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Your In-Depth Eagles vs. Cowboys Week 17 Preview

Adrian Fedkiw|

The season finale between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys is completely meaningless, but it’s still Dallas and Philly and there’s no more football after this until August.

Dallas, of course, has wrapped up the NFC East and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

EAGLES PASSING GAME VS. COWBOYS PASS DEFENSE

PHI- 78.1 Passer Rating (27/32), 224 YPG (25/32)
DAL- 94.1 Passer Rating allowed (24/32), 262 YPG allowed (27/32)

Carson Wentz is starting to show more and more flashes as the season has winded down.

He’s taken a huge step forward in his pocket awareness and escaping it when he’s pressured. We’ve seen Wentz run the ball more the last month so or than he has the entire season, rushing for 89 of his 157 rushing yards the last five games.

While Wentz’s elusiveness was mesmerizing on Thursday, he did make the one mistake of throwing the ball downfield, which was intercepted by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. It may not have been the best decision to let that one go, but rookie wide receiver Bryce Treggs has to come back for the ball too.


Prior to last week’s game against the New York Giants, we’ve also seen Wentz more composed in late-game situations. He led a late touchdown drive against the Baltimore Ravens after not being able to muster one with the Eagles trailing late in a game all season. He also led one the week before as well, but Ryan Kerrigan’s strip-sack of Wentz quickly negated that comeback attempt.

Wentz is on pace to set the Philadelphia Eagles’ franchise record for pass attempts in a season. Donovan McNabb set the all-time mark in 2008 with 571. Wentz has already thrown the ball 564 times this season. Barring an injury in the season finale Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, he is set to shatter that record.

Zach Ertz is making his annual late-season surge, catching 27 passes for 302 yards his past four games. With Jordan Matthews missing the first two practices this week due to an ankle injury he suffered in the Green Bay Packers game, Ertz might be one of the few viable options for Wentz to throw the ball too. Head coach Doug Pederson stated earlier in the week that Matthews should be able to go on Sunday, but that obviously appears to be more in question.

Nelson Agholor’s 40-yard touchdown reception in the Eagles’ 24-19 win over the New York Giants on Thursday may not break the struggling second-year receiver out of his prolonged slump, but it could be something to build on moving forward. It’d be nice to see him have a solid outing so he can head into the offseason on a positive note.

With this game on Sunday being completely meaningless, can we please activate Paul Turner and see what he can do? He was inactive on Thursday.

 

EAGLES RUNNING GAME VS. COWBOYS RUN DEFENSE

PHI- 4.2 YPC (18/32), 113.3 YPG (10/32)
DAL- 3.9 YPC allowed (11/32), 81.5 YPG allowed (1/32)

Ryan Mathews has a herniated disk, Wendell Smallwood is on IR and Kenjon Barner has a hamstring injury. Darren Sproles will be the No. 1 back coming in, but I’d like to get a more extensive look at undrafted rookie Byron Marshall on Sunday.

He had nine carries for 22 yards in his lone outing this season against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 15. Marshall is a runner that has some jump cutting ability, shows good burst off the line of scrimmage and gets to top end speed rather quickly. He also showcases good balance to bounce off tacklers and gain extra yardage. He’s adept at catching passes out of the backfield. He’s on the smaller side, he’s only 5’9.

The Cowboys have been stingy against the run all season long. Everyone talks about rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, but third-round rookie Maliek Collins has been sensational. His emergence has allowed versatility along the defensive line and Tyrone Crawford to slide out as a defensive end. Collins has aggressive hands, plays low and penetrates and disrupts the backfield.

 

COWBOYS PASSING GAME VS. EAGLES PASS DEFENSE

PHI- 87.5 Passer Rating allowed (15/32), 247 YPG allowed (18/32)
DAL- 106.2 Passer Rating (3/32), 234 YPG (19/32)

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated Tuesday afternoon that not only will Dak Prescott be the starter at quarterback when the Cowboys visit Philadelphia to clash with the Eagles, but that “it would not be worth the risk” to play Romo.

We don’t feel like any game we’d get from him stepping out there running some plays, several plays, a series of plays would be worth the risk. I think we pretty much stay to plan. It wouldn’t surprise me to see us get some of the same snaps.

So if Romo isn’t playing, does that mean Mark Sanchez will back up Prescott? Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz admitted Tuesday during his press conference that the Birds are preparing for Prescott, Romo and Sanchez.

Despite the injuries to Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and Tennessee Titans signal-caller Marcus Mariota last week, I don’t necessarily disagree with Prescott being out there. I’ve seen too many instances where teams have rested their starters in the final week of the season to try and avoid injury with their bye locked up only to come out flat in the divisional round.

In fact, the 2007 Dallas Cowboys are a perfect example. They rested Romo and company in Week 17, then lost two weeks later to the New York Giants for a chance to go to the NFC Championship Game.

There’s no denying that Prescott has been phenomenal this year and has outplayed Wentz during their rookie seasons. Sure, it helps having the best offensive line and statistically the best running back in the league to go along with Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, Cole Beasley and company, but he’s been more consistent than Wentz. He has thrown 23 touchdowns as opposed to just four interceptions all season long, that’s crazy!

 

COWBOYS RUNNING GAME VS. EAGLES RUN DEFENSE

PHI- 4.3 YPC allowed (18/32), 105.5 YPG allowed (19/32)
DAL- 4.9 YPC (2/32), 155.1 YPG (2/32)

It’s still unknown whether or not Ezekiel Elliott will start Sunday, but if Prescott is playing, I would guess Zeke will go too.

Elliott, who has run for 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns, has the prototypical size and athleticism for a workhorse running back to go with the balance, vision and patience to attack in between the tackles. He doesn’t hesitate and powerfully finishes his runs with natural forward lean to pick up every inch he can.

 

PREDICTION- The Cowboys have nothing to play for. Screw it, let’s take the Birds.

24-20 Eagles

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