The Dallas Cowboys visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, Oct. 26, to close Week 7. Kickoff is 7:15 p.m. Central (8:15 p.m. ET) at Lincoln Financial Field on ESPN and ABC, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in the booth and Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge on the sidelines. The ManningCast is on ESPN2.
Both teams are 2-4, which would have been hard to picture in September. For the Eagles, the reason goes beyond football.
The Eagles without Hurts
Jalen Hurts is out for the season. He was cleated in the Oct. 4 loss to the Rams, and specialists in London found a clot in his calf before the Eagles' game there, which he played. He was ruled out Oct. 15 and placed on injured reserve, and on Oct. 19 the team announced he had deep vein thrombosis and clots in both lungs. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported he will miss the rest of the season; the team expects a full recovery. The NFL Players Association has called for an investigation into his medical care, and the league's chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills, has defended it.
"I care deeply about Jalen," coach Nick Sirianni said Thursday, adding that "his wellbeing is first and foremost."
Tanner McKee makes his second straight start. Last Sunday he completed 26 of 45 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown in a 25-14 home loss to Carolina, as the offense managed 222 yards and punted on its first five possessions. "You've got to score points, and we're not doing that right now," Sirianni said afterward.
The losses go beyond the quarterback. A.J. Brown was traded to New England in June. Right tackle Lane Johnson retired Oct. 6 after 14 seasons, and the Eagles traded center Cam Jurgens to Baltimore the next day. Guard Landon Dickerson has been on injured reserve since Week 1.
The season started well enough, with wins over Washington, 24-22, and at Tennessee, 24-20. Then came four straight losses, the Eagles' first four-game skid since 2020: 27-7 at Chicago, 24-20 to the Rams after leading by 10 in the fourth quarter, 19-17 to Jacksonville in London on a 57-yard field goal at the gun, and the Carolina loss.
There is still a way back. Nobody has run away with the NFC East: the Giants lead at 3-2-1, and Washington is 1-4-1. Monday starts a run of three straight division games for Philadelphia.
Who plays for Philadelphia
Saquon Barkley, slowed by a hamstring injury since Week 4, was limited in practice Thursday and Friday and is expected to return. "Hopefully, I'll be able to go Monday," he said.
Receivers DeVonta Smith (hamstring) and Dontayvion Wicks (ankle) did not practice all week. Smith leads the team with 310 receiving yards. If both sit, the Eagles turn to Makai Lemon, Darius Cooper, Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore; Cooper has four touchdowns on eight catches. Tight end Dallas Goedert (knee) returned to practice Saturday and needs one catch to move into third on the franchise's career receptions list. Edge rusher Nolan Smith (concussion) is likely out.
Dallas under pressure
The Cowboys are favored on the road, but they bring their own trouble. They lost 28-20 at the Giants, beat Washington 37-20, lost 34-31 to Baltimore in Rio de Janeiro and won 34-30 at Houston. Then they lost 24-16 at home to Tampa Bay, which was starting rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, and 23-13 at Green Bay last Sunday night, when they trailed 17-0 at halftime and ran for 48 yards.
The defense ranks 30th in the league and allows 26.5 points a game. Coach Brian Schottenheimer, 9-13-1 in his second season, added former Browns head coach Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant this month, and owner Jerry Jones said he does not expect more coaching changes this season.
"I think it comes with the territory," Schottenheimer said of the criticism. "I think some of it is deserved. We got to play better. I got to coach better."
The offense has the numbers. Dak Prescott has thrown for 1,639 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions, and he has thrown two interceptions in each of his last two games. CeeDee Lamb has 48 catches, the most in franchise history through six games, for 577 yards and four touchdowns. Javonte Williams has seven rushing touchdowns, and rookie safety Caleb Downs, the 11th overall pick, leads the defense with 37 tackles.
Dallas expects linebacker DeMarvion Overshown back after he missed five games, and cornerback Cobie Durant practiced fully Friday after missing four. Returner KaVontae Turpin (ribs) is not expected to play.
"Anybody can win this division," Lamb said, "so why not us."
Always a war
The Cowboys lead the series 75-59, including 3-1 in the playoffs. Merrill Reese, in his 50th season as the Eagles' radio voice, put it this way this week: "Always a war, no matter the records."
There was Tony Franklin's barefoot 59-yard field goal on a Monday night in 1979, and the Eagles' 20-7 win in the NFC Championship Game after the 1980 season. There were the 1989 Bounty Bowls, Troy Vincent's 104-yard return in 1996 and DeSean Jackson's 91-yard touchdown in 2010. Dallas once won 11 straight in the series, from 1967 to 1972; Philadelphia's longest run is eight, from 1987 to 1991.
Last season's games were memorable. The Eagles won the NFL Kickoff Game 24-20 in Philadelphia on Sept. 4, a night with a weather delay of more than an hour and Jalen Carter's ejection six seconds in for spitting on Prescott. On Nov. 23 in Arlington, Dallas came back from 21-0 down, tying its franchise record, and won 24-21 on Brandon Aubrey's 42-yard field goal as time expired. The teams meet again on Thanksgiving in Dallas.
Halftime Monday has its own moment: Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie will be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame, its 53rd member and only the second owner, after Bert Bell.
The line
Dallas is a 4.5-point favorite at DraftKings and FanDuel after opening at 5.5, with a total of 44.5.
Game day at the Linc
Lots generally open four and a half hours before kickoff, about 3:45 p.m. ET for a Monday night game, and parking is $50 a car. New rules this season ban saved spots and require all gear to stay inside the space you paid for, and RVs and buses are hand-parked in Lot D and upper Lot N. After pushback from the Philadelphia Tailgating Association, tailgaters won a one-hour drop-off window when the lots open. There is no tailgating in the lots north of Pattison Avenue and west of Darien Street. SEPTA's Broad Street Line runs to Pattison Avenue.
Pepsi Plaza opens about three hours before kickoff and the main gates about 90 minutes before. The stadium is cashless and follows the NFL clear-bag rule. For the Philadelphia side of the lots, see our Jetro Lot tailgate page. The video above is from a Cowboys watch party at Pluckers in Addison, Texas.