Eagles vs. Cowboys Week 18 game preview and predictions

A huge game awaits the Philadelphia Eagles.

Unfortunately, it’s not the one that’s going to be played at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night.

The Birds must get through a mostly meaningless affair against the Dallas Cowboys before they can fully focus on their (currently unknown) wild card opponent.

The Eagles simply don’t have much to gain by going all out to win this Week 18 matchup. Even if they move up to the No. 6 seed, they’re still likely to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs. And so Philly will most likely be resting a number of key players against Dallas.

It’s not perfectly clear if the starters will be resting entirely from the jump. Perhaps they’ll see a drive or two, not unlike the preseason. Maybe the Eagles don’t want to chance it at all.

In any case, this game will give us an extended look at some players we don’t usually get to see on the field. Getting a glimpse of the team’s young, developmental players could be interesting. Can anyone manage to stand out and show intriguing promise moving forward? Especially as they’re going up against some of the Cowboys’ starters?

Dallas won’t exactly be at full force; they’ve already ruled out some key contributors (see: Micah Parsons, Tyron Smith, Trevon Diggs). But the sense is that they’re looking to bounce back after losing the Arizona Cardinals last week. The Cowboys also have more to play for in terms of moving up to the No. 2 or No. 3 seed, even though it’s not necessarily likely that’ll happen for them.

Ultimately, the Cowboys should be expected to win this game. But wouldn’t it be pretty fun if the Eagles’ backups somehow found a way to pull off an upset?

For more, check out BGN’s weekly NFL game predictions. For the latest odds, check out our partners at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Suggested format:

Score prediction:

Bold prediction:

My predictions:

Score prediction: 31 to 13, Eagles lose.

Bold prediction: J.J. Arcega-Whiteside scores his second career touchdown (first since December 1, 2019)

Your predictions:

Leave your own score predictions in the comments.