Today’s Eagles-Cowboys game will be 124th in the history of a 1960s rivalry. Cowboys have a 69-54 lead in the series of all time.
When the Eagles beat the Cowboys in November, the starting defenders were Carson Wentz and Ben DiNucci. Today they will be Jalen Hurts and Andy Dalton.
This is the first time that both teams will start different quarterbacks in the two Eagles-Cowboys games since 2010, when Jon Kitna and Stephen McGee started for Dallas and Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb started for Eagles.
Here are 10 notable facts and figures from the 61-year history of the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry:
SETTING UP THE COWBOYS: Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb and Correll Buckhalter have the highest running averages ever against the Cowboys – Cunningham with 7.4, McNabb with 5.8 and Buck with 5.7. This with a minimum of 50 loads. The highest average ever against the Cowboys by a non-Eagle is Mount Holly native Franco Harris of 5.4. Shady is 10th on that list at 5.3.
PERFORMING IN DALLAS: During the 14 years that Andy Reid coached the Eagles, the Cowboys lost 17 games by at least 22 points. Nine of them – more than half – went to the Eagles. During that period, the Eagles beat the Cowboys by 38, 33, 31, 28, 27, 27, 26, 24 and 22 points. Seven of the Eagles’ ten most unbalanced wins over the Cowboys were with Reid as head coach.
TWICE IN A ROOM: The Cowboys’ two longest touchdowns against the Eagles were in the same game and, in fact, in the same period. In a 49-19 victory over the Eagles at the Cotton Bowl in 1962, Amos Marsh had an initial 101-yard return and Mike Gaechter had a 100-yard interception return – both in the fourth quarter. They are also the two longest fourth quarter plays in the history of Cowboys.
SUCCESS VS. EAGLES: Andy Dalton’s career passer rating of 104.0 is the 9th highest ever against the Eagles (minimum 50 attempts) and the 4th highest among active QBs, behind Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins. Dalton won the Eagles in 2012 and 2016 while with Bengals. His 58 pass attempts are the fifth largest ever against the Eagles without interception, behind Rivers (110), Warren Moon (67), Stephen McGee (65) and Dwayne Haskins (59).
EAGLES GO FOR A RARE SCAN The Eagles only swept the Cowboys 11 times in a series dating back to 1960. From 1965 to 1987, the Eagles spent 23 consecutive years without sweeping Dallas, going 11-34 overall, before the Eagles scored three consecutive sweeps. The Cowboys have already swept the Eagles 19 times.
DESEAN, A NIGHTMARE FOR DALLAS: If DeSean Jackson plays on Sunday, he will return to the stadium where he set the record for most yards received in a game against the Cowboys by an opposing player. Jackson’s 210 yards in the Eagles’ 30-27 victory is the longest for an opposing player in Dallas. The previous high was 201 by Johnny Morris of the Bears at the Cotton Bowl in 1962.
RANDALL, DONOVAN AND VICK: Only two Eagles defenders in the past 30 years have won twice against the Cowboys in the same season. Donovan McNabb did this in 2000, 2001 and 2004 and Michael Vick in 2011. Before that, you have to go back to Randall Cunningham, who swept the Cowboys in 1988, 1989 and 1990, and Sonny Jurgensen, who came back in 1961 .
REMEMBER CARSON WENTZ? Carson Wentz’s 95.7 pass score is the highest ever for an Eagles quarterback against the Cowboys. It is also the sixth greatest ever against the Cowboys.
FADING ZEKE: Ezekiel Elliott averaged 115 yards per game and 4.9 yards per pass in his first five games against the Eagles, all with wins in Dallas. He averages 55 yards per game and 3.4 yards per pass in his last two games against the Eagles, both defeats to Dallas.
SELECT THE COMPANY: The Cowboys are 5-1 against newcomers since 2016, with the only defeat coming on the last day of the 2016 season for the Eagles and Carson Wentz, who shot 245 yards and two TDs for Zach Ertz in the 27-13 line wins. . The only other Eagles QB to beat the Cowboys as a rookie was Jack Concannon in 1964.
Subscribe to the Eagle Eye podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | Watch on youtube