The 2025 NFL season is finally here.
As is tradition, the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles will host the NFL’s season-opener on Thursday night. They will host the division rival Dallas Cowboys in a matchup that could have NFC East title implications depending on how the rest of the season plays out.
Cowboys vs. Eagles betting preview
Here’s everything you need to know before betting on Cowboys vs. Eagles:
Dallas Cowboys fact sheet
- The Cowboys went 7-10 last season, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2020. Many of the franchise’s best players — led by Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb — are back this season, but Dallas is missing some key contributors from last year’s team.Â
- Most notably, Micah Parsons was shockingly traded to Green Bay last month amid a contract dispute with owner Jerry Jones. Parsons is one of the best pass rushers in the league, so it’s a tremendous loss for a Cowboys team that doesn’t have much pass-rushing juice behind him.Â
- Dallas did add some offensive weapons this season in an effort to help Prescott and Lamb. George Pickens arrived via trade after an up-and-down season with the Steelers. Running back Javonte Williams also signed via free agency from Denver and is expected to be Dallas’s starter to begin the year.Â
- Kaiir Elam is another notable addition for Dallas as it looks to shore up its other cornerback spot opposite Trevon Diggs. Elam played just over 200 snaps for the Bills last season but was Buffalo’s second highest-graded coverage corner, per PFF.
- Dallas was a bottom 5 rush defense last season by EPA and success rate. The Cowboys were slightly above average in pass defense situations.
- Dallas also made a change at head coach after last season, parting ways with Mike McCarthy. Jones decided to promote Brian Schottenheimer into the head coaching role after 2 seasons with him as the team’s offensive coordinator. After spending most of the last 25 years as a position coach or coordinator in the NFL, this is Schottenheimer’s first chance at a head coaching gig.Â
- Schottenheimer’s first major hire was to bring in former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus to be the team’s defensive coordinator. Eberflus was previously an assistant coach with the Cowboys from 2011-17.
Philadelphia Eagles fact sheet
- The Eagles won last year’s Super Bowl in dominant fashion after a 14-3 regular season. Most of the team’s key players return, but there are some notable losses (particularly on defense).
- Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley formed arguably the best rushing backfield in the league last season (although Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry may disagree). Philadelphia led the NFL in rushing EPA last season and was top-10 in success rate.
- Hurts also improved as a passer last season. He posted career-best numbers in completion percentage, INT rate, yards per attempt and QBR.
- AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith make up one of the best WR tandems in the NFL. They are flanked by tight end Dallas Goedert, who is entering his 8th NFL season.
- Defensively, Philadelphia sustained some significant losses: Cornerback Darius Slay, safety CJ Gardner-Johnson, defensive lineman Josh Sweat, defensive lineman Milton Williams and defensive lineman Brandon Graham. All of those players except for Graham registered at least 650 snaps last regular season. Additionally, linebacker Nakobe Dean is on the physically unable to perform list to start the year and won’t play until at least Week 5.
- Rookies Jihaad Campbell and Smael Mondon are expected to play significant roles in Philly’s linebacker room this year. Veteran Adoreé Jackson was signed to replace Slay at cornerback. Beyond that, Philly is mostly filling in the gaps on defense with players who had lesser roles a year ago.
Cowboys vs. Eagles best bets
Given all of Philadelphia’s newcomers on defense, I’m looking to target some Cowboys offense props. Let’s start with CeeDee Lamb, inarguably Dallas’s best player now that Parsons is in Green Bay. In 5 previous games where Lamb has faced the Eagles with Dak Prescott at QB, he’s been targeted 10+ times in 3 of them. The other 2 games were both blowout victories for Dallas. Lamb’s catch rate over the past 2 seasons with Prescott throwing the ball is 71.3%.Â
Pick: CeeDee Lamb over 6.5 receptions (+106 on FanDuel)
Despite my optimism for Lamb’s production, I think Philly has a really good chance to win this game comfortably. From a matchup standpoint, this is a massive mismatch on paper — Dallas had a bottom-5 run defense last year and Philadelphia had a top-2 rushing offense. And now Dallas doesn’t have its best pass rusher, either, which could give Jalen Hurts more time to pick out open receivers downfield if the Cowboys load the box. I’m not sure how Dallas is going to stop the Eagles’ offense, particularly early in the game when Philly’s home crowd will play a bigger role in this one.
Pick: Eagles over 1.5 total touchdowns in the first half (-135 on BetMGM)
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
