We look at the Cowboys and see a team that’s allowing the most points per game in the NFL in 47 years.
We see a team that’s been riddled by dissension, that’s lost consecutive games by 22 or more points for only the fifth time in franchise history and that’s down to its second and maybe third quarterback.
We see a mess.
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The Eagles can’t afford to look at it that way. Because they’ve got enough issues of their own.
"The biggest thing for us is to control is our locker room,” Fletcher Cox said Monday. “We can't worry about what goes on in another organization. We have our own problems. “
Like injuries, inconsistency, lack of playmaking and an ability to play a complete 60-minute game.
The Eagles have to look at the Cowboys as a legit threat. They’re not good enough not to.
NFL
“We haven’t done anything yet,” Rodney McLeod said.
The Eagles and Cowboys meet for the 119th time Sunday night. The "first-place" Eagles are 2-4-1, the Cowboys 2-5.
“Man, this is a rivalry game,” McLeod said. “Lot of history and quite frankly, they embarrassed us last year at their home, so we have a chip on our shoulder. We’ve got to go out there and prove ourselves.”
The Cowboys have won four of the last five against the Eagles and 9 of their last 13 meetings at the Linc.
That embarrassment was a 37-10 Cowboys win at AT&T Stadium in October – the Eagles’ worst loss to the Cowboys in more than 20 years.
“Regardless of their record and what transpired (Sunday), we understand who the Cowboys are and what this game means to both sides,” McLeod said. “It’s a division opponent and there’s a lot of history between the two teams and so you have to just put records aside and you have to just play ball. We’re going out there preparing for a fight.”
The Cowboys still have Ezekiel Elliott, and they still have the explosive wide receiver trio of Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb, who can put a tremendous amount of pressure on any defense.
Especially one whose secondary has been as shaky as the Eagles’.
“They are a talented team, and their record does surprise me, but I understand who they have over there and what they’re capable of doing,” McLeod said. “I think every man over here understands who they have in the backfield, who they have lined up at the receiver position, so we cannot take them lightly.”
The Cowboys lost to Washington 25-3 on Sunday. The Eagles came back from 11 points down late to beat the Giants on Thursday night.
A win for the Eagles Sunday night means any combination of seven Eagles wins and Cowboys losses the second half of the season guarantees the Eagles finish ahead of Dallas.
“Every game moving forward is like a playoff game for us in this division,” McLeod said. “We haven’t done anything yet. We did our job last week in beating the Giants, but now the next job is taking care of Dallas on Sunday.
“There’s no excuses and we understand what we have to get done.”
And that's to prove they're the least-worst team in the division.
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