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Bowen: Eagles can't let Cowboys get off to running start

IF THE DALLAS Cowboys come out ignoring their run game and throwing the ball downfield Sunday night, the Eagles might be in big trouble.

IF THE DALLAS Cowboys come out ignoring their run game and throwing the ball downfield Sunday night, the Eagles might be in big trouble.

The talk at NovaCare this week has been all about stopping the NFL's No. 1 rushing attack and the No. 1 rusher, Dallas rookie Ezekiel Elliott. Yes, rookie quarterback Dak Prescott's mistake-free play is impressive, and yes, the Cowboys are getting Dez Bryant back this week, and yes, Cole Beasley has been a big problem for the Birds from the slot in the past, but those all seem to be secondary concerns.

"Once you run the ball that well, it's going to open up the passing game," Eagles defensive end Connor Barwin said. "Every week, we want to stop the run. It's even more important this week, and will be a real challenge."

"The task is heavy this week . . . Their offense runs through that run game," middle linebacker Jordan Hicks said. "It's going to be huge for our gap integrity this week, that we stay solid, stay sound in our gaps, and are playing physical. They like to push, they like to grab ahold of you and just move you and bleed you for 5, 10 yards, so it's going to be on us to come downhill and stay stout at the point of attack."

Adding to the urgency, Eagles players said, is that the Cowboys employ the type of zone block-cutback type scheme that Washington used against them to devastating effect two weeks ago, the Redskins gaining 230 yards on 33 carries, en route to a 27-20 victory that wasn't really that close. Dallas's offensive line is considered much more formidable than that group.

The Eagles had a nice, "safe place" interlude at home last Sunday with the Vikings, who are without Adrian Peterson and run like a clogged drain (27 carries, 93 yards in a 21-10 loss to the Birds).

This will be different. Elliott, 6-feet, 225, the fourth overall pick in this year's draft from Ohio State, has gained 703 yards on 137 carries this season, 383 of those yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus.

What does that mean to you, linebacker Nigel Bradham?

"That he's a running back who likes to keep his feet moving, especially on contact," Bradham said. "We have to stop the run, or they'll be able to control the game, and that's what we can't have happen. We've got to attack, and really stay gap sound."

"When you have that kind of yardage after contact, it means he's running behind his pads," defensive tackle Beau Allen said. "He's not easy to take down, so you really have to pursue after him, get to the ballcarrier and do everything you can to get him on the ground . . . They stick with their rushing plan, and they'll run in all sorts of situations, any personnel group."

"Like any running back, you want to try to not let him get started," Barwin said. "The yardage he's had after contact means you've got to get two, three, four guys to him every time and really gang tackle."

"He's got great vision, and runs hard," Hicks said.

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said Elliott "can run outside, he can run inside. He's a one-cut runner. He fits their offense really well. There are some guys that you say, 'Hey, we take their inside away and they can't go outside.' Other guys, you say, 'Hey, if you make them run inside to darkness, they'e not going to be as effective.' Their scheme gives him the ability to make the cut as he sees it.

"So it turns into, it's not just a single man (responsible for Elliott). Everybody on defense has to do the job. If one guy is out of place or one guy misses a tackle, he can make a big play."

Schwartz noted the similarity with Washington, that Redskins offensive line coach Bill Callahan "obviously was at Dallas a few years ago."

"We did some things that were out of character in that (Washington) game . . . Minnesota tried a few of those things and we were able to play some of them better," Schwartz said. "Hopefully, we learned some lessons from it, and that'll carry us forward."

Schwartz said the Eagles "went back to being us" in shutting down the Vikings.

"I think that more than anything, you have to play within yourself, and if you do a good job of that, you play with energy, you play with emotion, you play team defense, I think you'll see good results," said Schwartz, who added that in the Detroit and Washington losses "we didn't do enough of those things."

This huge divisional rivalry, the biggest for Eagles fans, has been really weird lately, with the Birds winning three in a row at Dallas and the Cowboys winning three in a row here. Last November, the Eagles danced out of AT&T Stadium with a 33-27 overtime victory. In the entire NFL, only the Eagles and Broncos have won their last three visits to Dallas.

"We're on the road, and we know what we gotta do," defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. He said he wants to see the defense create "negative yardage plays" early.

"We need to go out an suck all the air out of that stadium real fast, get it quiet real quick," Cox said.

@LesBowen

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