It’s week 11 and those dastardly Philadelphia Eagles are coming to town. Carson Wentz and his little pals have pretty much had their way with everyone except for one non-division tilt with Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs.
There has been a lot a chatter about the Cowboys’ downward slide. From some really questionable non-calls by the officials, some questionable coaching calls and of course, the team staying healthy. Many times. where there is smoke, there’s fire so I see some validity in all three of those points.
Sean Lee will be out for several weeks and this hurts badly. There is a noticeable weakness that opponents are taking advantage of when Lee is sidelined.
On the bright side, Anthony Hitchens has really stepped it up and is playing in top form. He finished with 10 tackles and one-and-a-half tackles for a loss during the trouncing at the claws of the Atlanta Falcons. He’ll have to pull double-duty in trying to plug up the run-game of the leagues’ second-most proficient offensive attack.
Just as big of an absence is felt by the loss of Tyron Smith. If Smith does return (not guaranteed to) he most likely won’t be 100%. Dak was getting man-handled by the Falcons defensive front as a result of this loss and I’m not sure what kind of OL band-aid can stop this hemorrhage of defenders from finding their way into the backfield.
But the bottom line is: The Cowboys need this win.
They must win here on Sunday and then receive some help from both the Giants and the Redskins to keep the Philadelphia Eagles out of a mathematical playoff lock.
“(We) know what we’re getting into, and they know what they’re getting into. So, it is a big game. It’s a huge game. And most importantly it’s a big game because it’s the next one that we play. Second to that, it’s the Eagles. It’s a rivalry, and they are leading our division right now. … If we want to make a run at winning this division, giving ourselves a chance to play late into the season, it’s a game that we have to win.” – Dak Prescott
America’s Team has a quite a few things going for them in this situation:
- First of all, America’s Team has only been listed as a home underdog one other time in the last two seasons, and they won that outing, thus, are 100% in this situation.
- Secondly, Cowboys are 6-4 head-to-head over the Philadelphia Eagles throughout the last 10 meetings (the Eagles have snatched away two out of the last three).
- Third, the ‘Boys are 9-4 while playing in Dallas over the last two seasons. This is just shy of a 70% home win-rate!
- Fourth, they are 4-2 after a loss winning 66.7% of the time in a bounce-back situation and also covering the spread 66.7% after a loss as well. With the line being just 3-points, to cover the spread is to most likely win as well.
- Fifth, with the Eagles well-rested and fresh off their bye, and the Cowboys just coming off of a seriously ugly loss to the Falcons, you would think that the Eagles would come in as at least one-touchdown favorites. Fact is, they are only giving up a field-goal. This just goes to show that even in Vegas, the rivalry factor is respected.
The rivalry factor definitely has to be considered. These are anything-goes-type games and surely this is why the Eagles are only small favorites. We’ll have to check the top betting sites later in the week as the line could actually move back towards the Cowboys and their home-field advantage, which would be indicative of a highly competitive game to come.
This will be the game of the season. So, clear your afternoon to get your eyes in front of this broadcast. Injuries or not, these men know what’s at stake, the playoffs. Hey Philly fans, prepare for battle.
Some inspiration during Bad Moon week, with link to full article at bottom
“But despite all their talent, don’t think for a minute the ’71 Cowboys went untested. Their season was hardly a magic carpet ride. Dallas started 2-0 that year, but then the defending NFC champions lost three of their next five games, falling to 4-3 and two games behind first-place Washington in the NFC East after a 23-19 defeat in Chicago on Halloween.
Ditka recalls a players-only meeting shortly after that loss in which the leaders of the team stood up and cleared the air for everyone, making sure they were all on the same page as the final seven games of the season loomed. Landry that week came out and announced Staubach, the third-year veteran, would be the unquestioned starting quarterback for the first time, removing the divided locker room debate between him and Morton, who had started and lost Super Bowl V to the Colts the previous season.
The Cowboys won their final seven regular season games and all three of their playoff games, winning 10 in a row to close out the year and finally end their string of postseason heartbreaks. Dallas (11-3) won on the road in Minnesota in the NFC divisional round, beat San Francisco at home in the NFC title game, then dominated the Dolphins in the Super Bowl”
https://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/11/22/1971-cowboys
I’ve got a really bad feeling about this game. The Eagles aren’t perfect by any stretch, but they’ve got enough of a ground game to make things difficult for Dallas early which will open up the play action pass for Carson Wentz throughout.
I hate to say it, but it’s looking more and more likely that the Eagles are going to run away with the division this season.
Eagles have had the 3rd easiest schedule all year. They are beatable we beat the chiefs and the chiefs beat them. They are not as great as everyone is putting them to be. Yes they get lucky with lee and Elliott out. Honestly all the teams in top 7 easiest schedules are all 6-3 or better. I honestly think the bye week hurts Philly they were on a roll and had to take a week off. But the nfl will keep screwing Jerry and Dallas cuz of him suing thing. Philly is benefiting off beating teams 4-5 or worse one good game against Carolina that’s it. Dallas can beat this team. It took them a 61 yard field goal to beat the 1-8 giants. Field goal to beat the 3-6 chargers. It took them to the 4th quarter of both skins game to beat them.