Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys will improve to 6-1 if...

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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After splitting the first two divisional games, the Dallas Cowboys can take a nice lead in the division if they accomplish this against Philadelphia.

There is no such thing as a “must win” game for a team that’s 5-1 heading into Halloween. With that said, the Dallas Cowboys can do a lot of good for themselves with a win tonight.

If the Cowboys lose to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football, they will also lose their division lead. Not only would a loss tie them with Philadelphia but drop them to second, it would also be their second loss in the division.

Win, however, and things look vastly different. All of a sudden Dallas would have a two game lead over every one else in the NFC East. It would also give them a 2-1 record in the division while putting the Eagles at 0-2.

A win would also help keep the wildfire talk of “Romo or Dak” still somewhat contained, at least for one more week. No matter how he personally performs, if Dak Prescott leads the team to yet another win, it will be that much harder to make a switch.

So what will it take for the Cowboys to come away victorious tonight?

If the Dallas Cowboys are to improve their record to 6-1 and take a commanding lead in the division, they must score 24 or more.

In the five wins so far in 2016, the Cowboys have put up more than 24 points in every one. In fact, they average 28 points per game in their wins. The only loss of the season featured an offense that only mustered 19 points.

As for the Eagles, their four wins have seen their defense allow just 37 points total. The highest point total any opposing offense has been able to put on Philadelphia in these games was 14.

The story is much different, however, in their two losses. The Lions got to the magical total of 24 while Washington did it three points better getting to 27 points.

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How do the Dallas Cowboys go about accomplishing this feat? Thankfully, their recipe for success so far will translate well in the scenario also.

In both games the Eagles lost, they also were behind on the time of possession. Even though the Lions did not fare well on third downs to keep drives alive, they went 2-2 on fourth down. Washington, on the other hand, converted better than 50% of their third down attempts.

The Cowboys, of course, have one of the league’s best third down conversion rates, successfully moving the chains 46.6% of the time.

The Lions and Redskins also attacked Philadelphia quite differently as well. Detroit used a short passing attack, completing 19 of 25 passes. Washington opted to pound the rock on the Eagles, rushing 33 times for 230 yards.

The Cowboys can play either type of game.

Prescott is second in the league, completing 68.7% of his pass attempts. They also have the league leader in rushing yards per game. Ezekiel Elliott averages 117.2 yards per contest and will take back his first place spot in overall yardage with just 54 yards in this game.

The Eagles, on the other hand, are only average at getting off the field on third down, allowing conversion on 40.3% of opposing attempts.

They allow over 100 yards per game to their opponents on the ground and will be without tackle Bennie Logan. Missing your best run stuffer against this Cowboys team is not a position the Eagles wanted to be in.

The prediction:

Eagles 20, Cowboys 27

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