This weekend, the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles will prod and probe one another. But they’ll show little, knowing a big rematch awaits.
Looking forward to a great clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys?
You’re going to have to wait another month.
Yes, the Cowboys host. the Eagles on Christmas Eve, but it’s a game neither side has motivation for. While the NFC East isn’t clinched, Philadelphia takes both the division and No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs with one more win. It’ll notch that at some point, whether it be with Gardner Minshew this weekend, or on New Year’s Day against the New Orleans Saints.
For the Cowboys, they’re also playing the string out and waiting. Dallas is going to be the No. 5 seed, almost certain to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wild Card Weekend.
To that end, neither Philadelphia nor Dallas has any reason to show anything. In fact, neither would have any sense if it did.
Both the Eagles and Cowboys understand their respective situations. They also realize that because of those realities, there’s a terrific chance they meet in the NFC Divisional round at Lincoln Financial Field, with a trip to the conference title game on the line.
Each head coach — Nick Sirianni and Mike McCarthy — is likely to be bland in their game-planning, specifically on third downs and in the red zone. Defensive coordinators Jonathan Gannon and Dan Quinn won’t be unveiling any exotic blitzes or wrinkles to their schemes. It’s going to be what has already been put on tape time and again, not giving the opponent an advanced scouting report.
All of this sets up for a potentially fascinating showdown come the third weekend of January.
The Eagles will have seen the Cowboys twice, but in the first meeting, Dak Prescott was injured. In the second, Prescott will play, but Dallas won’t be showing anything of significance. Conversely, Philadelphia will have shown some preferences when it beat the Cowboys in Week 6, but that is a lifetime ago in the NFL world. This weekend, Hurts will watch, and Philadelphia will have the game script of a tilt in August.
For the Eagles, Cowboys and their fanbases, one of the biggest games in the rivalry’s history is potentially looming.
But it’s not Saturday. It’s in January.