The Philadelphia Eagles are hosting the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night in the 2025 NFL Kickoff Game. The Birds will be revealing their Super Bowl LIX banner in front of their division rivals.
In order to preview this Week 1 NFC East battle, I reached out to our enemies over at Blogging The Boys. The debonair Dave Halprin kindly kindly took the time to answer my questions about this upcoming tilt. Let’s take a look at the answers.
1) Vibe check: How are Cowboys fans feeling entering this season? Seems to me like there would be a lot of negativity following a terrible 2024 that also included the Eagles winning Super Bowl LIX and then Dallas trading away their best player right before the 2025 campaign. Is there hope that the Cowboys will finally get over the hump?
There was definitely a lot of negativity
after the failed 2024 season. But that started to turn more positive as the offseason progressed. The Cowboys were a little more active in acquiring players either through trade or free agency, and the draft class also looked like it had some promise. The change from Mike McCarthy was also something that lifted spirits, even if Brian Schottenheimer wasn’t the first choice of anybody. So far, he has done a good job of managing this team through the offseason. Getting George Pickens was also a jolt to the system in a positive way. So things felt like they were on the upswing vibe-wise until Jerry Jones botched the negotiations and then traded Parsons. That has blown things up over here. So right now I would say we are definitely in a wait-and-see mode.
2) Speaking of the Micah Parsons trade, did the Cowboys make the right decision to move him? And how are you feeling about the Dallas defense’s outlook now that he’s gone?
There is a bigger split than you might imagine among the fanbase about the trade. My personal feeling is they shouldn’t have traded him. They got two first-round picks for him, but those are expected to be late in the first round because of the strength of Green Bay’s team. Picks late in the first round are much more prone to being a bust or just a guy than if you get in the top 15 or so. So even though having two first-round picks in the next two years feels good, Parsons was a known quantity who was among the best around. There’s no guarantee of that with the new picks. As for the defense now, pass rush was a strength of the defense so we do have some players there. But no one demands the attention of the offense on every play. It will no doubt lessen our ability to get after the quarterback, just how much that drops off remains to be seen. Of course, saving the money for Parsons does make it easier to re-sign some players like they just did with CB DaRon Bland.
3) What is the Cowboys’ biggest concern entering this matchup against the Eagles?
I think the cornerback position is the biggest issue. Trevon Diggs looks like he is going to play, but he has been recovering from knee surgery that ended his season last year and he has only really practiced starting this week. We lost slot man Jourdan Lewis and will likely have to move Bland back to the slot. They will likely start Kaiir Elam outside and he was a bust in Buffalo who the team traded for this offseason. He had a good showing this offseason, but we can’t really trust him yet. They will not have Parsons to help coverup their coverage problems with a pass rush either. So containing your receivers is probably going to be hard. Add in the fact that we always struggle defending the run and there are issues on defense.
4) What is the Cowboys’ biggest advantage going up against the Eagles?
They finally got someone to help CeeDee Lamb in George Pickens. Teams would load up on Lamb because the rest of the receiving corps didn’t really scare them. That shouldn’t be the case now with Pickens on the field. He looked great in the offseason practices and should open up room all over the field for other weapons to get involved more and allow Lamb to see some more advantageous matchups. So the passing game, also with TE Jake Ferguson, is what the Cowboys are going to ride for the most part.
5) Who wins this game and why? With the Eagles currently listed as 8.5-point home favorites, what’s your score prediction?
I don’t think the Cowboys are going to win this game. I’m not convinced the defense can hold up for a whole game, and the offense doesn’t feature a strong running game so it will all be on the arm of Dak Prescott and what he can do with the Lamb/Pickens/Ferguson trio. The offensive line is also a work in progress with a new guard, Tyler Booker, replacing Zack Martin, and second-year LT Tyler Guyton trying to have a better season than last year’s rookie campaign. The Cowboys will probably be a much better team a month from now, but going on the road and winning this game seems out of their reach. Eagles 31 – Cowboys 17.
