Eagles vs. Cowboys: Five matchups to watch

In most years, Eagles vs. Cowboys is a game where each team knows the other extraordinarily well. While there is still plenty of familiarity, this year it's a bit different with the Eagles having undergone a coaching regime change, and the Cowboys being led by a pair of rookies offensively. 

Here are five matchups to watch.

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1) Eagles run D vs. Ezekiel Elliott

Ezekiel Elliott is the NFL's leading rusher with 703 rushing yards, despite Dallas having only played six games. He is on pace for 1875 rushing yards this season. The Cowboys' rushing attack is the key to everything they do.

In 2014, when the Cowboys went 12-4, their formula was very simple. They knew they had to keep their garbage defense off the field, so they successfully pounded the run with DeMarco Murray, stayed on schedule, and the offense converted third down conversions at a very impressive rate (47 percent), which was second in the NFL. They were able to sustain long drives, convert those drives into points, and make life easier both on the defense and on their quarterback.

That formula isn't much different in 2016. Here is what the Cowboys have done on the ground in 2016:

My conclusion: The Cowboys are good at running the football.

"I think it plays to their strengths," said Jim Schwartz. "A couple years ago, when they were a playoff team, they did the same thing. It was a different running back but same scheme and a lot of the same offensive players, other than the running back, same offensive coordinator, same head coach, and I think that philosophy means an awful lot. 

"I think it matches well with the players that they have and I think that's probably the most important thing when you consider schemes and managing games and everything else. It's playing to your strengths and I think they have done a very good job of that. We are going to have to find a way to take them off of that formula."

2) The Eagles' pass rush vs. the Cowboys' offensive line

The Eagles have clearly been at their best this season when their pass rush works. The Eagles defense didn't get a whiff of Kirk Cousins two games ago, which was directly attributable to their inability to stop the Redskins on the ground.

"It all starts up front this week in the trenches this week, as it did last week," said safety Rodney McLeod. "I mean, every week you can say that. Stop the run on first and second down, get them to third and long situations and let those guys go eat up front."

When the Eagles' defensive line has a chance to "eat," they have to make the most of it. One of the major reasons Dak Prescott has been so successful this season is because he's barely been hit.

"They have given him a lot of time and they have helped him run the ball, and that's a pretty good formula for any quarterback, much less a rookie quarterback," said Schwartz.

"A lot has been made of [their small] amount of turnovers and a lot of that can be attributed to the offensive line because he hasn’t had to throw a ball before he has wanted to or been hit when he was throwing. Actually, the one [interception] he has, he was hit when he was throwing, but it's been very rare that he's been hit. He's had some clean pockets. He's been able to buy time. He's been able to run when he needs to and they have been able to run the ball and take them out of some tough conversion situations, also. So their offensive line has triggered a lot of that. I feel strong about our defensive line. It's going to be a great match-up on Sunday."

If the Eagles can get some hits in on Prescott on Sunday, we'll get our first real glimpse how well he can handle it.

3) Malcolm Jenkins vs. Cole Beasley

The Cowboys' best receiver, obviously, is Dez Bryant, who will reportedly play this Sunday after missing the last three games.

Bryant has a history of success against the Eagles:

However, the Cowboys' leading receiver this year has been Cole Beasley, who has 33 catches for 390 yards and 3 TDs. 22 of Beasley's 33 receptions have gone for first downs. He moves the chains and keeps the Cowboys' offense on the field, which, as noted above, fits the formula for what they want to do offensively.

In the Eagles' win in Dallas last year, Beasley caught 9 passes for 112 yards and 2 TDs. This year, after losing Ron Brooks for the season with a ruptured ligament in his quad, Malcolm Jenkins will get the Eagles' slot corner responsibilities when the Eagles go to their nickel defense.

Beasley is as tough a player to cover in the slot as anyone in the NFL.

"If you watch him on tape, he's a hard matchup for everybody," said Jenkins. "A lot of his routes are option routes, so he doesn't have a specific route that he has to run. He's really just playing off of your leverage, he's finding the open space on the field, and he has time to work it. He doesn't have to be early. He can take his time, set you up, do everything he needs to. He's crafty. 

Here's what Jenkins is referring to:

"And once he catches the ball, he's up the field, so it's definitely one of the matchups we have to win for us to be successful because he's somebody who moves the chains, similar to Jason Witten," Jenkins added. "He does the same stuff, with option routes. He's working with your leverage, he'll push you off, turn around, and the ball is right on him. But where Jason uses his size as an advantage, Cole Beasley just uses his quickness and feet to get open."  

4) The Eagles' OL vs. the Cowboys' pass rush

Early on this season, the Eagles faced four defenses that struggle to put pressure on the quarterback. In those four games, the Eagles also still had Lane Johnson as their starting right tackle. The last two weeks, the Eagles played a pair of teams with good pass rushers, and no Lane Johnson.

Perhaps there's a correlation there in why Carson Wentz had not played as well the last two games as he did in the first four. #Analysis.

This week, Wentz will face a pass rush that struggles to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks. In fact, the Cowboys' career sack leader is Orlando Scandrick, a cornerback, who has 10.5 career sacks. I'll repeat that. The Cowboys' career sack leader has 10.5 career sacks, and he plays cornerback.

The Eagles will still likely give rookie fill-in RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai help, and he definitely needs it, but the Cowboys' pass rush isn't anywhere near as good as the Redskins' or Vikings' pass rush.

5) The battle of special teams

A week ago, we noted that the Eagles might need a big play on special teams to pull off an upset win over the Minnesota Vikings. And sure enough, Josh Huff's 98-yard kick return was arguably the biggest play of the game. The Eagles have gotten return touchdowns in each of the last two games, and have shown no signs of slowing their special teams dominance in transitioning from the Chip Kelly regime to the Doug Pederson regime.

Football Outsiders ranks the Eagles as the No. 1 special teams unit in the NFL. Dallas is ranked 21st.

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