Well hello. I'm Dave Mangels from Bleeding Green Nation. No, I'm not lost. As many already know, writers across SB country are crossing the enemy line this week. RJ Ochoa, who is secretly, and maybe not so secretly, an Eagles fan, came to BGNand Brandon Goughton dropped by here.
Then on Thursday, David Halprin came onto our property and wrote about 4 things the Eagles must do to beat the Cowboys. Turnaround is fair game, so we sent our Dave – hey wait, it's me – to highlight 4 things the Cowboys need to do to beat the Eagles.
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The Eagles are defeated. Bad loss. They lost in eight games. AJ Brown's biggest successes this year have come on social media. The head vibration coach had seen two players retire shortly after joining the team, and they brought another guy out of retirement to improve the atmosphere in the locker room. Two weeks ago, in a tight primetime game, they crapped themselves late in the game, and then did it again the following week. Things are going well big.
The Cowboys can win this game. Everyone the Eagles have faced can beat them. Every game the Eagles have played this season except against the Giants has been a one-goal game.
Play at pace
Even though they have a Goliath team, the Eagles are sticking to the David strategy by shortening the game. Every time the Eagles attack, it feels like they are trying to kill time, leading their opponents by 4 points at the end of the game. The Eagles rank 25th in games per road trip and 22nd in points per road trip. The coaches made a conscious choice to play as few games as possible despite the talent advantage. A team with the offensive firepower the Eagles possess should play at a higher tempo and create more opportunities, not fewer.
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There's nothing the Cowboys can do to force the Eagles offense to play at pace. But if the Cowboys offense plays at pace the entire game, they can create extra possessions and that could make the difference.
Dallas ranks 10th in games per road trip and 4th in points per road trip, so increasing the pace won't take the Cowboys out of their comfort zone, but it could take the Eagles out of their zone. While they bounced back from a 19-point deficit to the Rams in Week 3, the Eagles aren't really built or operating as a team that can get hot in a hurry.
And yes, the Eagles' defense has played better over the past two weeks, but it has also spent most of the game on the sidelines, with the Packers and Lions averaging 26:03 of possession. They were lucky too. Detroit had 13 possessions and three of its five fourth-down attempts were in Eagles territory.
The Eagles did a great job of not giving the ball away to opponents through turnovers, but they were as bad as any team we've seen in over a decade at returning the ball through punts.
The Eagles have now lost six of their eight wins. This speed cannot keep up with the times.
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Don't worry about AJ Brown
Maybe he's playing with an injury, maybe he got washed, or maybe he's just sulking the whole game. Whatever the reason, AJ Brown was having a bad season and there was little reason to think that would suddenly change. Jalen Hurt's strength gave him 11 targets last week and he caught 7 of them, but for just 49 yards. 5 of those catches were either for 2 yards or less on first down or resulted in a third down of 4 yards or longer. And this was the sixth game this season in which Brown has had 8+ targets, averaging 3.8 receptions for 52.5 yards and only one touchdown.
The Eagles offense is already struggling to stop A.J. Brown.
Not a blitz
According to Pro Football Reference, the Eagles have the second-best offense. There will be no more benefit from blitz strikes. With future Hall of Famer Lane Johnson replaced by Fred Johnson, who started 15 times in 7 years, applying pressure by sending only four players became much easier. So the Cowboys should go the opposite route on Sunday. Roll seven early and often.
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With Jalen Hurts having the most time to throw among qualified QBs, the Eagles' passing attack has been fairly one-dimensional. As just noted, AJ Brown is not a defensive threat. Dallas Goedert has seven touchdowns, third-most in the league this season, but he also only has one game of more than 44 yards.
Another reason not to blitz is that in Week 1, Jalen Hurts tore up the Cowboys' defense in scrimmages, with 6 of them resulting in 2 touchdowns, 2 first downs, and 2 more gaining at least five yards on first down. Blitzing simply gives him the opportunity to run. Take that option away and the Eagles offense could stagnate.
Remove the referee from the game
(Not literally, although I think we can all agree that would be fun.)
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Like many, I was impressed that Brian Schottenheimer benched his star WRs to start the primetime game. Most coaches will simply politely ask their players not to do it again.
The Cowboys would be wise to increase their discipline on Sunday. In terms of plays and plays, the Eagles have the sixth-worst pro/against ratio. A positive odds don't guarantee anything, the Bengals have one of the best odds. But don't worry about it: games are lost just as much as they are won. The Cowboys are in the middle of the standings, in 16th place. Dallas has the 7th most penalties per game and the 9th most penalties per game. Playing clean with the officials is much easier said than done, but the Cowboys need to have as many advantages as possible, no matter how small they may be. Referees don't lose games to you, they put you in a position where you can lose the game. Don't give them and the Eagles those opportunities.
Sorry, but I can't end this on a pro-Cowboys note. But I'll be glad about it. I hope Jerry Jones, whose team has won fewer playoff games than the Jacksonville Jaguars since 1995, lives forever. Keep up the good work, Jerry.
