It’s finally here: the rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. Both teams have talked about this game for weeks, including Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons becoming “probably the most hated man in Philadelphia” for placing more credit for the Eagles’ 13-1 start on the team’s ecosystem rather than quarterback Jalen Hurts‘ singular efforts.
Philadelphia has won nine straight road games, the longest active streak in the NFL, but Dallas has won seven straight home games, the longest active streak in the NFL. Something has to give Saturday in Arlington, Texas, but what their Christmas Eve matchup won’t provide for the second time this season is Hurts vs. Dak Prescott.
Hurts was ruled out Thursday with a sprained right shoulder that he suffered in Philadelphia’s Week 15 win at the Chicago Bears. Backup Gardner Minshew will start in place of the NFL MVP frontrunner.
“Jalen did everything he possibly could to get his body ready to go. At the end of the day, he’s just not going to be able to do it,” Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said Thursday. “He tried like crazy, and I know he still wants to go. Jalen Hurts is the toughest player I’ve ever been around.”
The reason Hurts made such an effort to play this week is because the Eagles are one win away from clinching the NFC East and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Now, it’ll be Minshew leading the charge instead. He started one game in place of Hurts last season, throwing for 242 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 133.7 passer rating on 20-of-25 passing.
Minshew also started the Eagles’ Week 18 finale against the Cowboys a year ago, but Philadelphia had a playoff spot clinched and rested its starters. Minshew has thrown 41 passing touchdowns and only 12 interceptions in his four-year career, compiling the third-best career touchdown-to-interception ratio in the NFL among active quarterbacks with a minimum of 500 pass attempts behind only the Green Bay Packers‘ Aaron Rodgers (472-103) and the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Patrick Mahomes (186-48).
“Gardner has played a lot of football. He’s a smart, competitive guy that understands the game,” Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen said this week. “If Gardner is out there, we have all the confidence in the world in him that he’s going to go out and execute, and those conversations that myself and him have…
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