Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Week 17 matchups to watch

The Dallas Cowboys and the rest of the league have only two games remaining on the regular-season schedule before postseason gets underway. After learning they were eliminated from the playoffs last week prior to their Sunday night matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas still played to win and will likely do the same this week.

The Philadelphia Eagles present an interesting matchup. This is a team that has been playing really well all season, but was upset a week ago by their division rival, the Washington Commanders. They still have something to play for as far as winning the NFC East and playoff seeding is concerned, and will likely be doing their best to put another “W” in the win column.

Today, we thought we would identify a few intriguing matchups to keep an eye on in the second and last meeting between the Cowboys and Eagles this year.

Cowboys’ run defense vs. Eagles’ RB Saquon Barkley

All eyes will be on Saquon Barkley in the final two games of the 2024 regular-season. He is currently on pace to break a 40-year-old rushing record set by Eric Dickerson. Right now he has a total of 1,688 rushing yards, needing 278 yards to eclipse the record of 2,105 set by Dickerson in 1984 in a 16-game season. Barkley needs to average 139 rushing yards over the last two games to accomplish this feat. The only thing standing in his way is the Dallas Cowboys this week and the New York Giants next week in the regular-season finale.

Brock Hoffman vs. Eagles’ DT Jalen Carter

Brock Hoffman has played a total of 375 offensive snaps this year at both left and right guard as well as center. He has also started five games this season as an injury fill in. He could currently be in contention to be Zack Martin’s replacement next year at RG, but will still need to continue to prove himself over the final two regular-season games. This week he will be tested by the Eagles young and talented DT Jalen Carter. How well he’s able to stand up to him could go a long ways earning a potential starting gig next season.

DaRon Bland vs. Eagles’ WR A.J. Brown

DaRon Bland was tasked to pretty much shadow Mike Evans the majority of the game last week and did pretty good job containing him, only allowing a total of five catches for 69 yards. He could be asked to do the same thing this week against the Philadelphia Eagles No. 1 WR A.J. Brown. This is one of those best against best matchups we all love to watch to see how things play out. Keep an eye on No. 26 this week and next, because he’s still looking for his first interception this year and has two games left to play to secure one of the season.