The Philadelphia Eagles have the Lombardi Trophy, while the Dallas Cowboys once again own the headlines — for better or worse.
The 2025 NFL season kick offs Thursday when the host Eagles raise their Super Bowl LIX banner before entertaining their NFC East foes, currently the subject of derision for trading away one of the best defenders in the game.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and his locker-room leaders refuse to discuss the possibility of a repeat.
“We’re not talking anything about a title or anything. We’re talking about the Dallas Cowboys,” Sirianni said. “How do we put ourselves in the best position to win this football game … and how do you continue to get better as the year goes on? That’s your habits. That’s all we’re thinking about.”
Yet the Week 1 spotlight will shine less on the champs and more on their opponents.
Dallas owner Jerry Jones ended a contract standoff with sack master Micah Parsons by trading him to the Green Bay Packers a week before the season opener. The Cowboys acquired defensive tackle Kenny Clark and the Packers’ next two first-round draft picks, but they surrendered an All-Pro pass-rusher entering his prime.
Jones defended his decision, envisioning a world in which Parsons nets future stars for Dallas the same way the Herschel Walker trade did early in Jones’ tenure.
“Our fans, as well as my mirror, are saying, ‘Come on, let’s change something up. Let’s do something a little different here,'” Jones said.
But those draft picks won’t help this season, and fans in fact were incensed that Parsons was traded. Not even franchise quarterback Dak Prescott tried to spin the move too positively.
“I’m not going to say we’re better,” Prescott said. “We’ve got to go out there and prove it. We’d have to prove it even if (Parsons) was on this team, so I’m not going to say that by any means.”
The Cowboys’ defense already was behind the 8-ball after allowing 27.5 points per game last year, second-worst in the league (at 17.8 ppg, the Eagles were second-best). Rookie defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku will join Clark and journeymen Dante Fowler Jr. and Solomon Thomas in a remade defensive front.
Dallas traded for mercurial receiver George Pickens to line up opposite CeeDee Lamb, but the run game will be another question mark. Rico Dowdle left in free agency after a 1,000-yard season, and the Cowboys will balance vets Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders and rookie Jaydon Blue out of the backfield.
They’ll all have to come together under a new coach in Brian Schottenheimer after the team moved on from Mike McCarthy. Promoted from offensive coordinator, the career assistant gets his first crack as a head coach.
“Nothing’s changed. My goals haven’t changed. Our team goals haven’t changed,” Schottenheimer said after the Parsons trade. “I hit the players on that … after I talked about the tough couple of days for all the guys. It doesn’t change. The standard is the standard.”
The Eagles won’t look much different from the team that routed the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in February. Saquon Barkley will try to replicate the ninth 2,000-yard rushing season in league history, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith still lead the receiving corps and the defense remains chock-full of former Georgia Bulldogs.
Whatever his critics say, two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Jalen Hurts can call himself a Super Bowl champion as well. He threw for just 2,903 yards and 18 touchdowns in 15 starts last year, but had his fourth straight year with double-digit rushing touchdowns (14). No one will benefit more from the owners voting down attempts to ban the “tush push” play last spring.
Hurts’ relationship with Sirianni, which appeared strained 12 months ago, has grown “day by day,” per the quarterback.
“We obviously, both of us, love to work, love hard work, have a ton of grit to ourselves,” Hurts said this week. “We’re passionate about that. We express that through our work. So I think it’s been able to grow and evolve.”
The Eagles may not have three-time Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson (back) for the opener as he missed practice Monday. Backup quarterback Tanner McKee (right thumb) also missed practice, while linebacker Joshua Uche (groin) and rookie safety Andrew Mukuba (hamstring) were limited.
The only Dallas player to miss practice Monday was defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey (back). Star cornerback Trevon Diggs and left tackle Tyler Guyton, both dealing with knee injuries, were full participants.
