Dallas vs. Philadelphia: What Are Experts Saying About Philadelphia?

Fresh off of a brutal 24-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Philadelphia Eagles are no longer focused on locking up home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. No, those goals are all but dead.

Their main goal right now is just reaching the postseason. To do so, the Eagles will likely need to win the NFC East title, as the runner-up in the NFC West and NFC North will likely win at least 11 games. 

Football Outsiders gives the Eagles a 79.2 percent chance of reaching the postseason—74.9 percent by division title and 4.3 percent by a wild-card spot. 

That makes the Eagles' game against the Dallas Cowboys, with both teams currently sporting a 9-4 record, as important as any regular-season game all season. If the Eagles lose, they'll need to win their final two games and likely receive some help to reach the playoffs. 

The following five slides will highlight five storylines surrounding the Eagles right now, covering everything from their current quarterback situation to a preview of their divisional clash against the hated Cowboys.

Mark Sanchez Missing Opportunities at Quarterback

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Since taking over in Week 9 after Nick Foles suffered a broken clavicle, Mark Sanchez has been inconsistent at best as the Eagles' quarterback. He's leading the Eagles to more than 27 points per game as an offense, five points per game better than Foles, but he's also had the luxury of playing with a completely healthy offense. Don't forget that Foles spent the first part of the season with a makeshift offensive line and a virtually invisible starting running back. 

It's becoming more likely with each passing week that Sanchez isn't the long-term answer as the Eagles' quarterback. He's able to beat up on weak teams like the Carolina Panthers and the Tennessee Titans, but in all seriousness, that's to be expected from even a remotely competent quarterback playing in Chip Kelly's offense. 

But Sanchez has struggled mightily against the top teams, as he's 0-2 with two embarrassing losses to the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. He's just not passing the eye test, either, as Bleacher Report's Andrew Kulp wrote that Sanchez is leaving many plays out on the field. 

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The problem is Sanchez’s vision is one of the reasons why he’s thrown only two more touchdowns than interceptions over his six-year NFL career.

He’s been better in Philly, surrounded by far more talent and a top-notch coaching staff, but his problems clearly weren’t solved overnight.

Sanchez was only part of the problem for the Eagles in the loss to the Seahawks, but it’s difficult to argue he gave his team a legitimate shot to win. It’s not as if the opportunities weren’t there—he just missed them.

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Special Teams Makes Eagles' Fourth-Ranked Offense Deceiving

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The Eagles rank fourth in scoring offense for the second straight season. They've collected 389 points in 13 games. They need just 54 points, an average of 18 per game, in the final three contests to set the franchise single-season record for the fifth time since 2008. If they can average 37 points per game over their final three games, they'll reach 500 points scored for the season. 

Yet despite their impressive amount of points scored, they really haven't impressed a lot of people on offense this season. Football Outsiders ranks the Eagles 16th in offensive DVOA through 13 games. That's because the Eagles have collected their high point totals against bad teams while struggling against good teams. They've also collected four defensive touchdowns and six special teams touchdowns for an insane 10 return touchdowns this season. 

Grantland's Bill Barnwell had the following to say about the Eagles' high point total: 

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The obvious issue with this Eagles team is how much of its performance comes down to return touchdowns. Philadelphia has 10 touchdowns on various returns and special teams plays. That’s almost incomprehensible. There’s no way it’s sustainable. 

I think you have to discount some of what the Eagles have done, just because 18 percent of their points have come from returns. (The average team has 2.4 return touchdowns this year and derives 5.7 percent of its points from returns.) They deserve credit for what they’ve done, but it’s also silly to expect them to keep that up.

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Eagles Can't Beat Good Teams

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Fair or unfair, Chip Kelly is developing a reputation as a head coach who can't beat great teams. Then again, in all fairness, who does, other than Bill Belichick?

But it's not just the fact that the Eagles have lost to top teams. They've been demolished by the two best teams they've faced in 2014, the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks, as well as their top opponent from 2013, the Denver Broncos. 

With such a small sample size, it's hard to know if that's a product of the Eagles lacking a franchise quarterback or Kelly just getting outcoached in big games. 

Bleacher Report's Cody Swartz addressed Kelly's ability to dominate weak teams while struggling against powerhouses in this piece. 

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Seeing the Eagles lose 53-20 to Green Bay and 24-14 to Seattle is disheartening, considering there’s a good chance the NFC playoffs go through one of these two teams. The team also lost to Arizona, meaning Philly has gone 0-3 against the three best NFC teams it has faced.

Since taking over as Philadelphia’s head coach, Chip Kelly has won 19 of 29 regular-season contests. That’s a .655 winning percentage. The problem is that he’s just 6-8 against teams that finished the season with a .500 or better record (counting 2014 teams currently above .500).

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Dallas Fighting the Embarrassment Factor

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You could make a legitimate argument for the Eagles' 33-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving as the most impressive individual victory of the Chip Kelly era. The Eagles and Cowboys entered the game with first place in the NFC East on the line, and despite playing on short rest on the road, the Eagles dominated in all three aspects of the game. 

It's going to be really hard for the Eagles to beat Dallas, let alone dominate them, again. The Eagles do have the luxury of playing at home, where they're 6-1 this season, but that might actually be a blessing for the Cowboys. After all, they're 6-0 this year on the road. This time they face their toughest test yet. 

Mike Missanelli wrote a piece for Philadelphia magazine about the Eagles attempting to stop Dallas's revenge attempt this week: 

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It is difficult to defeat a division rival twice in one year when that rival is a good team. The Cowboys might not be Super Bowl-quality, but they are a pretty good team that, remember, defeated the Seahawks in Seattle when that wasn’t thought possible. Avenging a defeat is a powerful motivator for a pro athlete. And this revenge opportunity is coming in fairly fresh, within a three-week span.

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Eagles Facing Different, and Healthy, Tony Romo

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The Eagles and Cowboys have been pretty similar teams through the first 13 games of the 2014 season. They've each won nine games. They've each been streaky and inconsistent with the ability to turn it on or off like the flip of a switch. They're each driven by their high-powered offense, both among the top in the league in points scored.

But while the Eagles have succeeded with two different (mediocre) quarterbacks this season, the Cowboys' signal-caller has been one of the best in the game. Although he's flown under the radar, as usual, Romo has thrown for 25 touchdowns against just eight interceptions. He's completed more than 69 percent of his passes, and his 108 passer rating ranks second in the NFL to likely MVP winner Aaron Rodgers.

And this time, the Eagles can't count on Romo playing as poorly as he did the first time the teams faced each other. Romo admitted to reporters that he didn't feel right during the first meeting, as he's been dealing with a couple of small fractures in his back, plus a broken rib, for the past few months. 

From Sheil Kapadia at Philadelphia magazine, here's defensive coordinator Billy Davis speaking about Romo: 

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Oh, we'll see a different offense," said Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis. "We'll see a healthier Tony Romo. We’ll see a healthier team, a team that's got plenty of time to prepare for us, including a game with us under our belt. But we also have that time. It will be a little different. Tony Romo will look completely different against us than he did against Chicago. He looked a lot healthier in Chicago, and now 10 more days of recovery, I think we are going to get more of the healthy Tony Romo."

Maybe Davis just wanted to make it clear to his players that taking the Cowboys lightly would be a mistake. Maybe he wanted to drive home the message that the performance in the first game will have no impact on this one. Or perhaps he was saying how he really felt.

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