Thursday night brings the start of the 2025 NFL season — what better way to kick off the new year than a NFC East matchup between the rival Dallas Cowboys and reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles? This divisional clash should provide plenty of fireworks to ring in the beginning of football season, especially with top wideouts like CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens on display against A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith
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Many NFL teams try to conceal their game plans as much as possible, which makes sense given the chess-match nature of the sport. However, the Cowboys aren’t exactly subtle with how they plan to attack the field. Make no mistake, Dallas will throw the ball an absolute ton based on their roster construction with one of the league’s worst halfback rooms complemented by CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens and Jake Ferguson catching passes.
The roster construction makes the Cowboys’ plans clear, as does new head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s reliance on the passing game in his seasons as offensive coordinator. Lamb will absolutely continue to put up numbers as the primary target here as long as quarterback Dak Prescott is healthy. Just look at how he demanded a hair over 10 targets per game last season with the NFL’s fourth-highest target share at 29.7%. While Pickens may eat into that slightly, it’s not a major cause for concern since Dallas should provide plenty of passing volume.
However, the matchup against the Eagles does raise a few eyebrows. The Philadelphia defense allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game in 2024 with just 186.9, and they gave up the 11th-fewest targets to wide receivers with the third-fewest yards conceded to the position. While the reigning champions cut ties with cornerback Darius Slay and safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, they drafted a top safety in second-rounder Andrew Mukuba and signed cornerback Adoree’ Jackson as well.
It’s a fearsome unit the Cowboys face to open the season, but Lamb remains the best wideout on the field and will see his fair share of opportunities. That rings particularly true in the case that Dallas falls behind early and becomes forced to play from behind — a distinct possibility with a defense that now finds itself without Micah Parsons while coming off a very poor year as far as run-stopping goes. All in all, over 6.5 receptions looks like easy money at plus odds for Lamb in a game the Cowboys must air the ball out to stay alive in.
