The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are on an NFC heavyweight collision course on Sunday. While many think Dak Prescott is the “turnover-prone” quarterback, it has been Jalen Hurts who has that trouble this season.
Despite the Eagles holding a 7-1 record on the season, the Eagles offense has given the ball away consistently. Against the Los Angeles Rams in their 43-20 blowout win, the Cowboys caught the wave of momentum and squashed coach Sean McVay’s team before they knew what hit them, thanks in part to an interception that DaRon Bland took to the house.
As the Cowboys gear up to face the Eagles, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn says that when the opportunities arise against the Eagles, as they did vs. the Rams, and that wave of momentum builds, Dallas simply has to take advantage.
“Just what I saw [vs. Rams] it was a lot of really cool complementary ball being played,” Quinn said “I saw an interception, then I think there might have been a three and out, and there was a blocked punt. That’s when the big waves hit. So, when you get those big waves that can hit, that’s when [you] pedal downhill and go harder, when we get those moments to do that, I think that’s big.”
It seems like a mixed metaphor to us; (Waves on a bicycle? Pedals on a surfboard?) but we get the message. In what is rather surprising, the Eagles offense has 13 turnovers in eight games, with Hurts having 11, which is the second highest in the NFL behind Desmond Ridder’s 12 in Atlanta. (The alleged “turnover merchant” Dak Prescott has five).
The Cowboys’ defense plans to take advantage of Jalen Hurts’ turnover issues on Sunday.
The Eagles’ offense has had eight turnovers in its last three games, which is a vulnerability that Quinn’s opportunistic defense will want to exploit. Dallas’ defense, after leading the NFL in takeaways in back-to-back seasons, is currently seventh with 13 on the season. It has managed to force a turnover in every game but one.
In their last two Philly meetings, the Cowboys’ defense has gotten four turnovers against the Eagles, and while the unit has only three in its last three games, Quinn feels that more is coming. “The guys are digging, they’re going to come,” Quinn said. “We haven’t had a ton of them over the last couple games, so I am anticipating that changing just based on our mindset if we stay true to how we attack it and to where we go, they’ll fall our way.”
With Hurts and the Eagles giving the ball away this frequently, and the Cowboys’ defense adept at taking it away, when that “big wave” comes on Sunday, Dallas better be ready to, as Quinn says, “pedal downhill” because if Philadelphia gifts the Cowboys extra possessions, they have to make them count.
