The Cowboys won’t take the field until Monday night in Week 7, but there’s still plenty for Dallas fans to monitor before kickoff against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The matchup comes with both NFC East teams in rough shape. Dallas has already spent six weeks dealing with its own mess, and Philadelphia is limping in as well.
Jalen Hurts is out for the season because of blood clots, while DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks have also been ruled out for this game. That leaves the Eagles shorthanded and gives the Cowboys’ struggling secondary a little breathing room.
Even with the 2-4 record, the division race is not over for Dallas. The Cowboys are tied for second in the NFC East with Philadelphia, while the 3-2-1 New York Giants sit in front of them. The Giants draw a Houston Texans team that has won two in a row, so a Dallas win paired with a Giants loss would not vault the Cowboys into first place, but it would bring them another step closer.
There’s also a draft angle to keep in mind. The Cowboys own the Green Bay Packers’ first-round pick from the Micah Parsons trade, while the New York Jets will get the higher of Dallas’ two first-rounders because of the Quinnen Williams trade.
Since Green Bay is expected to finish with a better record than the Cowboys, Dallas likely ends up holding onto the Packers pick. That makes Packers losses especially valuable for the Cowboys, even if the team’s own season stays on the same rocky track.
The playoff picture beyond the division is worth watching too, though the climb is already steep. Ahead of Dallas in the wild-card race are the Chicago Bears, Packers, Detroit Lions, Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints and Eagles, in that order.
From there, the most helpful results for Dallas would be the Packers losing to the Lions, the Seahawks falling to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Falcons losing to the San Francisco 49ers and the Saints dropping to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paris. And, of course, the simplest way for the Cowboys to help themselves is to beat the Eagles on Monday night.
In Other News...
Cowboys Facing An Awkward Reality Ahead Of Eagles Showdown
The Cowboys head into Monday night with the kind of point spread that invites debate, and Skip Bayless was quick to voice his disbelief that Dallas is laying 4.5 points against the Eagles. It is an unusual spot for a team that has spent much of the season battling inconsistency on both sides of the ball, with offensive issues and defensive lapses making it hard to know which version of the Cowboys will show up from week to week.
Philadelphia adds another layer of awkwardness to the setup, because the Eagles have kept winning even when Jalen Hurts has not been available. That leaves Dallas facing a division opponent that has found ways to survive adversity while the Cowboys are still trying to steady their own form, which is why the betting line feels less like a prediction and more like a challenge to explain. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Firestorm Puts Schottenheimers Leadership In The Spotlight
Brian Schottenheimers public critique of George Pickens landed with extra weight because it broke from the Cowboys coachs usual approach. Schottenheimer has generally been protective of Pickens, so calling out the receivers run-blocking effort immediately turned a routine in-season adjustment into a much bigger conversation inside and outside the building.
Former NFL receiver Chad Ochocinco wasted little time using the moment to question Schottenheimers leadership, framing the comments as a way to shift attention away from Dallas defensive problems. Pickens, for his part, kept the response measured and stressed the need for the whole team to improve, but the exchange has only sharpened the spotlight on how Schottenheimer is handling one of the leagues most scrutinized rosters. [Read more 🡒]
Troy Aikman Just Put Cowboys Receivers On Blast At Worst Time
The Cowboys recent offensive slide has made every missed detail look bigger, and Troy Aikman added to the noise with a blunt critique of the receiver play coming out of Dallas. The former quarterback said the group has not been running crisp routes, a concern that lands at a rough moment for an offense that has scored fewer points in its last two games than it had in earlier outings.
Aikman stopped short of naming the player he was talking about, but the comment was sharp enough to spark immediate speculation around the roster. George Pickens, CeeDee Lamb and Ryan Flournoy have all been mentioned as possible candidates, though the film and the context have not pointed to a confirmed answer yet. [Read more 🡒]