Eagles-Cowboys Week 7 Predictions: Are The Birds Catching Cowboys At Perfect Time?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- First place in the NFC East is on the line this Sunday night in Dallas. The Cowboys have lost three straight after a scorching start, while the Eagles are looking to bounce back from a pounding in Minnesota.
Injuries will play a big part in this one. The Eagles look to be getting healthy in the secondary as both Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby are practicing in some capacity.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys are dealing with a plethora of injuries of their own, including superstar receiver Amari Cooper and a handful of injuries on the offensive line.
CBS3's football experts have your weekly breakdown and predictions.
Nothing went right for the Eagles on Sunday as they were outplayed and outcoached by the Minnesota Vikings, dropping them to a pedestrian 3-3 on the season. What is happening to the Eagles after having such high expectations coming into the season?
CBS3 sports director Don Bell: Injuries. The Birds have lost their top three cornerbacks in addition to DeSean Jackson, Malik Jackson and Tim Jernigan. They've also watched Dallas Goedert and Alshon Jeffrey miss time. When you lose starters it eliminates whatever margin for error you had. It can also make good coaching look pedestrian and average coaching look terrible.
CBS3 sports reporter Lesley Van Arsdall: It's called a serious dose of NFL reality. Injuries happen. Bad plays happen. Unexpected losses happen. But bottom line: you are only as good as your record. So the answer is simple. The Eagles aren't as good as we hoped and expected them to be.
CBS3 reporter Pat Gallen: It's crazy how this league works. The Eagles are a dropped Nelson Agholor pass and a dropped J.J. Arcega-Whiteside pass away from a 5-1 record. If they catch 'em, they're among the elite in the league. Now, they're just average. It's obvious the drops, injuries and bad secondary have killed them. But I don't think they're that far off from the expectations set before the year.
CBS3 reporter Dan Koob: They're hurt and they're old and I think some of the guys are showing their age. The Eagles have the third-oldest roster in the NFL and have not had an infusion of young talent in a few years. Maybe we overestimated them? Check back next week when I say they have the best, most experienced team in the league.
CBS3 sports producer Andy Wheeler: Expectations were obviously too high. All of us -- the media, the team and fans -- were just wrong. The team's talent level isn't what it was advertised as. They, as a team, were a little overconfident and other teams -- better teams -- are beating them. I think we all misread things.
Eric Allen isn't walking through that door, Asante Samuel isn't walking through that door and Lito Sheppard isn't walking through that door. What in the world can Jim Schwartz do or is the Birds' secondary pretty much a lost cause at this point?
Bell: Name me another NFL team that can lose their top 3 corners and still play top flight defense? Oh, wait. You can't.
Jim Schwartz is fighting a battle with both arms tied behind his back. He'll need a David Cooperfield-like game plan to keep this secondary from being exposed. Is it impossible? Nope! We've seen him do it against Green Bay -- but he'll also need cooperation from the opponent. If the injured Amari Cooper doesn't play -- he had three touchdowns in their last meeting -- that will help.
Van Arsdall: Well-- let's not be too dramatic. It's never a "lost cause" when you're 3-3 with 10 games left to go. But the entire defense needs to challenge themselves to step up and play better. Veteran players need to take charge. That's it. There's no "magic" player or trade or game plan that's going to fix things.
Gallen: Just keep trotting the same guys out there. Schwartz can't and won't abandon his scheme midseason -- that would be crazy anyway. He's just gotta hope these guys can figure it out. And hope that Howie Roseman gives them something to work with.
Koob: How many doors are in this room you're sitting in? Even if they get healthy on the back end, I don't think the Eagles have the horses at corner to keep the better passing attacks at bay. They'll need a more consistent pass rush to speed up QBs.
Wheeler: The defense will be getting a steady stream of people back from injury and that should help, but the only real help will be acquired by the general manager via trade. Jalen Ramsey might not have been the right fit or the right cost, but we'll see what happens. Lost cause may be too strong but it's pretty close to that.
On the other side, Carson Wentz's best deep threat-option at this point is a rookie running back. What can Doug Pederson do to get this offense moving?
Bell: It would be nice to see Pederson go back to a more creative approach -- end-arounds, screens, throwbacks, etc. This offense needs to be less predictable and incorporate more plays that make defenses pause and second guess before flowing to the ball.
Van Arsdall: Easy. Find a way to get DeSean Jackson back on the field. When he's playing, it opens up everything. Unfortunately without him, the Eagles don't have a legitimate deep threat at wide receiver. When he's back, so is the Eagles high-powered offense.
Gallen: Keep taking more shots, more chances. The issue is not having any burners outside of Nelson Agholor, and even he can't really get open on deep shots. I think they need to send Nelly long a bunch and try something -- anything -- to stretch the field.
Aside from that, GO NO HUDDLE! And don't defer the ball if you win the toss. Take it, go no huddle, and change the tenor of the offense.
Koob: I think he's doing it. They've created mismatches with Sanders in the absence of anyone capable of spreading a defense and that's going to have to continue. There's no one else who can run by anyone. The offensive line should take a 25-hour energy.
Wheeler: Let somebody else call the plays. My confidence in Pederson has been shaken. I'd like to see somebody else call the plays for a week or two and see if that helps.
Luckily, the Cowboys have hit a brick wall after starting out 3-0, losing their last three games, and they also might be without wide receiver Amari Cooper. Are the Eagles playing the Cowboys at the right time to escape with a win?
Bell: The worst time to play any team is when they're desperate. I actually think this is the worst time to play the Cowboys. Once again, speculation runs rampant about Jason Garrett's job security. Dak is STILL waiting on a new contract. They're in a slump but they're playing at home on national television.
Van Arsdall: 100% yes. This is the perfect time to be playing the Cowboys. They are reeling and rocked by injuries. But there's just one problem, sadly, the Cowboys could be saying the exact same thing about the Eagles.
Gallen: Yes. These two teams are on equal footing right now. To me, it's a toss-up.
Koob: Have you seen the video of zero Cowboys slapping Jason Garrett's hand? Perfect time.
Wheeler: This is the perfect time. The Cowboys at full strength are a better team. Heck, they may be better even with Cooper hurt. The timing is perfect but they literally have to be perfect to pull it off.
Predictions?
Bell: The Cowboys swept the season series last year. However, I've seen the Cowboys offense without Amari Cooper. It's a slow, methodical bore. In fact, it looks like the Eagles' offense without DeSean. But the Birds have a better coaching staff and more pedigree. Eagles win 27-24.
Van Arsdall: This could go either way. But Eagles win a tight one 34-28 to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Gallen: If Cooper plays: Cowboys 26- 21. If Cooper doesn't play: Eagles 26-21
Is that cheating?
Koob: The Eagles are not good right now. The Cowboys are worse. 27-21 Eagles in JerryWorld.
Wheeler: Eagles win, 17-14 -- with a field goal at the buzzer.
