NFL Picks 11/9 – Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys

NFL Picks 11/9 – Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

Week Ten presents a matchup of bitter NFC East rivals as the Philadelphia Eagles (6-2) visit the Dallas Cowboys (3-5) at AT&T Stadium. Sunday’s game is the first of two meetings between the combatants. Dallas hammered visiting Philadelphia 33-13 the last time they faced off in December. The Eagles and Cowboys have split the regular season matchups over the last two seasons with each team winning at home. Philadelphia has lost six straight games at Dallas, their last win came in 2017. Philadelphia is a 7-point favorite and the total is 43.5.

Philadelphia held on for a 28-23 win over the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars at home last week. Philadelphia built a 22-0 lead in the third quarter but questionable coaching decisions and carelessness with the ball allowed Jacksonville to pull within 28-23 in the final minutes. As Jacksonville was driving for the game-winning score late in the fourth quarter, linebacker Nakobe Dean intercepted Trevor Lawrence in the end zone to seal the win for the Eagles.

NFL Picks 11/9 – Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley produced another strong game finishing with 159 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown. He added three catches for 40 yards and a receiving touchdown. Barkley also made a phenomenal backward hurdle to evade a Jaguars defender.  The amazing feat was replayed on a multitude of sports and non-sports outlets afterwards. Jalen Hurts completed 18 of 24 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 67 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. The Eagles have won four straight games. 

Dallas is coming off a 27-21 loss at Atlanta last week. Not only did Dallas lose the game, they lost starting quarterback Dak Prescott to a right hamstring injury. He’s expected to miss an extended period of time with the injury. Prescott completed 18 of 24 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown before exiting the game. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush completed 13 of 25 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown in relief of Prescott. He guided an 86-yard touchdown drive in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Dallas has lost three in a row.

GAME STORYLINES: PHILADELPHIA

In 2022, the stars aligned for the Philadelphia Eagles as they won a franchise-record 14 games and advanced to the Super Bowl where they narrowly lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was the runner-up for NFL’s MVP award while the defense registered a league-leading and franchise-record 70 sacks. Philadelphia appeared to be on pace for another Super Bowl run in 2023 after getting off to a 10-1 start but they dropped 5 of their last 6 games and limped into the playoffs with an 11-6 record. The Eagles 2023 season ended with an embarrassing 32-9 loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Due to the extreme swings of the previous two seasons — Super Bowl appearance to a 10-1 start the next year to a season-ending collapse resulting in an embarrassing playoff loss — expectations for the Eagles 2024 season were mixed. Philadelphia signed star running back Saquon Barkley to a 3-year, $37.7 million contract in the offseason. Signing with the Eagles marked a homecoming for Barkley who is a native of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania which is about an hour from Philadelphia. Barkley also starred at Penn State for 3 years before being selected second overall in the 2018 NFL draft. 

NFL Picks 11/9 – Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys

Saquon Barkley has had a phenomenal debut season with the Eagles. The 27-year-old superstar has rushed for 925 yards with 6 touchdowns and added 146 receiving yards with 2 touchdown receptions through 8 games. He’s averaging a career-high 5.9 yards per carry and ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards. Barkley will likely finish the season with career highs in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. 

After ending last season in a funk and having some struggles to open this season, Jalen Hurts appears to have regained the excellent form he showed in 2022. Hurts has passed for 1,774 yards with 10 touchdowns to 4 interceptions while completing 69.8 percent of his passes. He’s also rushed for 322 yards and 8 more touchdowns on the ground. Wideouts DeVonta Smith (35 catches for 473 yards, 4 touchdowns in 7 games) and A.J. Brown (23 catches for 444 yards, 3 touchdowns in 5 games) make up one of the best receiving combos in the NFL. Brown’s availability is crucial to the Eagles success as they’ve gone 5-0 with him and 1-2 without him when he missed about a month with a hamstring injury.

The Philadelphia Eagles boast one of the top defenses in the NFL. They rank among the top 10 in yards allowed and points per game allowed. The defense is led by pro bowl linebacker Josh Sweat (19 tackles, 5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss in 8 games), safety Reed Blankenship (46 tackles, 2 interceptions in 8 games) and a trio of former University of Georgia Bulldog players in linebackers Nakobe Dean (60 tackles, 2 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery in 8 games) and Nolan Smith Jr. (19 tackles, 2.5 sacks in 8 games) along with defensive tackle Jalen Carter (18 tackles, 3 sacks in 8 games). Philadelphia has 5 former Georgia Bulldogs on their defense.

GAME STORYLINES: DALLAS

The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2024 season with high expectations after going 12-5 last year and winning the NFC East division. It was the third straight year Dallas had won exactly 12 games. Dallas opened the season with an impressive 33-17 win at Cleveland but its been all downhill since then. Dallas suffered a humiliating 44-19 loss at home to the New Orleans Saints in Week 2, and the ensuing weeks have brought a lot of injuries and more listless losses. Dallas is also 0-3 at home this season, they were 8-0 at home last year. 

Superstar linebacker Micah Parsons (14 sacks, 18 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery last season), defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence (4 sacks, 1 forced fumble last season), and wide receiver Brandon Cooks (657 yards, 8 touchdowns last season) have each missed 4 games with injuries. All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland (9 interceptions, an NFL-record 5 pick six’s) has yet to play this season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot during training camp. Parsons could return for Sunday’s game against the Eagles.

Dallas was bit by the injury bug again in last week’s game in Atlanta as Dak Prescott, Trevon Diggs and All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb each left the game with injuries. Diggs and Lamb are expected to play against Philadelphia on Sunday but Dak Prescott could be out for weeks with a right hamstring injury. Dallas will likely place Prescott on injured reserve which will keep him out for at least the next 4 weeks. Cooper Rush will now be the Cowboys starting quarterback.

The injuries to key players and the inability to replace the production of running back Tony Pollard — who left as a free agent after putting up back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons — has left Dallas in shambles. Dallas has the second-worst rushing offense in the NFL. After passing for an NFL-high 36 touchdowns last season, Dak Prescott has passed for 11 touchdowns (with 8 interceptions) in 8 games. He only threw 9 interceptions in 17 games last season. 

All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (53 catches for 660 yards, 4 touchdowns in 8 games) has been one of the few bright spots for Dallas this season. The 25-year-old superstar ranks fifth in receiving yards among wideouts. He will lead Dallas in receiving for the fourth straight season. Lamb is coming off a historic 2023 season where he finished with a league-high 135 catches, 1,749 receiving yards which ranked second and 12 touchdowns. Lamb’s catches and yards also broke the franchise record set by Michael Irvin in 1995.

THE PICK: EAGLES (-7)

The Eagles are clicking on all cylinders right now with Saquon Barkley playing at an MVP-level and the defense playing very well. The Cowboys season is going nowhere at this point with all the injuries and inconsistent play on offense and defense. Lay the Points…Eagles 31, Cowboys 14

NFL Picks 11/9 – Philadelphia Eagles @ Dallas Cowboys