NFC East Week 3 preview: Cowboys playing catch-up to Giants, Eagles

There’s no lack of intrigue in the NFC East for Week 3. Not only do you have the Cowboys trying to hand the Giants their first loss of the season, but the Commanders will be looking to do the same to the Eagles while also featuring Carson Wentz’s first shot against his former team.

This will be the first week of divisional play for the Cowboys and their rivals. Thanks to last week’s results, Dallas was able to keep things close with the leaders and is now tied with Washington at 1-1.

• Philadelphia Eagles 2-0
• New York Giants 2-0
• Washington Commanders 1-1
• Dallas Cowboys 1-1

If someone had told you that there’d be two undefeated teams in the division going into this week, few would have predicted that New York would be one of them. While both have been narrow victories, one thanks to a missed field goal by the Titans, the Giants have pulled out two gritty wins and look to keep Brian Daboll’s head-coaching record perfect.

In the second of three-straight home games for the G-Men, the Cowboys come a-calling this week on Monday Night Football. After resurrecting their season last Sunday against the Bengals, Dallas hopes that Cooper Rush can keep his own magic going as an undefeated starting quarterback.

We discussed the division as a whole on the latest episode of the NFC East Mixtape on the Blogging The Boys podcast network. Make sure to subscribe to our network so you get access to all of our shows! Apple devices can subscribe here and Spotify users can subscribe here.

The key to this game will likely be the Cowboys’ ability to contain RB Saquon Barkley. After getting run over by Leonard Fournette in Week 1, Dallas was able to keep Joe Mixon in check last week. Barkley’s also had up-and-down weeks, ripping the Titans with 164 rushing yards in the opener but then only getting 72 yards against Carolina.

If New York’s offense can control the game on the ground, it’s hard to see the current Cowboys offense having the juice to compete. Their best hope is that Micah Parsons can continue to be a one-man wrecking crew and force Daniel Jones into his typical errors.

Before we get to Monday night, Philadelphia and Washington will collide with their own intense rivalry. Carson Wentz finally faces the Eagles since being dumped for Jalen Hurts and traded to the Colts in 2021.

All eyes will be on the quarterbacks in this one. Wentz has looked good overall for the Commanders, putting up big passing numbers (650 yards and seven TDs) but also still having some issues with turnovers. Meanwhile, Hurts has been an efficient and dangerous dual-threat QB and already has three rushing touchdowns in two games.

With Wentz already having a reputation for mental errors, how will the emotions of this reunion affect his game? He is such an enigma, sometimes thriving under pressure and other times crumbling quickly under adversity. With Philly currently looking like the division’s best team and a legit conference contender, this will be quite the test for Carson and the Commanders.

The NFC East could have two dramatically different looks after this week. We could have two 3-0 teams looking down at two basement dwellers, or we could see all four teams at 2-1 and setting up for an intense regular season.

We certainly want to see the latter. Let’s hope the Cowboys do their part.