Tag: Preview

From everyone at Blogging The Boys we hope you and your families all had a fantastic Christmas. It’s now time to get back into it and look ahead at this weekend’s game with the Dallas Cowboys taking on fierce division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. These two teams are in very different places, one team has had a season to forget with a string of unfortunate injuries. The other is high flying and only has lost three games this season. So how do both these teams offenses stack against each other? Let’s break it down by position as we do every week here on the Position Battleground.

QUARTERBACK

Cooper Rush
vs.
Jalen Hurts

Cooper Rush had another good game, and although he came close to throwing an interception, he never turned the ball over. Without CeeDee Lamb on the field the offense did drop off but Rush was still able to manage the game and help produce a win. His touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert was very nice, and Rush got rookie Ryan Flournoy involved last week against Tampa Bay.

Jalen Hurts leads the entire NFL in rushing touchdowns. He now has 14 rushing touchdowns this season which is more than every other quarterback and matches running back James Cook. As a passer, however, Hurts’ production isn’t all that impressive. He ranks 20th in passing yards and completions, 16th in passing touchdowns and has been sacked the fifth-most number of times this year.

Conclusion:
Last week, Hurts left the game at the start due to a concussion and is now in concussion protocol. That means there’s a chance he won’t play. If he doesn’t play then this position battle becomes a push since Eagles backup quarterback, Kenny Pickett, is also questionable due to a rib injury.
Win: Eagles (if Hurts plays, or this is a push)

Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

RUNNING BACK

Rico Dowdle/Ezekiel Elliott
vs.
Saquon Barkley/Kenneth Gainwell

The streak finally came to an end last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as Rico Dowdle failed to rush for over 100-yards in a game since Week 13. It wasn’t just the efforts of the Tampa Bay defensive line that held Dowdle back, but the offensive strategy also played its part. The Buccaneers defense hasn’t been bad at defending the run but one of worst at stopping the pass. That meant Dowdle had a day where he only rushed for 23 yards, but he did catch three passes for 28 yards. Ezekiel Elliott had a touchdown off a goal line plunge from the one-yard line, it was his only carry of the game meaning he had one rush for one yard and one touchdown.

The Eagles offense is completely predicated on the running game and the fact they are the number rushing team this year shows how committed they are to running the ball. Hurts adds to the team total of rushing yards, but it’s Saquon Barkley who steals the show here. Barkley leads the league in rushing by a large margin and will more than likely hit the 2,000 yard mark this season which is an insane benchmark. Barkley’s 5.9 yards per carry is the most among all running backs (minimum 100 carries). He’s also second among all running backs in rushing touchdowns (and one less than Hurts), and he’s first in explosive plays among all running backs. It’s been a monumental season, and one that most New York Giants fans will be seething over.

Conclusion:
The Cowboys face the daunting task of trying to hold back the incessant tide of Barkley and Hurts as they chew up field with their running game. The Cowboys defense has a huge weakness and that’s in stopping the run. They rank sixth-last in stopping the run this year.
Win: Eagles

Photo by Timothy Nwachukwu/Getty Images

WIDE RECEIVERS

CeeDee Lamb/Brandin Cooks/KaVontae Turpin
vs.
A.J. Brown/DeVonta Smith/Jahan Dotson

CeeDee Lamb is the spearhead of this offense, without him things don’t look as good. Even with missing time last week against the Buccaneers, Lamb was still able to go for over 100-yards receiving. He reached the benchmark before halftime and became the first Cowboys wide receiver to go over 100 yards receiving before halftime in consecutive games. Jalen Tolbert has scored a touchdown in consecutive games now, but keep an eye on his practice report as he injured his finger midway through the Tampa Bay game. We also need to wait out on any news with Jalen Brooks. He was inactive last week with a knee issue.

A.J. Brown leads the Eagles in receiving and broke the 1000-yard mark last week. He’s quite some distance behind Lamb in terms of receptions and yards, but he has scored six touchdowns which is the equal amount as Lamb. Brown now has over 200 yards and two touchdowns in his last two games. DeVonta Smith had a good start to the season but his production took a big dip for the majority or the mid-season schedule, even managing to produce a game where he went for -2 receiving yards. Jahan Dotson has had a very quiet season and has managed to catch one reception in his last three games.

Conclusion:
Lamb is the leader of the pack between both these team’s receivers. But the Eagles also have a better one-two punch at the receiver position. KaVontae Turpin and the rise of Jalen Tolbert recently have given Dallas mroe options than they had.
Win: Push

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

TIGHT END

Jake Ferguson
vs.
Grant Calcaterra

Jake Ferguson finished second in receptions last week against Tampa Bay. He went for 40 yards and picked up an important first down. He worked hard as a run blocker but as a receiver he still has yet to score a touchdown this year.

Grant Calcaterra is in for the injured Dallas Goedert who is now on injured reserve. Calcaterra made zero receptions last week and was targeted zero times.

Conclusion:
Since stepping into the starting role due to Goedert’s injury, Calcaterra has made four receptions for 38 yards. But he has scored a touchdown.
Win: Cowboys

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

OFFENSIVE LINE

We saw an interesting starting five on the offensive line last week. Tyler Guyton was on the bench while Chuma Edoga started at left tackle. Tyler Smith and Cooper Beebe played at their respective positions while Brock Hoffman played the right guard spot with Zack Martin shutdown for the year. And Terence Steele remained at his position at right tackle. The one player that did struggle against Tampa was Brock Hoffman. He had issues both in the passing and running game and committed two penalties.

But the entire offensive line allowed only one sack all day. The one sack Tampa did get saw the entire defensive line break through to get to Cooper Rush making it hard to put the blame on the sack on any one player.

This week they face the Eagles who have 40 sacks this year, that eighth-most, but have only managed to create 104 pressures this year, that’s the seventh-fewest. Where this Cowboys offensive line will have problems though is in the run game. The Eagles defense has done very well in stopping the run and have allowed the ninth-fewest rush yards this year. Asim Richards, who has been on injured reserve, has been designated to return so keep a watch on his practice report this week.

The Eagles offensive line has had their work cut out this season. With Hurts looking to run more than pass it has led to a number of forced sacks, but even with Hurts out this line has been leaking. Last week against Washington, this offensive line allowed four sacks and 11 pressures. This season they have allowed the ninth-most sacks.

Where this offensive line comes into its own is in the run game. They are an extremely talented run-blocking group with starting left tackle Jordan Mailata leading the way. Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson both add to the firepower in run blocking and this entire line is a physical and aggressive unit. What has also helped this starting five is the lack of injuries, where they haven’t had any. By keeping the starting five you create a cohesiveness that helps bring consistency, and that’s exactly what the Eagles have this season. The end result is the top team when it comes to running the ball.
Win: Eagles