The NFL recently announced that the Philadelphia Eagles will be hosting the Dallas Cowboys to open the 2025 regular season, and reactions have been pouring in from fans, media members, and former or current players.
Former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant threw his hat in the ring by suggesting a simple strategy Dallas could follow. You be the judge if it will work.
Dez Bryant Tells Cowboys ‘Slow Down’ Eagles’ Star Running Back
It’s a tall order against the Super Bowl Champions, but Dallas needs to get off to a good start in 2025. Both sides of the ball struggled and battled through injuries to major contributors. Dak Prescott went down with a Week 9 hamstring injury, and the offense was putrid, finishing No. 23 in PFSN’s Offense+ metric.
Cooper Rush filled in, and the unit showed its true colors against the Eagles and Washington Commanders to end the season. Dallas’s defense was also bitten by the injury bug and finished worse statistically than the offense.
Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, and DaRon Bland all missed chunks of the season, and the unit was No. 25 in PFSN’s Defense+ metric. They finished 16th in EPA per dropback and 31st in EPA per rush. This was a major regression from the unit being in the top five each of the three seasons before.
Parsons was still a stud, totaling 12 sacks despite missing four games with a high ankle sprain. However, Dallas’ All-Pro cornerback duo only played one game together. Bland missed the first 10 games after suffering a stress fracture in training camp, and Diggs missed the final six games due to knee surgery.
According to Bryant, this is the unit that needs to step up in Week 1. He got into a short back-and-forth with a fan on X and ended the conversation with a simple, albeit extremely tough, suggestion.
As long as we slow down Saquon Eugene Barkley..we'll be fine lol https://t.co/6T4EgNnQ9w
— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant)
Bryant responded to the fan with, “As long as we slow down Saquon Eugene Barkley..we’ll be fine lol.” It’s a half-hearted strategy to defeat the Super Bowl Champions, but Bryant kept the interaction light whereas the fan did not.
It’s easier said than done, but Dallas did keep Barkley over a full yard under his yards per attempt average for last season in the first meeting. Granted, the Eagles won 34-6, so it’s unlikely they wanted to put their star running back at risk. Barkley ended his regular season with 167 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries against the Cowboys in Week 17.
Barkley has struggled against Dallas in his career, however, most of it was spent running behind the poor offensive line of the New York Giants. In his first 10 games against the Cowboys, Barkley had two 100+ yard games and averaged 58.1 yards per game. In two games with the Eagles, his average is 116.5 yards per game.
The Eagles have arguably the best offensive line in the NFL, and Dallas’s defense is coming off an awful season against the run. An upset in Week 1 could spark the Cowboys’ 2025 season, but they’ll need to do more than just shut down Barkley to leave Philadelphia with a win.