Need a Turnaround: Cowboys vs. Eagles Week 7 Preview

It has been quite a few weeks for the Philadelphia Eagles. The injuries, fines, and questions about the future have riddled the team, and now on a four-game skid, the Eagles need to get back on track.

The 2-4 Eagles are in win-now mode, with a loss sending them way off the rails for any opportunity at making the postseason. They will look to do it on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles are going to need to rely on Saquon Barkley, who is expected to be making his return Monday night after a hamstring injury. Additionally, Makai Lemon gets a shot to achieve his breakout game against Dallas, with the two guys in front of him, DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks, both being absent from practice this past week.

Both teams sitting at 2-4, it is now or never for both squads to make any potential run for the postseason.

Barkley Has to Carry the Load

It has been three weeks since Barkley has been on the field for the Eagles, where in Week 4 he limped out of bounds while clutching his hamstring. He has been dealing with this injury and has sat out practices and games as of late in order to get a full recovery from the injury.

With Tanner McKee starting for the second straight week after Jalen Hurts‘s season-ending blood clot, the Eagles will have to rely on the ground game. The blocking has been subpar, but there are not many players in the league who you would want out there to run more than Barkley.

In addition to the backup being in at quarterback for the Eagles, Smith and Wicks will also not be playing in the Monday night matchup against Dallas. Both missed practice this week with hamstring and ankle injuries, respectively.

With just Dallas Goedert as a satisfactory target for McKee to throw to, Barkley is going to be relied on to do his thing with the ground game.

Lemon’s Breakout Opportunity

Lemon, who has had a quiet season so far, will get his opportunity to gain traction in the receiving room Monday night. Without Smith and Wicks, Lemon, the Eagles’ first-round pick this past year, needs to show up.

Questions have arisen all season long thus far about the lack of production from Lemon, and now he will get the chance to produce at a level that he may not have been able to in earlier games.

Now, Lemon’s chances could be limited with McKee being at quarterback. In his three starts and four games in his career where he has found himself in the game for the Eagles, McKee has 812 yards on around a 60% completion percentage, while also throwing for six touchdowns with only a single interception.

But last game, McKee looked rough. He has just about a 57% completion percentage against the Carolina Panthers, throwing for a single touchdown and 215 yards. While that isn’t too bad, McKee averaging just 4.8 yards per completion really didn’t allow for the receivers to get downfield at all.

Lemon is going to have to navigate this as the top receiver in this game.

Now or Never

This is it. Philadelphia is 2-4, and we are almost at the point where losses would be more beneficial to a team than wins for draft stock. Nobody wants to be in a situation where that is the position your team is in, and if the Eagles want to avoid that, a win is a necessity.

The Eagles’ 4 losses came to Carolina, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, and Chicago Bears. These are four very good teams.

Dallas is sitting at 2-4 as well and has nowhere near the reputation of some of these other teams this year.

To prove that the Eagles are truthfully better than their record says, this game is an absolute must-win.

The New York Giants currently lead the division at just 3-2-1, leaving plenty of opportunity for the Eagles to crawl back and make some noise in the NFC East. That can’t happen without a win on Monday night.

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