The 2025 NFL regular season kicks off Thursday night with the Philadelphia Eagles playing host to the Dallas Cowboys after raising their Super Bowl LIX banner.
It’s a big early-season litmus test between the bitter NFC East rivals. That’s especially true for the Cowboys, who have been the subject of derision for trading All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay last week.
ODDS AND TRENDS
The Eagles are the second-biggest consensus picks ahead of Week 1 as 8-point favorites — only the Denver Broncos as 8.5-point favorites against the Tennessee Titans have a larger spread.
Philadelphia has been backed by 74 percent of the tickets and 68 percent of the spread-line money at BetRivers. The Eagles’ moneyline has been even more popular, drawing 80 and 83 percent of the action, respectively, despite the -480 line.
PROP PICKS
–Over 47.5 Total Points: Each of the past four meetings at Lincoln Financial Field have gone over the total points line, and Dallas’ defense had plenty of question marks even before losing Parsons.
–Eagles WR DeVonta Smith Anytime TD (+1400): Smith has scored at least one touchdown in six of his past seven regular-season home games and benefits from the attention A.J. Brown draws on the other side of the field.
KEY STAT
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has not thrown an interception in his six career road games against the Eagles, while counterpart Jalen Hurts has not thrown a pick in his past eight home games overall.
THE NEWS
The Cowboys’ defense already was behind the 8-ball after allowing 27.5 points per game last year, second-worst in the league (at 17.8 ppg, the Eagles were second-best). Rookie defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku will join Clark and journeymen Dante Fowler Jr. and Solomon Thomas in a remade defensive front.
Dallas traded for mercurial receiver George Pickens to line up opposite CeeDee Lamb, but the run game will be another question mark. Rico Dowdle left in free agency after a 1,000-yard season, and the Cowboys will balance vets Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders and rookie Jaydon Blue out of the backfield.
They’ll all have to come together under a new coach in Brian Schottenheimer after the team moved on from Mike McCarthy. Promoted from offensive coordinator, the career assistant gets his first crack as a head coach.
“Nothing’s changed. My goals haven’t changed. Our team goals haven’t changed,” Schottenheimer said after the Parsons trade. “I hit the players on that … after I talked about the tough couple of days for all the guys. It doesn’t change. The standard is the standard.”
The Eagles won’t look much different from the team that routed the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in February. Saquon Barkley will try to replicate the ninth 2,000-yard rushing season in league history, Brown and Smith still lead the receiving corps and the defense remains chock-full of former Georgia Bulldogs.
Whatever his critics say, Hurts can call himself a Super Bowl champion as well. He threw for just 2,903 yards and 18 touchdowns in 15 starts last year, but had his fourth straight year with double-digit rushing touchdowns (14). No one will benefit more from the owners voting down attempts to ban the “tush push” play last spring.
Hurts’ relationship with coach Nick Sirianni, which appeared strained 12 months ago, has grown “day by day,” per the quarterback.
“We obviously, both of us, love to work, love hard work, have a ton of grit to ourselves,” Hurts said this week. “We’re passionate about that. We express that through our work. So I think it’s been able to grow and evolve.”
INJURY REPORT
The Eagles received good news Tuesday with three-time Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson (back) able to practice. He was in doubt for the opener after missing time in training camp because of a right knee injury and not practicing Monday due to a back issue.
Eagles backup quarterback Tanner McKee (right thumb) missed practice Monday and Tuesday and resisted using his right hand while on the field in a limited capacity.
Dallas ruled out defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey with a back injury. Left cornerback Trevon Diggs and left tackle Tyler Guyton participated in practice all week and are no longer listed on the Cowboys’ injury report.
THEY SAID IT
–“Our fans, as well as my mirror, are saying, ‘Come on, let’s change something up. Let’s do something a little different here.'” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in defending the decision to trade Parsons for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and the Packers’ next two first-round draft picks.
–“We’re not talking anything about a title or anything. We’re talking about the Dallas Cowboys. How do we put ourselves in the best position to win this football game … and how do you continue to get better as the year goes on? That’s your habits. That’s all we’re thinking about.” — Sirianni, refusing to discuss the possibility of a Super Bowl repeat.
PREDICTION
Week 1 games against beaten-down division rivals are never guaranteed, and Dallas does have intriguing offensive weapons with Lamb now complemented by Pickens. But it’s difficult to see one of the NFL’s worst defenses from a year ago stopping Philadelphia with any consistency minus Parsons. –Eagles 30, Cowboys 24
