Two NFC Easy rivals battle for first place when the Cowboys travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles in Week 6’s Sunday Night Football showdown.
Dallas Cowboys (4-1) at Philadelphia Eagles (5-0)
Game Details:
- Location: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA
- Time: Sunday, October 16th at 8:20 p.m. ET
- Channel: NBC
Betting Stats:
- SPREAD: PHI -6.5
- OVER/UNDER: 42
Despite the Eagles currently leading the NFC East, the Cowboys are just a game behind while going undefeated with Cooper Rush at quarterback. Can the Cowboys surprise the football world with one more win before Dak Prescott comes back?
Preview:
The Eagles started out hot and looked like one of the leading Super Bowl contenders, but they have barely pulled out a few wins of late, coming back from down 14 to beat the Jaguars 29-22 and then using a missed field goal to edge the Cardinals 20-17 last week. Obviously, they’re still 5-0, so there’s not much to complain about, but they have looked more vulnerable over the last two weeks.
That could be enough for this Dallas team, which continues to win with Cooper Rush at quarterback thanks to having one of the most elite defenses in the league. Rush has played the game manager admirably, avoiding mistakes and keeping Dallas in the game so that their defense can win it for them.
However, that may be a taller task this week.
Rush has barely had to throw for the Cowboys so far this season, completing more than 20 passes just once when he completed 21 against the Giants. He’s thrown no interceptions and only taken five sacks, but he also hasn’t played a defense like this Eagles unit so far this season.
The Eagles are 1st in the NFL in turnover rate, 3rd in the percentage of drives that end in an opponent’s score, 6th in sacks, 6th in pressure rate, 7th in interceptions, and 10th in tackles for a loss. They are doing everything well this season, so there won’t really be weak points for Rush to target.
It’s possible Dallas could find success on the ground against an Eagles run defense that allowed five yards per carry, but that number is also skewed because the Eagles have faced the second-fewest runs in the NFL, just 106 total rush attempts in five games. Ezekiel Elliott also doesn’t look like the full offseason has given him back any explosion, so perhaps the Cowboys use Tony Pollard more to try to break a big play?
When the Eagles have the ball, they are going to have to key in on stopping the Cowboys’ pass rush which ranks 1st in pressure rate and 2nd in sacks. The Eagles’ offensive line is seventh in pass block win rate, which means they have the talent to prevent Micah Parsons and company from harassing Jalen Hurts, but the Eagles have also been banged up this week with center Jason Kelce, tackle Jordan Mailata, and guard Isaac Seumalo all being limited at practice.
Just like the Cowboys, the Eagles might find success on the ground. Dallas is just 18th in rushing yards allowed per game and 21st in yards allowed per attempt. That’s not terrible, but you have to also factor in that the Giants have been their only opponent with an above-average rushing attack. These Eagles will easily be the best rushing offense they’ve faced.
Miles Sanders has looked good to start the year, running for 4.8 yards per carry while rotating with Kenneth Gainwell in passing situations or hurry-up offense. However, the real asset for the Eagles on the ground is quarterback Jalen Hurt, who is running the ball 13.6 times per game and is tied for second among all players with six rushing touchdowns.
While Hurts only has four passing touchdowns in five games, he’s thrown for 1,359 yards on 67.9% completions and has really benefitted from the addition of A.J. Brown (28 catches, 436 yards, one touchdown). Brown has also opened up the field for last year’s first-round pick DeVonta Smith (28 catches, 353 yards, one touchdown) and tight end Dallas Goedert (24 catches, 335 yards, one touchdown), making this a formidable passing attack as well.
Picks:
Player Props:
Jalen Hurts over 49.5 rushing yards
We talked above about why I think Hurts as a rusher is a solid bet for Sunday night. Dallas is normally weak at stopping the run, but they will also pressure Hurts a lot in the backfield, which will lead to more scrambles. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has 15 rushes on Sunday night, which makes this a solid bet.
SPORTSBOOK: BET AVAILABLE AT (-110) ON FANDUEL
Tony Pollard over 30.5 rushing yards
We also talked above about how Dallas might be able to find success on the ground, and I mentioned that it might be with Pollard. With the explosion that Pollard has, he could top this with just one carry, and we know Dallas is not going to abandon the run until they absolutely have to, so I like this rushing over more than any of Zeke’s props.
SPORTSBOOK: BET AVAILABLE AT (-110) ON FANDUEL
Michael Gallup under 39.5 receiving yards
We covered above just how little Dallas is asking Cooper Rush to throw. That means Gallup is going to require a chunk plays to cover this, which is possible since he did have a 27-yard catch last week. However, I don’t think this offense throws enough to make this a good spot for a rusty Gallup against a strong secondary.
