Storylines abound for Eagles vs. Cowboys
There are plenty of storylines for Thursday night’s NFL opener between the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the post-Micah Parsons Dallas Cowboys.
As the Eagles unveil the Super Bowl LIX banner at Lincoln Financial Field in front of their NFC East rival, one storyline may be going just a bit unnoticed.
Former Colts Staff Reunite
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, his first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo and first-year Dallas defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus all worked on the same staff together in Indianapolis under head coach Frank Reich just five years ago.
Sirianni and Eberflus left Indy for head coaching positions, Sirianni with the Eagles where he’s been to two Super Bowls in four years and Eberflus with the Chicago Bears where he was fired midway through the 2024 season. Patullo left to join Sirianni’s staff in Philadelphia.
Sirianni on Facing Eberflus
“He’s evolved, and we’ve evolved, so it’s been a while since we’ve been in the same building every single day,’’ Sirianni said of Eberflus. “I know that he is always going to have those guys playing hard. He is always going to have those guys coming after the football. Those are things that I see on tape in the preseason and things that I know that he’ll really focus on. But there are differences with the schemes on both sides of the ball. Some of those conversations that we would have a lot of in the offseasons, asking him questions about a team that we might be playing, you don’t look too much into that, especially after the time away that we’ve had from each other. But I do think he’s a really good football coach. A really good football coach. I always thought that of Coach Flus.’’
Patullo Echoes the Praise
“I think Flus is a really good coach,’’ Patullo said. “He brings a lot of energy to the team, a lot of detail and discipline. He’s had good defenses, and he and I spent a lot of time together in Indianapolis talking ball. He’s very knowledgeable, so I think I know the person well, but once again, he does a good job at just using his personnel. So, if you look at his defenses in Chicago throughout the years and even in Indy, and obviously probably now, he’s going to tweak it to his personnel. Time will tell during the game what he’s relying on with their personnel.’’
Life Without Micah Parsons
Eberflus will not have the Cowboys’ best defensive player of the past four years after the team traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers last week.
“We have so much going on here,’’ Sirianni said when asked about the trade. “We’re getting ready to play the Cowboys, so he’s in your thoughts for game planning, but they still have guys that we have to prepare for. They have [DT] Kenny Clark, who’s a really good player, and they have good depth at that defensive end group. You don’t get too wrapped up in that except for some of the things you’re doing with the game plan. But, also understanding that they have a lot of good players over there and getting ready for those guys and shifting your attention to that.’’
Game of the Week 1: Chiefs vs. Chargers (Friday, Brazil)
The people of Brazil get another really good game after getting Eagles vs. Packers a year ago. Kansas City and Los Angeles are two of the best teams in the AFC and the winner will get an early leg up in the tough AFC West.
Game of the Week 2: Detroit at Green Bay
The Packers owned this series for years, but the Lions swept last year and have won six of the last seven meetings. Will Micah Parsons play for Green Bay Sunday? Will he be the difference if he does?
Game of the Week 3: Buffalo at Baltimore (Sunday Night)
Two of the other best teams in the AFC also meet in an opener. You kind of get the feeling these two teams will meet again some time in January as well.
Revenge Game of the Week: Pittsburgh at New York Jets
There will be more than one interesting game for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers this year. This one comes against the team that cut the future Hall of Famer seven months ago.
Florida Road Uprising
Miami is at Indianapolis and Tampa Bay is at Atlanta. Don’t be surprised if both teams from the Sunshine State start the season 1-0.
