NFC East Bout: Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The most important game on the Week 10 NFL schedule may be the Sunday night showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. The two teams have split their last 10 meetings with the road team winning eight of those 10 games, so anything is possible. At home, the Eagles are listed as 7-point favorites with an over/under of 43.5 points.

The Cowboys are getting desperate for a win after losing back-to-back games to drop to 3-5 on the season. Dallas is two games behind Washington in the NFC East standings and is starting a run of five straight games against teams that are .500 or better, including two games against the Eagles. If the Cowboys don’t win this game, they could see their season slip away quickly.

The Eagles are one game better than Dallas in the standings but decidedly less desperate for a win. Philly is 4-4 and coming off their bye week, which was preceded by a win over the Jaguars in London. Of course, the Eagles also have some challenging games down the stretch, and they certainly don’t want to fall below .500, especially when overtaking Washington for the top spot in the NFC East may be their only path to the playoffs.

The Dallas offense may have hit the low point in their season last week, as they got shut out in the 2nd half of their loss to the Titans. The running game that usually carries the Cowboys was held to just 72 yards on 19 carries. Meanwhile, Dak Prescott was sacked five times, negating his 68% completion rate.

On Sunday, the Cowboys will face a Philadelphia defense that’s nearly as good as the one they faced last week against the Titans. The only difference is now they’ll be doing it on the road. With Amari Cooper getting another week of practice with the Cowboys and becoming a bigger part of the offense, there is hope that his presence will start to make a difference. However, the Cowboys will struggle again on offense if they can’t do a better job of playing to their strengths and run the ball effectively.

Through eight games, we’ve haven’t even come close to seeing the Philadelphia offense that we saw last season. The Eagles are averaging a modest 22 points per game and only slightly more than that in the six games since Carson Wentz returned. Outside of a win over the lowly Giants, the Eagles haven’t come close to an offensive explosion.

To be fair, it’ll be interesting if the Eagles are able to find their groove offensively coming out of their bye. The key will be finding a solution to the running game, an area where consistency has been an issue since losing Jay Ajayi to injury. Of course, the Cowboys are also the owners of a top-5 defense, so they have a chance to contain Wentz and company despite giving up 28 points to Marcus Mariota and the Titans last week.

Once again, things are spiraling out of control for Jason Garrett and the Cowboys. Unfortunately, a trip to Philadelphia may not be the antidote. The Cowboys are winless on the road this year, and after last week’s poor performance at home, optimism is in short supply. Look for the Eagles to take full advantage of a team in turmoil. Bet on the Eagles winning and covering the 7-point spread o Sunday night.