Cowboys vs Eagles NFL Pick: 2025 Season Opens With Rivals Battling in Philly

• Our Cowboys-Eagles NFL pick assesses the 2025 season opener on Thursday Night Football
• The Eagles are the defending Super Bowl champs and are expected to contend for another championship
• The Cowboys are again under the microscope after their stunning trade of star linebacker Micah Parsons to the Packers
• Philadelphia won both matchups in 2024 by a combined score of 75-13
• Philly is a 7.5-point favorite with an over-under of 47.5

Cowboys Try to Change the Narrative

For 36 years, Cowboys fans have been trapped in the psyche of owner and general manager Jerry Jones. In the aftermath of the Netflix series about his purchase of the tarnished franchise and how he and Jimmy Johnson built an early-1990s dynasty, Jones decided to relaunch himself into the center of the NFL universe by trading star linebacker Micah Parsons to the Packers.

It’s trite, but only time will determine whether it was a wise decision or not.

As for the 2025 season, Dallas had myriad questions before trading Parsons. Dak Prescott is returning from hamstring surgery, they do not have a prototypical number 1 running back, they will obviously miss Parsons’ game-wrecking ability, and they have a rookie head coach in Brian Schottenheimer who enters the job with the perception that he’s Jones’ puppet.

Now, they open the season in Philadelphia against an Eagles team that loves nothing more than humiliating the Cowboys, which they did twice in 2024 by a combined score of 75-13.

Still, the Cowboys’ offense has firepower if Prescott is healthy. The wide receiver combination of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens can be one of the league’s best. Tight ends Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker can move the chains. Their combo of running backs, including 2025 draftee Jaydon Blue and veteran Javonte Williams, can be effective. Their offensive line is talented.

Can the defense deal with losing Parsons? They have a strong secondary, and they improved the interior line by acquiring Kenny Clark in the Parsons deal.

But will that stop Philly’s aggressive offense?

Eagles Begin Title Defense at Home

The nucleus of the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX returns. GM Howie Roseman and coach Nick Sirianni seemed to acknowledge that star running back Saquon Barkley’s workload might need to be lessened and signed a legitimate number 2 back in A.J. Dillon.

Barkley should not be expected to replicate his 2,005 yards rushing from 2024, but Dillon will spell him so he’s fresh throughout the season. Against the Cowboys last season, he ran for 233 yards on 45 carries in two games.

The Eagles have a new offensive coordinator after Kellen Moore left to take over as head coach of the Saints. Kevin Patullo was their pass game coordinator from 2021 to 2024 and takes the reins.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts only played one game against the Cowboys in 2024 and was efficient, completing 14 of 21 passes for 2 TDs. He rushed for another.

Cowboys vs Eagles NFL Pick

Controversy is second nature for the Cowboys, but the difference between now and the 1990s is that they had the personnel and coaching staff to overcome it. Is that the case under their current template?

The Eagles will not let the reeling Cowboys come into Philadelphia and beat them in the 2025 NFL opener on Thursday Night Football. Dallas should move the ball, but Philly will cover the 7.5-point spread, and the teams will combine to score more than 47.5 points.