Eagles opposing player to stop, Week 10 edition

The Eagles should destroy the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. at AT&T Stadium. Then again, the Eagles, up 22-0 at one point, should have destroyed the Jacksonville Jaguars, and just got by. Then again, the Eagles, up 10-0, looked like they were going to destroy the Cleveland Browns, and just got by.

The Philadelphia “just got by” Eagles will be facing a depleted Dallas Cowboys team without quarterback Dak Prescott, who suffered a serious hamstring injury last week against Atlanta and will be out at least four games, replaced by Cooper Rush, who is 5-1 as a starter, with his one loss coming against the Eagles, 26-17, on Oct. 16, 2022. Cowboys’ leading receiver CeeDee Lamb suffered an AC joint sprain in his right shoulder, though is expected to play.

That brings us who is healthy on Dallas and who is definitely playing: Three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Parsons wants a shot at fellow Penn State alum Saquon Barkley, who in the opinion here is a viable NFL MVP candidate.

Barkley and Parsons may be meeting quite a bit, if it holds true why the Eagles have been successful against Parsons in the past. It’s been rather easy, in fact: Ran at him.

Parsons will be playing for the first time since Week 4m when he hasn’t played since Week 4 because of a high ankle sprain when he suffered a high ankle sprain against the New York Giants on the player-friendly turf of MetLife Stadium.

Parsons has always been a fan of Barkley, except when he has played the Cowboys.

“A lot of people doubted that he would have that success, but just like his rookie year [with Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018], you put the weapons outside of him, you can’t stack the box against him,” Parsons said to the Dallas media this week about Barkley, who will reach 1,000 yards this season against Dallas for the fourth time in his career. “Let’s be real. You’re playing the Giants, you’re putting eight in the box and saying, ‘beat me with your weapons that you got.’ Now that he got some help out here, it’s been a night and day difference. Same thing with [Christian] McCaffrey [when he joined the San Francisco 49ers]. You can’t stack that box. When those good backs get into those good systems, it’s always good to see people get back to where they were.”

Barkley is averaging 22 touches a game, and he is coming off a season-high 30 touches and 159 yards on 27 carries against Jacksonville last week, including a 19-yard touchdown run on the Eagles’ last play of the second quarter on a third-and-17.

“Saquon has done a phenomenal job, especially in some of these games where he’s had higher workloads,” Eagles’ offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said this week. “It’s something that we’ll have to monitor and be aware of during the week. I think we do an excellent job through the week as far as getting him ready to go on Sunday. He does an excellent job with his preparation. Really impressive preparation the way he handles it, and we’ll just see how it goes.”

Expect the Eagles to continue attacking Parsons with Barkley on the edge.