Eagles Week 16 Preview: Win or Go Home

Sunday, December 22 at Lincoln Financial Field, Cowboys 2.5-point favorites

The Eagles are tied for first place in the NFC East and a win on Sunday could keep them there alone.

Injury Report:

OUT

Philadelphia: T Lane Johnson (ankle)

Dallas: LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck)

QUESTIONABLE:

Philadelphia: WR Nelson Agholor (knee), DE Derek Barnett (ankle), RB Jordan Howard (shoulder), CB Avonte Maddox (ankle)

Dallas: CB CJ Goodwin (thumb), WR Devin Smith (knee), LB Joe Thomas (knee)

Unfortunately for Philadelphia, stalwart right tackle Lane Johnson will not return for the biggest game of the season. While Demarcus Lawrence hasn’t been as dominant as we’ve become accustomed to seeing over the past two seasons, he still poses an issue for Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Nelson Agholor remains on the injury report with this nagging knee injury that we don’t know much about. I wouldn’t expect to suit up. He’s been bad this season, but when Greg Ward is your best wide receiver, you take what you can get. It was a surprise to see Avonte Maddox wind up on the injury report. The cornerback position has been weak over the past few weeks, losing a starter won’t help. Maybe this is the first week where we see a heavy dose of 2018 late-season hero Cre’Von “strap” LeBlanc. Derek Barnett practiced this week, so there’s a chance he returns to his starting spot on the defensive line. Jordan Howard still isn’t cleared for contact, here’s to Miles Sanders having a repeat of last week’s breakout performance. For Dallas, the only major contributor injured is LB Leighton Vander Esch who’s been out for a solid month now. Sean Lee will remain in his spot. There was also some buzz around Dak Prescott’s shoulder injury, but he isn’t listed under a game status meaning he’ll be full-go.

Analysis:

Here’s the deal. If the Eagles lose this game, their season is over and they also lowered their draft position with consecutive wins in the previous two weeks. If the Eagles win, they’re a win against New York or a Dallas loss away from a postseason berth. In short, this game basically serves as the NFC East championship.

After being heavily scrutinized for their inability to defeat decent or better teams, the Dallas Cowboys responded by burying the Los Angeles Rams (and their playoff hopes) last week. After a performance like that, the general confidence of the team should be high coming into Week 16’s crucial matchup. On the other hand, the Eagles snuck past Dwayne Haskins and the Washington Redskins in a game that was much closer than the final score indicates. The porous secondary failed to show up again, allowing Haskins to have the best game of his career. His 121.3 passer rating was a full 35.1 percentage points higher than his previous best. Prescott has gotten the best of the Eagles in these last couple of matchups and that won’t change if the secondary continues to play the way it has. In order for Philadelphia to stand a chance against their bitter rivals, the defense needs to return to the form it showed in back-to-back matchups against two powerhouses in Seattle and New England. Do I trust their ability to do that? Ask Eli Manning.

Prescott and Cooper are enough trouble on their own, but maybe even more dangerous than those two is their running back, Ezekiel Elliott. While Elliott is posting the lowest yards per game average of his young career, he’s still on the doorstep of 1,200 yards this season. Elliott has also been known to get the best of the Eagles in their matchups, averaging a whopping 175 yards from scrimmage in the last three games. The Eagles must slow him down in this game or else they can kiss the division goodbye. Adrian Peterson looked spry last week against Philadelphia (19 touches, 91 yards), so recent history isn’t encouraging.

The Eagles offense is going to struggle, let that be made clear. At the end of the day, no matter how much will you have or however much prepared you may be, there is only so much a team can lose before falling apart. The Eagles had one wide receiver with a catch last week, and no other receivers will be returning to help out. Zach Ertz will be the focus of the Cowboys 7th-ranked defense in terms of yards per game allowed, and receiving options fall off dramatically after the star tight end. It would help to see Miles Sanders post a repeat performance because the run game is essential to winning the time of possession battle. Doug Pederson and the staff are going to have to think of creative ways to move the ball because it can’t be expected that Philadelphia can emerge in a defensive slugfest.

In conclusion, Dallas should be ashamed if they find a way to lose this football game. The Eagles are as shorthanded as it gets and their secondary just isn’t good in any way. Even if the Eagles defense can channel their inner Week 12 and slow down the Cowboys offense, the offensive side of the ball is a major concern against any half-decent defensive unit. I hate betting against the Eagles, but I just cannot see a way where this team can come out on top outside of a ridiculous meltdown by the Cowboys. As Max Kellerman said, if Dallas finds a way to lose this game, Jason Garrett shouldn’t even be allowed to take the team plane home.

Still holding out hope, though.

Prediction: Eagles 20, Cowboys 30

-By: Micah Jimoh