The Eagles have been facing all kinds of injury issues all season long, but here they are, tied with the Cowboys at 7-7 with a chance to claim first place in the NFC East on Sunday.
While the Cowboys put four players in the Pro Bowl this past week, the Eagles actually landed five – Brandon Brooks, Jason Kelce, Zach Ertz, Fletcher Cox and Rick Lovato.
This week, the staff writers have picked three Eagles to watch out for with the matchups, including one of those five Pro Bowl standouts.
Dallas Goedert: While the Eagles are fortunate to have one of the NFL's most dynamic tight ends in Zach Ertz, they actually have two really good players at that position. Dallas Goedert not only gives the Eagles best duo in the league, but his presence creates a mismatch for the defense. While teams can say they want to match up a cornerback on Ertz, that still leaves Goedert facing either safeties or linebackers. He's a career 10.0-yard a catch player, obviously meaning that he moves the chains. So while Byron Jones or Chido Awuzie could find themselves matching up with Ertz, keep an eye on Goedert and how he factors into the Eagles' plan on Sunday.
Miles Sanders: The Eagles' second-round draft pick had a reduced role the first time around against Dallas. But he has started Philly's last five games and gotten at least 10 carries in the last six. Last Sunday's comeback win over Washington was a career performance: 19 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown (his first 100-yard rushing game) plus 6 catches for 50 yards and an 18-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone after he looped out of the backfield. Injuries to Philly's top receivers have allowed Sanders to impact the game more with his versatility. The Cowboys arguably did their best job against the run all season against the Rams, limiting Todd Gurley to 38 total yards from scrimmage. The tackling was solid, and that'll be the key against yet another rusher who can make plays from anywhere on the field.
Fletcher Cox:The stats might not reflect it as much as usual, but the perennial Pro Bowler is going to be a priority yet again for the Cowboys. Cox is nursing a triceps injury, but that hasn't stopped him from tallying 37 tackles with 3.5 sacks, 9.5 QB hits and two forced fumbles. He is one of the toughest interior linemen the Cowboys face in any given season, and he will be a handful for the trio of Zack Martin, Travis Frederick and Xavier Su'a-Filo. Fortunately for the Cowboys, they've got some recent experience dealing with top-tier defensive tackles. This offensive line made Aaron Donald a complete non-factor in last week's win against the Rams, so we know they're up to this challenge. Expect to see them give Cox plenty of double-teams in the running game, and perhaps they can use screen passes to mitigate his pass rushing ability.
