Cowboys vs. Eagles is still a historic rivalry, despite recent shortcomings

Despite their records this year, the Cowboys-Eagles rivalry is still must-see TV

This season, there hasn’t been much good news coming out of the locker rooms of both the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. Whether it be injuries or players venting through social media, both sides have not had a good start and their records reflect that.

Though the Eagles currently lead the NFC East, the race for the division crown is still up for grabs as both squads get set to match up on Sunday Night Football in the city of Brotherly Love in Week 8.

Since the inception of the rivalry in 1960, Dallas leads the overall series, 73-49, though Philadelphia has been blessed with modern success. Eagles fans will also recall the Bounty Bowl in 1989 where several Dallas players were hit by snowballs and the 1999 matchup in Philadelphia where Michael Irvin‘s career ended with a neck injury while the crowd cheered.

In the last two decades, the Eagles have held the edge over the Cowboys, 22-19. Although, in 2009, there was one playoff game where Dallas defeated Philadelphia, 34-14. However, the Eagles have the Super Bowl trophy from 2017 while the Cowboys have yet to make it the conference championship appearance since 1995.

The Cowboys-Eagles matchup gets very personal no matter the records.

While this 2020 season has been a rough go, it wasn’t always like this. In fact, these matchups over the last few years have played a role in who goes on to the playoffs and who goes home.

In Week 17 of the 2008 campaign, The Eagles won 44-6 and claimed the final Wild Card spot and Dallas missed the playoffs. In 2009, Dallas beat the Eagles to win the division but Philadelphia claimed a Wild Card spot. 2013 was the Eagles’ turn once again to knock Dallas out of the playoffs in the final week.

In 2014, after the Eagles won on Thanksgiving, they collapsed while Dallas cruised the rest of the way to win the division and a playoff game. This past season, Philadelphia’s 17-9 win against the Cowboys in Week 16 essentially ended Dallas’ chances of winning the division ushering Jason Garrett out the door.

For this first meeting in 2020, however, both teams are in the same boat of struggles. The Cowboys will likely be without Andy Dalton and be forced to use seventh-round rookie Ben DiNucci or Garrett Gilbert as their starter against Carson Wentz. The Eagles, meanwhile, are dealing with a constitution-size list of injuries across the board.

Sunday Night’s matchup likely won’t tell us who will have the better season, but the winner will get their bragging rights.