Two months ago, Doug Pederson guaranteed that his Eagles would defeat the Cowboys in their Week 7 matchup in Dallas. But after that 37-10 loss, and ongoing struggles throughout 2019, Philadelphia's head coach isn't sound so cocky headed into this Sunday's rematch.
Here was what Pederson had to say leading up to the first game:
“I know the sky is falling outside. It's falling and I get that and the fans are reeling just a little bit. We're going down to Dallas, our guys are gonna be ready to play. And we're gonna win that football game and when we do we're in first place in the NFC East.”
In the end, “going down to Dallas” proved to be the only accurate part of the statement.
Doug even tried to walk it back later in the week, saying he never guaranteed a victory. But most people outside of Philly can read well enough to know exactly what he said and meant.
With his Eagles now having lost four games in a row to Dallas in the rivalry, Pederson is singing a much different tune headed into Sunday's NFC East showdown.
Doug Pederson: “The Cowboys have been a team we've struggled with. […] They've had our number here since my time in Philly. [….] It's just this one team that kind of has our number right now.” #Eagles
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 20, 2019
Since becoming Philadelphia's head coach in 2016, Pederson has just one meaningful victory against the Cowboys. It occurred in 2017 while Ezekiel Elliott was serving his suspension.
The only other win came in the meaningless 2016 regular-season finale, and Dallas was leading that game at halftime before pulling its starters.
So yes, say what you want about Jason Garrett, but he has owned Doug Pederson for the last four years.
Garrett's Cowboys can clinch the NFC East with a victory this Sunday. Even if the Eagles win, they still need a win or a Dallas loss in Week 17 to secure the division title.
Clearly, Pederson is trying not to give the Cowboys any extra motivation as he did two months ago. But with stakes like these, Dallas shouldn't need it.
