Dallas Week
The Philadelphia Eagles are coming off of a home opener loss to face their biggest rival, the Dallas Cowboys, on Monday Night Football.
There are a couple keys to this game. The first being time of possession. It will be important for the Eagles to control the game and try to keep the ball out of the hands of the Dallas offense as much as possible. Miles Sanders has been impressive in his first two starts of the season and I would look to give him an increased workload. Establishing the run will help control the tempo of the game and also set up some passing options.
On the other side of the ball, the Eagles defense needs to sack QB Dak Prescott. It will not be enough to just get close to Prescott, as he has proven to be an effective passer under pressure. Dallas has a great receiving group, and it will be challenging to keep them at bay if they are not bringing the QB down.
The matchup I’m most interested to watch is the Cowboys offense against the Eagles defense. I believe those are each teams’ strongest attributes, and this will be Philly’s most challenging test yet. Philadelphia should be able to put up points against the Dallas defense, but limiting how many they need to do so to win, could prove prudent.
It appears Jordan Mailata will miss the contest due to a knee injury he suffered in Friday’s practice. This is obviously a huge blow to the team. Andre Dillard will get the nod in his place.
The Eagles can certainly win this game but I think their best shot to do so will be the “old school” way. Not the exciting, high flying, powerful offensive showing that people want to see, but with strategy, control and good defense.
It will be Jalen Hurts first appearance in a prime time game as the Eagles starting quarterback. It will be the 29th regular season, prime time start for his counterpart, Dak Prescott.
Ultimately, I think the injuries the Eagles have endured over the last week to multiple key players, and the discrepancy in experience will be too much to overcome. I think the Eagles see their second loss in as many weeks, 26-24.