Nick Sirianni looks to 'confuse' Cowboys QB Dak Prescott after past success vs. Eagles
There are few quarterbacks in the NFL as scrutinized — rightly or wrongly — as the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott.
More often than not, however, Prescott’s praises have been sung after clashes with the archrival Philadelphia Eagles. Prescott is 8-3 in his career against Philly, including three straight wins.
Ahead of Sunday’s NFC East heavyweight clash, Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni is well aware of who he’s facing.
“He’s done really well against us the last couple of times he’s played us,” Sirianni said Wednesday, via team transcript. “And just like any quarterback, what I’ll say, like any quarterback, you have to try to confuse. You have to try to hit them and to try to knock him off his rhythm.”
Sirianni was asked what the keys were to slowing Prescott and what the Eagles could do that perhaps they hadn’t done in the past. The Philadelphia head coach declined to “give you all that stuff” so as not to reveal his and defensive coordinator Sean Desai’s full plans for Dak’s demise. But the stats don’t lie in supporting Prescott’s ability to find a way to succeed against Philly.
Over his past three games against the Eagles (Prescott was injured for the teams’ first meeting last season), he’s 3-0 with 11 touchdowns, just one interception and averaging 293.3 passing yards per game. He’s also put together back-to-back stellar outings in wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, so he’s galloping in with some momentum. The Eagles’ defense presents a far more dooming prospect than the L.A. two-step the Cowboys QB previously danced by, but his past performances versus Philly can’t be ignored.
For his career, Prescott’s averaging 250 yards a game versus the Eagles with 19 touchdowns to eight interceptions and another three rushing scores tossed in.
He’s been a problem Sirianni and Co. are still looking to solve.
“I just feel like he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL,” Sirianni said, “and we have our hands full going into this game to make sure that we contain him.”