Matchups and predictions for every Eagles rival in Week 2 of the NFL season
- Week 2 of the NFL season is underway.
- The Eagles are the top dogs in the NFC East for now.
- That can change if one of their rivals wins.
- Can two foes shake off shaky starts?
By Jake Beckman
![Brian Daboll, New York Giants Brian Daboll, New York Giants](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4732,h_2661,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/57/01hafqyqj25xrhbgq1dh.jpg)
Dallas Cowboys versus New York Jets
Who’s ready to be disappointed? Prior to Monday Night Football, it looked like the Jets, with an Aaron Rodgers-led offense would be able to really challenge the Cowboys in this game. Now? That doesn't appear to be the case.
About three seconds into their Monday Night game versus the Buffalo Bills, things changed. We all watched HBO's Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets for a month and a half. We saw the Jets treat Aaron Rodgers like he was a deity that could do no wrong. They built their offense around him and they looked like they could potentially be world-beaters.
Then, just like that, Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles tendon went on its own ‘darkness retreat’ and vanished from existence. Now, the Jets are right back where they started, with Zach Wilson as their starting quarterback because time is a flat circle.
Jets offense versus Cowboys Defense
Wilson is an incredible handicap to the Jets’ offense, and he’s playing behind a pretty bad offensive line. They have great playmakers with running backs Dalvin Cook and Breece Hall. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson is a star in the making. They'll need a lot of touches in this one. The Cowboys’ defensive line is MUCH better than that of the Bills’.
We saw the Cowboys' defense pitch a shutout in Week 1 versus the Giants, but that was more of an indictment on Big Blue than a reason to give kudos to the Cowboys. That being said, a Jets offense with Zach Wilson is infinitely worse than a Giants offense with Daniel Jones, so we may be back where we started.
Wilson does this thing where he panics, goes into ‘fight or flight’ mode, and then chooses ‘flight’ 100% of the time. He drops back, senses pressure, and then runs straight back towards his own endzone. Often, he’ll outrun the defensive linemen who are gunning for him, but that’s not going to happen with Cowboys’ edge rusher, Micah Parsons applying the heat.
What are the odds of Zach Wilson losing more yards on sacks than he produces in the passing game?
It’s going to be tough for us to have to watch the Cowboys' defense be dominant because their fans are never going to shut up about it. Fortunately for us, their offense is going to get put on notice. This Jets defense is the REAL DEAL. They seemingly have stars at every position.
Cowboys offense versus Jets defense
The Cowboys threw down 40 points in Week 1, which you already knew because everyone in the sports media won’t stop talking about it. Before the season started quarterback Dak Prescott said that he wasn’t going to throw ten interceptions this year. This game is going to be his coming out party and he’ll get back on track and in position to lead the NFL in turnovers.
There’s nothing to really take away from the Cowboys’ Week 1 offensive performance because the defense they faced was so terrible that it was an outlier. One thing that did come out of that game was that their wide receiver, Brandin Cooks sprained his MCL, so if he plays he’ll be limited. If he doesn’t play CeeDee Lamb is going to be the only wide receiver with talent. The Jets will be able to stop a single faceted passing attack.
Prediction: Cowboys -9
Unfortunately, the Cowboys are going to walk away with the win here, but we’ll be able to make fun of how pathetic their offense is. It’ll be an ugly game that hardly ever gets shown on Redzone.