The Dallas Cowboys can probably expect to have Dez Bryant back for their Sunday Night Football matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, but they may have to wait longer for quarterback Tony Romo, who remains sidelined and has not yet been cleared to practice. Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott will aim to improve on the Cowboys’ 5-1 record, tied for the NFC’s best, at home vs. fellow rookie signal caller Carson Wentz and the 4-2 Eagles.
This consequential NFC East divisional matchup will feature on Sunday Night Football this week. Kickoff has been set for 8:30 p.m. ET and NBC will be televising the game. A live stream simulcast will also be available through NBC Sports Live.
Both the Cowboys and Eagles have been beneficiaries of better-than-expected starts from rookie quarterbacks. Prescott broke Tom Brady’s record by throwing the most ever pass attempts before throwing an interception to start a career. While Prescott threw his first interception in his last game, a Week 6 battle with the Packers, his 7:1 TD:INT ratio and 68.7 completion percentage demonstrate that he has done an admirable job filling in for Romo.
The Cowboys have also benefited from the play of fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott, as the running back has 703 yards so far, trailing only Eric Dickerson for most ever rushing yards in a player’s first six career games.
The Eagles have also remained in contention in the NFC East thanks in part to the quality play of Wentz. He helms an offense that is just 29th in passing yards per game, but has proven to be a competent signal caller early on, throwing for over 1,300 yards while adding eight passing touchdowns, the most among all rookies, and a 63.8 percent completion rate.
There was plenty of talk pre-draft of the Cowboys being interested in Wentz, along with other highly-ranked rookies, like Jared Goff and Paxton Lynch. But trading up even a couple spots proved to be too costly and the team stayed put, adding Elliott. The move was seen as a smart one even before the Cowboys brought in Prescott, an also-ran quarterback who was seen as too raw to play any time soon.
And that suited the Cowboys, who hoped that Romo had left his injury woes behind and that Prescott wouldn’t have to even think about playing in the regular season for a number of years. Romo went down, though, and Prescott got his opportunity to start. As it turns out, it’s worked out quite well for Dallas.
They didn’t necessarily get “lucky” with Prescott. Obviously, someone in Dallas knew what they were doing when they made the pick, but Prescott has outperformed everybody’s expectations thus far. The duel with Wentz on Sunday will likely be the first of many between the two young quarterbacks.
Below are all the details you need to watch Sunday’s game.
How to watch Eagles vs. Cowboys on Sunday
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
TV: NBC
Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya
Online Streaming: Sunday Ticket, NBC Sports Live