As the Eagles prepare to take on the Dallas Cowboys, Nick Sirianni has officially announced that Gardner Minshew will be starting against Dallas on Christmas Eve.
Sirianni did mention that Jalen Hurts did all that he could to prepare himself for the matchup but the Eagles feel that it’s “the best thing that he doesn’t play this week”.
Nick Sirianni praised Hurts for his toughness, stating that Jalen is the toughest player that Sirianni has ever been around. The Eagles feel very comfortable with going forward with Gardner Minshew.
Minshew-mania time for the Eagles
Gardner started two games for the Eagles last season when Hurts went down with an injury. In the first matchup, Minshew went 20/25 against the Jets and tosses two touchdowns while leading the Eagles to victory.
Ironically the second game was against the Dallas Cowboys in week 18 where oddly enough the Cowboys played their starters in the final week of the season after locking up the division title.
This year could be a different case for both Minshew and the Cowboys. Gardner has a well-oiled machine waiting for him to take the reigns with players that have truly come into their own this season such as A.J. Brown, Dallas Goedert, Miles Sanders, and DeVonta Smith.
He also has a great defense behind him that is just as hungry to clinch the division and the number one seed. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the Cowboys who have been as inconsistent as ever this season.
Dak Prescott has thrown 10 interceptions since returning including a big game-ending pick-six against the Jaguars. Their defense has been topsy-turvy as well as Micah Parsons has disappeared over the last several weeks and they’ve allowed 19+ points over the last four games with 40 points coming from the Jaguars.
It’s going to be an interesting matchup in Dallas due to an underwhelming turn of events. But if the Eagles can squeeze out a win and clinch the division as well as the number one seed in the NFC then I would expect to see Gardner close out the season.
AP Photo/David Richard
