Blogging The Boys
It is time to wrap up our look at all of the bird teams the Dallas Cowboys will face in 2026 as part of our bigger preview series that will go through the full schedule, and the most consequential birds as well – their NFC East rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. We’ve already looked at the Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals, and defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks (links below), which will all be big games for the Cowboys this season, but it feels like for the umpteenth time a Cowboys season will ultimately be defined by how they fare against the Eagles.
The Cowboys and Eagles split the season series for the third time in the last four years in 2025, with both teams defending home field. The Eagles won in their first game as reigning champs in the Thursday night kickoff game, 24-20 after stopping a late Cowboys drive, and the Cowboys returned serve at home in Week 12 with a 21-point comeback to win 24-21.
Although only in the most technical sense of the definition, the Cowboys and Eagles meeting this year on Thanksgiving for just the third time in history won’t count as a primetime game, but the first meeting in Philly will be on Monday Night Football in Week 7. Any fan with a pulse should know that both of these matchups are going to draw plenty of eyeballs, and have their say in which team may win the division as either one has for five years in a row, and nine of the last ten.
The Cowboys are looking to build a team with real playoff viability beyond just the division they haven’t won since 2023. The Eagles were repeat winners for the first time by any NFC East team in over two decades.
The Eagles suffered a Wild Card home loss to start off their title defense last season left a lot to be desired within their rabid fanbase, and they have clear needs for change if the Eagles are going to climb to the top of the mountain again. The Eagles have been proactive about a lot of these changes, but also will have to be reactive to the Cowboys hiring away Christian Parker to be their latest defensive coordinator, losing a key piece alongside DC Vic Fangio.
*SIGNED IN FREE AGENCY
WR Hollywood Brown
CB Jonathan Jones
WR Elijah Moore
DT Jordan Davis (Re-signed)
TE Dallas Goedert (Re-signed)
WR Dontayvion Wicks
CB Riq Woolen
*DEPARTED IN FREE AGENCY/TRADE
WR A.J. Brown
S Reed Blankenship
LB Nakobe Dean
LB Azeez Ojulari
LB Jaelan Phillips
LB Josh Uche
For a short time, this Cowboys-Eagles rivalry was unfortunately defined by one team missing their starting quarterback, but fans can only hope last season’s progress of having both games be a Jalen Hurts vs. Dak Prescott duel can continue with both 2026 games being in such high profile...
