Cowboys tight end Jason Witten has lit up the Eagles in his career to the tune of 601 yards and four touchdowns over the last five years. Photo Courtesy: ESPN
Thursday was an eventful day at Philadelphia Eagles practice.
It is not often that there is a starting quarterback controversy heading into week seven of the season. It is also not often that a 3-3 team is tied for a division lead. Yet, both were the case at Novacare Thursday.
The quarterback situation was hashed out by the days end. Nick Foles will lead the Birds out of the tunnel Sunday afternoon. The division lead, on the other hand, is still up in the air. The focus turns completely to the Dallas Cowboys, and how to push ahead into the lead of the NFC East.
Both Foles and Michael Vick have shown competence in running the offense, and are able to put points up on the board. They rank first in the NFL in rushing yards, third in yards per game and fourth in points per game. The offense is fine.
It is the other side of the ball that has been the issue this season. The Eagles have not been able to stop opposing offenses, giving up 29.8 points per game, which ranks them 29th in the NFL. While their defense is getting better, having given up just 41 points in the last two games combined, a potent Dallas offense is coming into town.
Dallas comes in with the second highest scoring offense in the league behind only the Denver Broncos, who thrashed the Eagles for 52 points. The Birds know what lies ahead of them, and are ready for whatever the Cowboys throw at them.
“I wouldn’t call them a challenge,” Earl Wolff said. “I call it competition. Thats what they have. They have a lot of competition back there. Every one of their receivers from Dez Bryant to Dwayne Harris can make plays with the ball in their hands.”
“They have a quarterback in Tony Romo who is able to scramble, get out of the pocket and make plays down the field,” Jordan Poyer said. “Dez Bryant speaks for himself. They have other good receivers, Miles Austin, so it is going to be a challenge. They are down to their fourth running back. We need to stop the run, make them one dimensional and I think we’ll be alright.”
As confident as the Eagles secondary might be against the receiving core of the Cowboys, they still have to worry about another big part of the Dallas offense.
Jason Witten has torched the Eagles over the past five years. He has accumulated 60 catches for 601 yards over the last five season, while scoring four touchdowns. His presence has the Eagles secondary on notice.
“He is a savvy veteran who runs good routes,” Cary Williams said. “He has strong hands and good body control. He knows how to get open and I think that is a challenge for us.”
“I’ve seen him play on TV, never in person,” Poyer added. “He is a big target. A big player who can run really good routes and understands the game. When you get a guy like that, you really have to be on top of your game.”
Even though the Eagles secondary has gotten better over the past few weeks, some still see a matchup problem with Witten.
“Honestly, I can’t really compete against him,” Wolff said. “I’ve covered Victor Cruz a couple times in the slot when we played the Giants, I’ve covered Antonio Gates. I feel real comfortable covering them. Me and Nate (Allen) are looking forward to that competition against Witten, trying to shut him down.”
While Wolff knows how large the challenge ahead of him is, Williams is looking forward to seeing what the group can do as a unit.
“We’ve got something planned for him,” Williams said. “We look forward to the challenge. It is a great opportunity for us to get better and showcase our talent and become more of a cohesive unit each and every week.
“Sunday is going to come down to us competing,” Wolff added.
Andrew Albert is a contributor to Eagledelphia.com and covers the team. Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewJAlbert01
