Greetings, Dallas Cowboys fans!
In case you weren’t already aware, this is Brandon Lee Gowton from Bleeding Green Nation — the home of SB Nation’s Philadelphia Eagles coverage.
Ahead of this week’s Eagles-Cowboys game, we’re trying something new at BGN and Blogging The Boys. In addition to the normal coverage you can expect at both sites, I’m going to be doing some writing here at BTB while RJ Ochoa is going to be contributing over at BGN (here is RJ’s article over on our site). We’re also going to be active in the comment sections of our posts, so, sign up for an account if you haven’t already (fewer ads … and an exciting new notification system) and join the conversation with us.
To kick things off, here are some thoughts I have on both teams.
Dallas Cowboys
- Even throughout their struggles, I’ve been bullish on the Cowboys’ defense improving over the course of this season. I didn’t know they were going to specifically trade for Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson … but those opportunities existed given the draft capital they had from the Micah Parsons trade (which I still think was a bad move and I’m glad he’s no longer in Dallas). That plus getting Malik Hooker, DeMarvion Overshown, and Shavon Revel healthy means nearly half of the defense is different. Even if they’re not a great defense (like the Eagles have), them being average is a big deal if they can pair it with a high-functioning offense.
- As someone familiar with the benefits of two wide receivers playing very well (A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in the past), I can understand why Cowboys fans are excited about the duo of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. I still think it’s crazy the Cowboys didn’t pay Pickens at the time of acquiring him and I wonder if they’ll be able to keep him. If they do, that’ll be pretty annoying from an Eagles perspective. Even if they don’t, the Eagles will obviously have to deal with this duo this weekend. And that’s a concern since starting cornerback Adoree’ Jackson could be a weakness, even though on the whole he’s been more competent than originally expected.
- The Cowboys probably aren’t winning the NFC East; the magic number for the Eagles to clinch the division is four games (the number of remaining Eagles wins plus Cowboys losses). Dallas has an uphill battle to make the playoffs as a wild card team … but I don’t think it’s impossible. They could be viewed as a dangerous team if they do make it. That is, except for the fact that Dak Prescott is 2-5 in seven career playoff games. Out of 167 quarterbacks with at least one playoff win, only six have a worse winning percentage. And Dak’s two wins? The 18-15 combined record of those opponents adds up to the lowest opponent win percentage (.545) in playoff wins among 109 quarterbacks to win multiple postseason games. Whereas Jalen Hurts...
Blogging The Boys
