Getty Philadelphia Eagles mascot swoop shows off his Super Bowl ring, a prize the Cowboys haven't won in more than two decades.
The bitter rivalry between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys seems to be reaching mid-season intensity a week ahead of the start of the NFL season and six weeks before the two teams meet on Sunday Night Football in Philadelphia. The Dallas Morning News threw some fuel on the fire in their special season preview section, with a full page picture that includes Swoop, the Eagles mascot, taunting a shrugging Michael Gallup.
The Cowboys receiver is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he caught just 35 passes for 445 yards and two touchdowns.
The illustration cover of the @dallasnews football section features #Cowboys stars on the up escalator with those absent on the down. Jerry Jones and Mike McCarty upstairs and a @SeanPayton figure waiting down below. Next Sunday it’s #Bucs at #Cowboys Week 1.
Reactions on social media varied, with Philadelphia fans suggesting that the Birds are in their rivals heads before the season even starts. Cowboys broadcaster Brad Sham had a different interpretation.
@WerderEdESPN @dallasnews @SeanPayton And the Eagle trying to get on, and Turpin waiting in line. So clever. Great job @dallasnews
Regardless, the cover depicts a fanbase divided and a team in turmoil, and includes former Saints head coach Sean Payton, who has repeatedly been linked to the Cowboys in rumors. Payton retired after last season and will be a TV analyst with Fox this year, but could return to the sidelines somewhere next season according to CBS Sports.
Other coverage from the paper of record in Dallas points out that the Cowboys are in a lengthening Super Bowl drought. It’s been 26 seasons since the Cowboys hoisted the Lombardi Trophy or even reached the NFC Championship Game. In that stretch, Dallas is 4-11 in the playoffs.
During that same stretch, the Eagles have gone to the NFC Championship Game six times and appeared in two Super Bowls, lifting the Lombardi at the end of the 2017 season. The Birds are 14-14 in the playoffs over that time span, having played nearly twice as many post-season contests as the Cowboys.
That said, the Cowboys did win both matchups last year, though the Eagles rested their starters in the regular season finale.
Rivalry Also Picking Up in Free Agency and With Strong Words
The rivalry has been in the news this week, with former Eagles All-Pro left tackle Jason Peters visiting the Cowboys and appearing increasingly likely to be seen with a star on his helmet this season. Meanwhile, Philadelphia tight end Dallas Goedert had some choice words for the team his father named him after.
It will be ironic if Peters ends up signing in Dallas, as it wasn’t that long ago he trashed the entire organization to the assembled media in the Eagles locker room.
“It’s just the arrogance. The organization, everybody, ‘America’s Team,’ right now they’re not winning, right now, so we’ll see how many people jump off their bandwagon,” Peters said on November 7, 2018.
Eagles and Cowboys Appear Destined to Battle for the Division
The Eagles and Cowboys have finished in the top two spots in the NFC East in four of the last five seasons, and they appear likely to battle it out again in 2022. They’re the odds-on favorites at the FanDuel Sports Book, neck-and-neck.
That means their two head-to-head meetings will be extremely important. Philadelphia hosts the first in Week 6, with a prime time showdown on Sunday Night Football on October 16. It’ll be a long wait for the second meeting, which is on December 24 at 4:25 pm in Dallas.
That meeting will mark the fourth time the two rivals have played within a week of Christmas in the span of 10 seasons, with Dallas taking two of the three holiday-week showdowns.
Odds and Ends
With the pre-season coming to a close, the Eagles caught a big break on the waiver wire, but also took a big loss there as well, according to one NFL Insider.
That came on the heels of Eagles general manager Howie Roseman pulling off a stunning trade for Saints defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, leading one former NFL GM to proclaim that the Eagles “found their best five.” It’ll be a heavy lift to get the newest Eagle suited up for the season opener, but the Philadelphia coaching staff is projecting confidence.