediate areas of Philadelphia’s defense, while missed tackles have turned manageable gains into bigger plays.
Even players like Baun and DeJean haven’t been immune to those mistakes.But I also think the Eagles defense deserves a little context.
Philadelphia’s offense has struggled so badly that the defense has repeatedly been forced to play extended stretches, sometimes facing more than 70 snaps in a game.
That’s a lot to ask of any defensive unit, particularly one dealing with injuries and depth concerns.
The Eagles have been outgained by 650 total yards this season, the worst yardage differential in the NFL and Philadelphia’s worst through six games since 1999.
During their four-game losing streak, that differential is an astonishing –723 yards.
For perspective, the last time Philadelphia had a four-game stretch that bad was in 1972.
Nineteen seventy-two!
So while the Eagles defense hasn’t played particularly well, the offense certainly hasn’t been helping.
Can Dak Take Advantage?
Here’s where things get interesting.
Philadelphia’s pass rush hasn’t been particularly effective, but that doesn’t automatically mean Dallas is going to have an easy night.
We just watched Jonathan Gannon completely disrupt the Cowboys offense with pressure packages in Green Bay. Prescott finished with two interceptions, and Dallas couldn’t consistently find answers when the Packers brought extra rushers.
Now Prescott gets to face Vic Fangio, another experienced defensive coordinator who knows how to disguise coverages and make quarterbacks uncomfortable.
And the Cowboys’ recent offensive tendencies aren’t exactly encouraging.
According to Next Gen Stats, Prescott has thrown more than 60% of his passes between zero and nine air yards in each of his last two games.
Dallas lost both.
In fact, under Brian Schottenheimer, the Cowboys are 0-5 when Prescott’s short-pass rate reaches 60%. That becomes especially interesting against Philadelphia, which has allowed just a 43.6% success rate on short passes this season, the third-lowest mark in the NFL.
In other words, Dallas can’t simply rely on throwing underneath all night and expect different results.
The Cowboys need to attack the intermediate areas of the field, where opponents have found opportunities against Philadelphia, while continuing to establish some balance with Javonte Williams.
And here’s another number worth watching: Philadelphia has allowed 101 quarterback pressures this season, the most in the NFL.
If Dallas can take advantage of that struggling offensive protection and put Tanner McKee under pressure, it could give the Cowboys some much-needed opportunities to create turnovers.
But the offensive line and Prescott also need to hold up against whatever Fangio throws at them.
Because after the last two weeks, I’m not particularly interested in watching another game where Dallas spends four quarters trying to figure out who’s blitzing.
Somebody Has to Win… Probably
Here’s the strange part about this game.
Despite everything that’s gone wrong for both teams, neither is completely out of the NFC East race.
Dallas and Philadelphia enter Monday night at 2-4, and if the Giants lose Sunday, the winner on Monday will be a half game back from first place.
So somehow, this matchup between two struggling teams still carries legitimate divisional implications.
For Dallas, the opportunity is obvious.
The Cowboys have a chance to beat a depleted rival, improve their division record and get back into the conversation before the season completely slips away.
But they have to start playing like a team capable of taking advantage of those opportunities.
That means protecting Prescott, finding some balance offensively and, for the love of everything, figuring out how to play defense.
Because if Dallas can’t get things right against an Eagles team dealing with this many injuries, I’m not sure when it’s going to happen.
Monday Night Football. Cowboys versus Eagles.
It might not be the game we expected.
But at least somebody has a chance to feel better about themselves when it’s over.
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