Eagles-Cowboys Preview: Hoping for Lift from Home Crowd

Team also need to recapture the motivation of being underdogs if it wants to beat Dallas on Sunday, and that is a key ingredient to how my prediction is based

PHILADELPHIA – Nobody is really giving the Eagles much of a chance when the Cowboys pay them a visit at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, and where have we heard that before?

Oh right, 2017. The underdogs rode that lack of respect to a Super Bowl.

The oddsmakers have installed the Cowboys as a favorite, just as the folks in Vegas did in every game the Eagles played in the postseason on their way to winning the Lombardi Trophy for the first time two years ago.

Even though the Eagles' locker room has been overrun with hungry practice squad graduates and a rookie workhorse in Miles Sanders, there are still plenty of veterans who know how to bottle that motivation of being disrespected to maybe make a difference in the final score.

One of those veterans who played the underdog role to its hilt in 2017 was right tackle Lane Johnson, who won’t play due to a high ankle sprain. 

That loss hurts, because now it means the Eagles will use reserve Halapoulivaati Vaitai against Dallas pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence. Vaitai will have help, with a running back, a tight end, or even a receiver chipping on the edge.

Rookie receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside hasn’t been much of a factor in the passing game, but seems to be a capable and willing blocker in the run game, so maybe he even stays in to help block Lawrence.

There are maybe a few Dallas fans who don't think the Eagles (7-7) should be underdogs at all, and who could blame them for thinking maybe the Eagles will win this game after those fans have seen up close the struggles their own team has had all season long?

They know, after all, that Dallas isn’t a mediocre 7-7 for a reason. They have seen the Cowboys lose four of their last six games, including a three-game losing streak they snapped in a romp over the Los Angeles Rams last weekend.

That the Cowboys are slogging along with such a modest mark is a head-scratcher, and probably an indictment on head coach Jason Garrett, who needs a strong postseason push, probably into the Super Bowl, to save his job.

Dallas has beaten the Eagles in four straight games. 

They are 5-0 when running back Ezekiel Elliott plays against Philly, with Elliott amassing four 100-yard games in those wins. Garrett, for as hot as his coaching seat is right now is 7-2 against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.

Throw in the fact that the Eagles have yet to find a way to win three games in a row all season, and are on their third two-game winning streak this year, and it’s all right in front of the Cowboys – a second straight NFC East title and a chance to live up to what everyone seems to think about them, and that is they have a roster than can potentially be dangerous in the postseason.

There has been a lot of talk this week about how the home crowd can help facilitate a win.

Well, the Eagles are 4-3 at home and should they lose it will be their first non-winning season at the Linc since the final year of Chip Kelly in 2015 when they went 3-5.

The crowd can be a finnicky one, too, all set with a boo should something as small as an untimely three-and-out offensive series arise.

There is only one reason to like that Eagles to win, and that is to recapture that underdog motivation, something I think they will do.

That will help them stave off a Cowboys celebration on the Eagles home field in front of Eagles fans.

Now, next week in New York, with the Eagles needing a win to wrap up the division title or a Cowboys loss, and, well, that could be another story.

For now, though, I’m going with Philly on Sunday.

PREDICTION: Eagles 23, Cowboys 22