The Philadelphia Eagles will kick off their season and the NFL season on Thursday, hosting the Dallas Cowboys. While one team just traded away its best player, the other will be hoisting a Super Bowl banner. Nevertheless, the Cowboys aren’t planning on just rolling over and letting the Eagles win. Here is what the Eagles will need to do offensively and defensively Thursday night to ensure they start 1-0.
How the Philadelphia Eagles Can Secure a Week 1 Victory
Give and Take
The Cowboys just traded away their best player in Micah Parsons. That leaves their defense shorthanded, to put it nicely. Outside of a few solid playmakers like Osa Odighizuwa and DaRon Bland, this defense just lacks any top-end talent. Kenny Clark is still a strong player at this point in his career, but how much can he really be expected to contribute, given that they traded for him a week before this game? Trevon Diggs has been cleared to play Thursday, but it is fair to wonder if he will be rusty.
This leaves the Eagles with two options. The first option is to let Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, and the Eagles’ offensive line control the game through their rushing offense. Dallas already struggled with their run defense last season. Based on their current personnel.
The other option would be to let A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert take advantage of a shorthanded Dallas secondary. The Dallas secondary will be startingDiggs, Bland, and Kaiir Elam. The Eagles’ receivers have the upper hand in that matchup. Dallas does not have much depth behind those players either.
So what should the Eagles do? Whatever Dallas wants them to. If they overload the box, take advantage of the one-on-one matchups you get with your playmakers on the outside. If they start to commit too much help to the receivers? Let Barkley control the game on the ground. Stay patient, avoid forcing certain matchups, and take what the defense gives you.
Limit Receiving Yards
This will be a common theme for the Eagles’ defense early in the season. At least, until they have more certainty at their starting cornerback opposite of Quinyon Mitchell. It was reported today that Adoree Jackson will start at cornerback for the Eagles in Week 1.
Adoree’ Jackson and Sydney Brown are expected to be the starting CB2 and Safety against the #Cowboys, per @Jeff_McLane. pic.twitter.com/5bEd42d33e
— Eagles Nation (@PHLEaglesNation) September 3, 2025
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It was apparent in the preseason that Jackson may not trust himself athletically as much as he once did. For much of those games, he was constantly playing with a large cushion, content to give up catches in front of him to prevent any deep plays. For this game, though, that may work. Assuming Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb sees a lot of Mitchell and Cooper DeJean (when lined up in the slot), that will leave Jackson to deal with George Pickens for much of the night. Pickens is a good wide receiver, but is most well-known for being a deep threat. The Eagles will obviously have to switch things up defensively throughout the night. But if the Eagles allow Jackson to play with a cushion most of the night, that should limit Pickens’ opportunity to generate explosive plays. The Cowboys’ run game is nothing to behold either, with a group of unimpressive running backs, a mediocre offensive line, and a non-rushing quarterback. If the Eagles can jump out to a lead early and shut down the Dallas rushing attack, that could force Dallas to play right into the Eagles’ hands.
Main Photo: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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