The Dreaded Saturday Eagles Pick

A disappointing 3-3.

That describes both the Eagles and the Cowboys going into Sunday night's prime-time matchup in Jerry World.

The good news? The winner takes over sole possession of the mediocre NFC East.

The Eagles got exposed last week against the Vikings, in particular on defense, where their secondary is likely still applying balm to soothe the burn after being torched by Kirk Cousins for 333 yards and 4 TD passes.

The Cowboys may have topped them, however, coughing up a game to the previously winless New York Jets.

Both teams are banged up. The Birds will be without DeSean Jackson again, along with pivotal left offensive tackle Jayson Peters. That means rookie Andre Dillard gets the job of protecting Carson Wentz' blind side. That's enough to make every Eagles fan nervous.

The Cowboys also are licking their wounds, with several key linemen out on both sides of the ball. Star wideout Amari Cooper was supposed to practice Friday but likely will not be a full strength if he does go Sunday.

This might be a game Carson Wentz has to win. The Eagles aren't scaring anybody on defense. They will have their hands full with Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliott.

Look for another huge dose of the '12' formation from the Eagles, with both tight ends Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert lining up with a single back. This would be a good time for Ertz to break out of something of a funk.

The road does not get any easier for the Eagles, they need this game.

THE PICK: Make it Eagles 24, Cowboys 23. For some reason, Doug Pederson's teams always seem to bounce back after playing a really bad game. In a test of two banged-up teams, I think they will prevail on the road in Big D.

LAST WEEK: The Eagles no doubt likely will try to forget an embarrassing effort in the place where they won their only Super Bowl. They simply got overwhelmed by the Vikings, who had receivers running wide open all day. The loss dropped the Eagles' back to .500 on the season at 3-3. The win put me two games over, at 4-2.

GAME BY GAME: Eagles 32, Redskins 27. (My Pick: Eagles 27, Redskins 13)

Falcons 24, Eagles 20. (My Pick: Falcons 29, Eagles 27)

Lions 27, Eagles 24: (My Pick: Eagles 26, Lions 23)

Eagles 34, Packers 27 (My Pick: Packers 33, Eagles 23)

Eagles 31, Jets 6 (My Pick: Eagles 31, Jets 13)

Vikings 38, Eagles 20 (My Pick: Vikings 27, Eagles 26)

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