Dallas Cowboys @ Philadelphia Eagles Matchup Preview 12/22/19: Analysis, Daily Fantasy

The Lineups.com fantasy football rankings are officially out! Don’t forget to check out our fantasy football defense rankings as well. Also, if you are into DFS we have you covered with our full season NFL DFS projections. Be sure not to miss a thing and continue to check our site for updates.

The Cowboys are heading to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles in a huge game this Sunday. This game has big playoff implications for both teams, who are battling for the NFC East title. The Cowboys are coming off a huge win against the Rams, a game in which they looked like a real playoff contender after some disappointing losses in the weeks prior. The Cowboys ran for over 200 yards against the Rams, and the Eagles have had a tough time containing Ezekiel Elliot. The Eagles are also coming off of a big win against the Redskins after Carson Wentz led a game winning drive. If they’re able to contain Elliott and Pollard they have a good chance at winning this game, but I’m not sure they’ll be able to get it done against the Cowboys. Click here for more details and betting information on the Cowboys @ Eagles matchup.

TV Schedule

Date: Sunday, December 22, 2019
Time: 1:25 PM PST
Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Coverage: FOX

Injury Report

Cowboys: Leighton Vander Esch (Q), C.J. Goodwin (Q), Dak Prescott (Q), Luke Gifford (O), Joe Thomas (Q)
Eagles: Nelson Agholor (Q), Jordan Howard (Q), Derek Barnett (Q), Lane Johnson (Q), Ronald Darby (Q)

Cowboys Analysis

The Cowboys looked great against the Rams last week. This performance was much needed after a couple of less-than-savory games in the few weeks prior. They’ve found a great double threat in the backfield with Elliott and Pollard. Elliott ran for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns off of 24 carries, and Pollard ran for 131 yards and a touchdown off of 12 carries. The Eagles have one of the better rushing defenses in the league, allowing the 3rd fewest yards per game. However, when the Cowboys and Eagles faced off in week 7 the Cowboys were able to put up 189 rushing yards. I think it’s going to be a big ground game for the Cowboys. The Eagles are a very middling passing defense which also bodes quite well for the Cowboys. The Cowboys throw for an average 300 yards per game, the 2nd most in the league. If they’re looking as good as they did against the Rams I think we’re going to be seeing a very similar score to their 37-10 victory over the Eagles in week 7.

The Cowboys allow an average 103.6 rushing yards per game, the 12th fewest in the league. The Eagles have a huge weapon on the ground in Miles Sanders who put up over 100 yards last week. The Cowboys have a lot of talent on defense, but they’ve had trouble putting all of the pieces in place this season. Their defense looked great against the Rams, and they allowed Gurley to rush for only 20 yards (and a touchdown) off of his 11 carries, an average 1.8 yards per carry to a Gurley who had been having some pretty big games over the past couple weeks. The Cowboys have the potential to make things very hard for Miles Sanders, it just depends on if they’ll be able to get it together and make it happen. The Cowboys are a top 10 passing defense so I’m expecting the Eagles to try to lean into the run game in this matchup.

Dallas Cowboys Depth Chart

QB: Dak Prescott
RB1: Ezekiel Elliott
RB2: Tony Pollard
WR1: Amari Cooper
WR2: Michael Gallup
WR3: Randall Cobb
TE: Jason Witten

Eagles Analysis

The Eagles are coming off of a big division win this week against the Redskins. Miles Sanders was a big weapon for them in this game. He ran for 122 yards and a touchdown off of 19 carries, netting him an average of 6.4 yards per carry. The Cowboys were super tough against the run last week, allowing only 20 yards out of Todd Gurley. It’s going to be tough to have as big of a game against the Cowboys, but Sanders has developed a lot this season. The last time these teams met Sanders was only given 6 carries, so he’ll have a chance to prove himself in the starting position this time. Greg Ward Jr. was another weapon for the Eagles in their game against the Redskins. Having been promoted off of the practice squad before week 12, Ward made a huge impact in this game against the Redskins. He had 7 receptions for 61 yards, one of those receptions being the game winning touchdown. The Eagles have a couple of weapons in these players that the Cowboys barely saw the last time these teams matched up, so they could have a very significant impact in this game.

Defensively, the Eagles are going to have to step up their game to contain the Cowboys offense. The Eagles are one of the best rush defenses in the league, allowing 90.4 rush yards per game, the 3rd fewest in the league. That didn’t stop Ezekiel Elliott from running for more than 100 yards in their last matchup against the Cowboys. The Eagles are really going to need to look out for the Cowboys passing attack. The Cowboys are a top 5 passing offense, and the Eagles passing defense is ranked in the middle of the league. While these are just numbers, I still believe the Eagles are going to have a tough time containing the Cowboys if they are playing how they did against the Rams. If they can slow down the run they’ll have a bigger chance at a win.

Philadelphia Eagles Depth Chart

QB: Carson Wentz
RB1: Miles Sanders
RB2: Jordan Howard
WR1: JJ Arcega-Whiteside
WR2: Greg Ward Jr.
WR3: Nelson Agholor*
TE: Zach Ertz

Daily Fantasy

Greg Ward Jr. is owned in only around 3% of leagues (ESPN) and has been a big weapon for the Eagles, especially in their last game. He had 7 receptions for 61 yards and caught the game winning touchdown against the Redskins, netting him a 19.1 point total in PPR leagues. He might be a good pickup as I imagine the Eagles might start to rely on him more given how clutch he was last game. Tavon Austin might be another good look for this matchup. He had his biggest game of the season last week with 1 reception for 59 yards and a touchdown, plus 2 carries for 3 yards. He’s been pretty unreliable this season, and only had 2 targets last week, but he might be used more for this matchup given how he played last week. However, he might be too unreliable to start so I might search elsewhere. Overall I think this will be a high scoring game for the Cowboys, so you might want to start Cowboys receivers if you have any on your roster. The Eagles are a middle ranked secondary, which the 2nd ranked Cowboys passing attack should be able to get a lot done against.