Position battleground (defense): Cowboys vs Eagles head-to-head breakdown

Previously we broke down the offense for this week’s upcoming game for the Dallas Cowboys. Now we dive back into the position battleground, this time looking at how the defensive positions and special teams stack up against each other.

DEFENSIVE LINE

We ended the offensive breakdown talking about how the Cowboys offensive line was a huge problem, and staying in the trenches is where the major problems lay for the Dallas defense. The inside of this Cowboys defensive line is leaking so bad that opposing teams attack here straight away knowing it’s a cheat code to victory. Last week against the Atlanta Falcons, Bijan Robinson had a field day and even backup running Tyler Allgeier got in for a touchdown.

This defensive line now has to face one of the most dominant rushing attacks in the NFL and they do it from a number of positions, utilizing different players. The Eagles offensive line has shown good consistency and controlled aggression in run blocking this year, and that can only mean a tough day for this Cowboys defensive line that ranks third-worst in rush yards allowed per game. Micah Parsons is still questionable but it’s been reported that he should be available this week.

The Eagles defensive line is allowing 101 rush yards per game, that’s the fifth-fewest in the league right now. In the last three games their defense has allowed an average of 3.5 yards per carry, that’s the lowest in the NFL over that time.

In terms of pass rush, the Eagles average the seventh-most sacks per game, but recently the defense has really stepped up. In the last three games they have averaged 3.7 sacks per game which is an outstanding rate, and is the second-most in that time. In that the same time scale the Cowboys offensive line has allowed an average of three sacks per game which is fourth-most. The Cowboys offensive line now ranks eighth-worst in total pressures allowed this season but going in their favor is the fact the Eagles have the fifth-lowest pressures on defense. Pass rusher Bryce Huff is questionable and Byron Young has now gone to IR.
Win: Eagles

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LINEBACKER

DeMarvion Overshown is the bright light on this defense and has been electrifying in Parsons’ absence. Against the Atlanta Falcons he seemed to be there on every play and made seven tackles along with three tackles for loss and one quarterback hurry. The Texas Longhorns man-missile has been one exciting player that refuses to surrender. Eric Kendricks leads the team in missed tackles this year with 11. Stopping both Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts in the run game will be key. Any missed tackles will lead to huge gains this week.

Nakobe Dean and Zack Baun both lead the team in tackles with Dean up to seven tackles for loss. Josh Sweat leads the team in sacks and ranks 17th in the league in sacks. Ben VanSumeren is questionable as he’s in concussion protocol.

Conclusion:
This team has a great collection of box defenders and they are managing to generate sacks by hardly blitzing which leave the linebackers free to roam.
Win: Eagles

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DEFENSIVE BACKS

It’s hard to blame these defensive backs for too much, but they still play their part in a failing defense. The Cowboys are allowing 217 passing yards per game, that puts them in the middle of pack. But some of that can be attributed to the fact that opposing offense’s are running on them so much. The 67% completion rate allowed puts Dallas 10th-worst in the league and the 13 receiving touchdowns allowed is fifth-worst. Caelen Carson was getting targeted pretty often last week and hopefully getting DaRon Bland back at some point will help in that regard. Jourdan Lewis has been the team’s best cornerback and without him things would look a lot worse. Facing the threat of both DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown is a tough task, but when the safeties are getting dragged into helping defend the run that only makes the task harder. That is the biggest reason this defense is allowing the sixth-most YAC yards this season.

Thanks to the hard work done upfront by the Eagles defense the secondary enjoys a lot of freedom to help shut down the pass. The team allows the third-lowest completion rate of just 60% and has allowed only eight passing touchdowns which is third-lowest. They also have the fifth-lowest passing yard against them and have done well making the fifth-most pass breakups. They could be without Darius Slay this week as he’s questionable, but the depth in the secondary isn’t a concern for Philadelphia. Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell and are both playing well and safety Reed Blankenship is playing well and is third on the team in tackles.

Conclusion:
The Cowboys defensive backs have big question marks as to what they’re expected to do this week. For the Eagles the idea should be simple, shut down CeeDee Lamb.
Win: Eagles

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SPECIAL TEAMS

Brandon Aubrey remains the best kicker in the league. He hasn’t missed an extra point this year and has two missed field goals to his name (one was a blocked attempt). On attempts of 50 yards or more, he’s the most accurate with nine made from ten attempts.

For Philadelphia, Jake Elliott has yet to miss an extra point. His 76% field goal accuracy puts him at 32nd among 35 kickers.

KaVontae Turpin ranks second in average kickoff return yards, in punt return he’s fourth. He made a good kickoff return last week and if he didn’t step out of bounds on one return play, he could have gone all the way.

Kenneth Gainwell is the team’s leading kickoff return specialist and ranks 22nd in average return yards. In punt returns, it’s Cooper DeJean who ranks 16th in average return yards.
Win: Cowboys