Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys Monday Night Football win against the Las Vegas Raiders was an emphatic one, but in the week-to-week nature of the NFL it stands to be forgotten about by Sunday evening – or not. The win has Cowboys fans feeling confident ahead of a home matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, and the fact the Cowboys nearly won the road meeting in week one between these teams is a reason for confidence as well. A win would make all of the positives on both sides of the ball from the Raiders win more tangible as things this Cowboys team can actually hang their hat on going into the final month of the regular season after Thanksgiving.
A Cowboys loss to the Eagles stands to create a toppling dominos effect, putting them right back in an alternating win/loss pattern with little time to snap it and prove they belong anywhere near the playoff picture, while also calling into question the total quality of any of their wins. The Cowboys need to play like they need this game obviously, but not with the full sense of the “desperate team” label that can lead to mistakes against a team so good at playing even-keeled and capitalizing on opponent mistakes like the Eagles.
The Cowboys defense played well at defensive tackle and linebacker against the run in the first meeting at the Eagles, but struggled on the edges, at cornerback, and safety against the pass. Dallas has reasons to feel even better about their front seven against both the run and pass going into Sunday’s game after Quinnen Williams made an immediate impact in his first game against the Raiders last Monday, and Logan Wilson was an important cog to add depth to the rotation at linebacker. The Cowboys were able to trust their front led by Williams, Kenny Clark, and Osa Odighizuwa inside to allow their linebackers to commit to coverage, something that could help limit easy completions for Jalen Hurts, who went 19-23 for 152 yards in the Week 1 win.
The Cowboys looked like a new team in a lot of ways in their win in Las Vegas. Does the totality of this make them a new enough team that can overcome still being a game under .500 and without consecutive wins going into Week 12, and reach these marks against the Eagles? Let’s take our weekly look at what the Cowboys need to do to win, and what the Eagles can most easily do to earn a season sweep in Arlington.
For all of the talk about the Cowboys changes on defense in the front seven, some of the changes they’ve gone through at cornerback have gone way more under the radar. Trevon Diggs has not played since the Week 6 loss at the Panthers, and has been picked on in coverage when he has been available this season. DaRon Bland...
