Cowboys, not 49ers, are Eagles’ biggest threat, Stephen A says

Cowboys, not 49ers, are Eagles’ biggest threat, Stephen A says originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The NFC is shaping up to be a three-team race between the 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

And since the Eagles are the defending NFC champions, they are the team to beat until someone dethrones them.

So are the 49ers, who lost to the Eagles in last year’s conference title game, or the Cowboys, the bigger threat to Philadelphia’s crown?

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, Dan Orlovsky and Kimberley A. Martin had a spirited debate about that topic on Thursday’s episode of “First Take,” prior to the Eagles’ 34-28 win over the Minnesota Vikings on “Thursday Night Football.”

“Believe it or not, it’s the Dallas Cowboys,” Stephen A., a noted Cowboys detractor, said. “By default. See, they’re in your division. You have to see them twice a year. It’s important for you to win the division because your best shot at having home-field advantage is winning your division crown. If Dallas in any way can impede your ability to win the division crown, the likelihood is that you’ll have to go on the road, because you’ll be a wild card, against either Dallas or San Francisco. And by virtue of that, it would diminish your chances, one would surmise.”

Under the new NFL playoff formatting, securing the No. 1 seed in each conference has immense value because only that team receives a first-round bye.

The Eagles were the No. 1 seed last year and they had the luxury of hosting the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.

And before that, the 49ers beat the Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium. Needless to say, home-field advantage is extremely important for all three teams.

“I’m simply saying to you that before you can get to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs and go home, which the San Francisco 49ers most certainly would send the Dallas Cowboys home,” Stephen A. continued. “Before you can get to that point, the first order of business is making sure that you don’t even have to travel to San Francisco, that you can stay home at Lincoln Financial Field. In order to do that, you have to win the division. And in order to win the division, you’d have to beat the Cowboys, who you play twice a year.”

Orlovsky and Martin disagreed with Stephen A., even calling his answer “soft.”

“The biggest challenge to the Eagles is San Francisco on the field,” Orlovsky retorted. “Number one, if we go back to the NFC Championship Game last year, and if we’re being honest, Philadelphia absolutely wins that game, no doubt about it. But their offense 100 percent benefited from two things — that fourth-down catch by Devonta Smith that ends up not being a catch but to their credit, they go fast. And then there were multiple penalties on the San Francisco defense that kept drives alive for Philadelphia’s offense. That’s the truth. That’s number one.

“Number two, [Javon] Hargrave is no longer in Philadelphia, he’s in San Francisco. The San Francisco defensive line, while I love Philadelphia’s defensive line, is a better defensive line than Philadelphia’s. Number [three], they have the best linebacking crew in all of football in San Francisco. Fred Warner is absolutely off the charts and the speed that they play with, downhill, is ridiculous. [Four], and I felt this way going into the NFC title game, Kyle Shanahan will have a field day in the middle of the field against the defense. Certainly this year after Week 1 in comparison to last year.

“There are questions about that Philadelphia defense. Where does San Francisco throw the football more than anyone in the NFL? In between the hashes. I think because of the scheme versatility that San Francisco has, and what I mean by that is, Kyle really has a limitless offense scheme-wise because Deebo [Samuel], [Christian] McCaffrey, [George] Kittle, [Kyle] Juszczyk really can do all of the same things, all at the same level, in my eyes. And [Brock] Purdy is the perfect quarterback for them. Dallas is unbelievable. I love them. I agree their defense is spectacular. I think the style that San Francisco can play at is the biggest threat to the Philadelphia Eagles.”

The Eagles did improve to 2-0 on Thursday, but Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins threw for 364 yards and completed four touchdown passes to three different receivers.

Based on how the 49ers’ offense operates, Purdy and Co. could have a field day when they face the Eagles in Week 13 in Philadelphia.

Martin’s reasoning for picking the 49ers was more succinct.

“People had doubts, well, ‘What are the 49ers without Jimmy [Garoppolo], without Trey [Lance]?’ They got Brock Purdy,” Martin said. “They’re pretty damn good, right? Your eyeballs will tell you that, right? And it’s not about the division. It’s literally, strictly football. Look at the rosters. The answer is easily the 49ers.”

As much as everyone wants to debate about which of the three NFC contenders is the best, everything will be settled on the field. The 49ers and Cowboys square off in Week 5, while Dallas and Philadelphia play in Week 9 at Lincoln Financial Field and Week 14 at AT&T Stadium. The week before that, the 49ers and Eagles clash at The Link.

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