December 05, 2023
The Eagles are underdogs again.
But this time, it seems a little more understandable. Playing the Cowboys on the road, a team with one less win and arguably much better stats on the season is a reasonable reason for Philly to be an underdog. Last week they were controversial underdogs at home against San Francisco. After their blowout loss, obviously, Vegas got it right.
But beyond the handicappers and pundits on TV who will likely take the Cowboys to win this contest, have they had a better season so far?
We dove into some stats and rankings across the NFL and tried to quantify which team, through 12 games, is indeed better:
A simple place to start is in the standings, where the Eagles are 10-2 and the Cowboys 9-3. The Eagles already beat the Cowboys at home 28-23, though it was certainly a winnable game for Dallas in South Philly. Still, the Birds currently hold their own destiny for an NFC East title and first-round bye.
The Eagles are ahead of Dallas in most, but not all NFL Power Rankings this week, ranging from second to fifth. The Cowboys are in that same range.
Not only have the Cowboys not yet lost at home this season (they are a perfect 6-0), but they're also preparing for Week 14 with three extra days of rest after beating the Seahawks last Thursday night. The Eagles have one road loss this season — against the Jets on that putrid MetLife Stadium turf – but have dropped five in a row in Dallas going back to 2018.
Here's a look at how Philadelphia and Dallas match up on the stat sheet offensively:
| Category | Eagles | Cowboys |
| Yards | 4,340 (10th) | 4,565 (5th) |
| Points | 329 (4th) | 388 (1st) |
| Net yds per pass | 6.5 (9th) | 6.9 (5th) |
| Rush yds per att | 4.1 (18th) | 4.1 (18th) |
| First downs | 104 (3rd) | 82 (12th) |
| Third down % | 47.9% (3rd) | 48.1% (2nd) |
| Red Zone TD % | 61.7% (8th) | 53.7% (17th) |
| Time of possession | 31:55 (3rd) | 32:03 (2nd) |
Everything the Eagles do well on offense, the Cowboys basically do better. They've scored more points, are slightly better on third down, and have possessed the ball slightly more too. Perhaps most exploitable is their lackluster job scoring touchdowns in the red zone, an area the Eagles also struggled in last week against the Niners.
| Category | Eagles | Cowboys |
| Yards allowed | 4,207 (22nd) | 3,445 (3rd) |
| Points allowed | 288 (24th) | 220 (4th) |
| QB rate against | 98.4 (29th) | 79.8 (6th) |
| Sacks | 34 (14th) | 38 (7th) |
| Rush yards allowed | 1,084 (4th) | 1,272 (12th) |
| Third down % | 47.3% (32nd) | 36.9 (11th) |
| Red Zone TD % | 68.3% (29th) | 60.6% (23rd) |
| Turnover diff | -2 (18th) | +8 (4th) |
The Eagles being 10-2 with a minus-2 turnover rate is still pretty remarkable.
For the second week in a row, the flashy stars of the Eagles will face a team not lacking in any star power in its own right. Which team has the biggest star presence? For the offensive side of the ball, we used fantasy football rankings (.5 PPR) and included their positional ranks:
| Eagles | Fant | Cowboys | Fant | |
| QB | Jalen Hurts | 292.9 (QB2) | Dak Prescott | 260.9 (QB3) |
| RB | D'Andre Swift | 145.1 (RB14) | Tony Pollard | 149.5 (RB14) |
| WR | A.J. Brown | 198.9 (WR4) | CeeDee Lamb | 219.6 (WR2) |
| WR | DeVonta Smith | 151.4 (WR14) | Brandin Cooks | 102.5 (WR40) |
| TE | Dallas Goedert | 72.0 (TE15) | Jake Ferguson | 102.8 (TE8) |
The Eagles' offensive line is ranked second by Pro Football Focus and is not lacking in star power, but the Cowboys are ranked fourth not far behind.
Philly has been led by Haason Reddick's 9.5 sacks, with Josh Sweat totaling 6.5. Micah Parsons has 11.5 for Dallas. The Cowboys also have the NFL's leader in interceptions, DaRon Bland, who has eight — of which five were touchdowns. Dallas gets another edge here.
This one is nothing to sneeze at. The Eagles have completed the second toughest schedule so far in the entire NFL, while the Cowboys have played only the 22nd toughest.
The Eagles' biggest wins:
• Cowboys (9-3)
• Dolphins (9-3)
• Chiefs (8-4)
• Vikings (6-6)
• Bills (6-6)
And for the Cowboys:
• Rams (6-6)
• Seahawks (6-6)
The Eagles have five wins over teams .500 or better. The Cowboys have two (and neither is a real contender). Their losses have been to the 49ers, Cardinals and of course Philly.
According to this controversial scale, the Eagles are ranked seventh despite having the best record in the NFL, and the Cowboys are second. Their formula combines a bunch of metrics that clearly favor Dallas, but come on, the 10-2 Eagles are the seventh-best team?
According to some slightly more respectable metrics, the Cowboys have the fifth-best DVOA in football (behind the Niners, Ravens, Chiefs and Dolphins). Philly checks in at ninth.
It's the defensive side that hurts the Eagles in this measurement. Due to their struggles statistically against the pass, the Birds are 21st in defensive DVOA while the Cowboys' defense is 7th.
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