Dallas Favored as Injury-Hit Eagles Host Cowboys on Monday Night

The Philadelphia Eagles open Monday night's game without the players who built their offense, a gap that has shifted the betting line and narrowed what either team can safely attempt.

Philadelphia has dropped four straight after opening 2-0. Jalen Hurts is out after blood clots were found in his calf and lungs, and receivers DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks are also out. Nolan Smith joins them on the inactive list. Saquon Barkley, Landon Dickerson, Jonathan Greenard and Jalyx Hunt carry questionable tags. Dickerson is on injured reserve but has been designated to return. Barkley's primary backups, Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley, are on injured reserve. DraftKings lists Dallas as 4.5-point favorites with a 43.5 total for the 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field, carried by ESPN and ABC.

Dallas arrives with its own problems. The Cowboys have lost two straight, scoring 29 points combined against Tampa Bay and Green Bay after putting up 30 or more in each of the prior three games. Across those two losses, Dak Prescott went 20 of 38 for 194 yards without a touchdown when opponents sent extra rushers, and Dallas rushed for 98 yards as a team. Tampa Bay and Greenery blitzed Prescott on 38.8% of his dropbacks in Weeks 5 and 6. Philadelphia has blitzed on 24.1% of opponent dropbacks, the fourth-lowest rate in the league, and has topped 38% only once since Vic Fangio became defensive coordinator.

Philadelphia's defense has not generated pressure at a rate that would trouble a veteran quarterback. The Eagles have recorded a sack, hit or hurry on 32.9% of opponent dropbacks, and opponents have completed 60.4% of passes at 7.0 yards per attempt against them, with eight touchdown passes against three interceptions. Philadelphia ranks 20th in opponent EPA per dropback. Fourteen opponent drops have aided those numbers, second-most in the league. Dak Prescott has CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens available if he holds the ball in the pocket.

Tanner McKee takes over at quarterback for Philadelphia. He dropped back 48 times last week, and he averaged 44 dropbacks in his two prior starts, both in Week 18. His targets will be Makai Lemon, Darius Cooper and Dallas Goedert, with Smith and Wicks out. Philadelphia cannot use the quarterback run game the way it does with Hurts. Barkley practiced fully Friday for the first time since his hamstring injury and has averaged 5.5 yards per carry in the two games he finished healthy. He carried seven times in the other two before leaving injured. Dameon Pierce is the other available back.

Dallas has allowed at least 165 rushing yards to each of its other five opponents this season, at 4.7 yards per carry. Javonte Williams has seven rushing touchdowns but averages 3.7 yards per carry, down from 4.8 last season. The Eagles allow 4.0 yards per carry. Cobie Durant returns to the Dallas secondary and could push Daron Bland out of the lineup. The prediction circulating with these numbers has Dallas winning 24-20.