The Eagles (8-2) are traveling to North Texas to face the Cowboys (4-5-1) in an NFC East battle at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.

Here are some key matchups to watch:

Eagles CBs vs. George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb

Going into Week 12, the Cowboys have the NFL’s No. 1-ranked passing offense and they are coming off a big day through the air against the Raiders in Week 11. The Cowboys are averaging 258.7 passing yards per game, ahead of the 49ers, Colts, Seahawks and Chiefs to round out the top five. The Cowboys have two stud receivers with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens and Dak Prescott has been able to get them the ball.

Here’s a look at their numbers this season:

CeeDee Lamb: (7 games) 40 catches, 557 yards, 2 TDs

George Pickens: (10 games) 58 catches, 908 yards, 7 TDs

Pickens is the NFL’s second-leading receiver behind just Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who is already over 1,100 yards. The Cowboys acquired Pickens in a trade in May and he has been having a career season.

Back in the opener, Pickens had just 3 catches for 30 yards but Lamb had 7 for 110. Lamb had 3 for 72 against Adoree’ Jackson in that game, so that’s obviously a matchup to watch again if they line up against each other.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles deploy their corners against these receivers because Lamb still plays a lot of snaps inside, where he’ll draw Cooper DeJean in coverage. Maybe it makes sense to have Quinyon Mitchell travel with Pickens.

Nakobe Dean vs. Javonte Williams

Cowboys lead running back Javonte Williams is fifth in the NFL this season in rushing with 809 yards on 161 carries (5.0) average and has 8 touchdowns. He has just two games over 100 yards this season but he has been pretty steady with a career-high average of 80.9 yards per game. He is fourth in the NFL in yards after contact per attempt, averaging 4.0. He’s behind just Jonathan Taylor, De’Von Achane and Bijan Robinson in that category.

Back in Week 1, Williams had 15 carries for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Eagles, while Miles Sanders had a 49-yard run. Sanders has been on IR since early October.

The Eagles were leaky against the run early in the season but have really shored up their run defense over the last month or so. It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that the run defense improved once Nakobe Dean returned to the lineup.

“I think as a unit we’re just playing it better,” DC Vic Fangio said. “Obviously, Nakobe helps. Last two weeks, (Jaelan) Phillips helps. I think Jalen Carter has really kicked up his game here lately, so it’s a combination of a bunch of things.”

In the first six games of the season, the Eagles were giving up an average of 134.3 yards per game on the ground, including a season-high 172 yards against the Giants in Week 6. But in the four games since that loss to the Giants, the Eagles have given up just 83.8 yards per game. Just two teams (Jaguars, Chiefs) have given up fewer rushing yards since Week 7. 

Jalen Carter vs. Tyler Booker

The Eagles should probably make sure that Jalen Carter stays away from Dak Prescott as this game kicks off. Because Carter missed the opener when he spat on Prescott before playing a single snap. Carter has had a weird season that started with that ejection; he has also dealt with shoulder and foot injuries. But the 24-year-old Pro Bowler has been rounding into form and has been showing off his dominance in recent weeks.

In this game, he’ll get matched up with rookie first-round pick Tyler Booker from Alabama. The Cowboys drafted him with the No. 12 overall pick and plugged him into the starting lineup as their right guard. Booker this season is ProFootballFocus’s No. 19-ranked offensive guard. He missed some time with an ankle injury earlier this season but has been good since his return. In his four games since coming back from that injury, Booker hasn’t given up a sack and has surrendered just six total pressures.

Eagles iOL vs. Quinnen Williams 

The Cowboys were busy at the trade deadline and their big move was acquiring defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets for a 2026 second-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick and DT Mazi Smith. While you can certainly question the Cowboys’ team-building philosophy but there’s no doubt that Williams makes their defense better right now and the Eagles will have to deal with him on Sunday.

The Cowboys had a Week 10 bye week, so Williams made his Cowboys debut against the Raiders on Monday night and he played really well with 1 1/2 sacks and 5 QB hits. The Cowboys added Williams to an interior group that already included Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa. So the Eagles don’t have to worry about an elite edge rusher like Micah Parsons when they play the Cowboys but that interior is very good right now.

Keep an eye on Cam Jurgens (concussion) this week. Jurgens made his return against the Lions on Sunday night after missing two games with a knee injury but has been in the NFL’s concussion protocol this week.

Jalen Hurts vs. Poor passing defense

The Eagles’ offense looked a bit lost on Sunday night against a Lions secondary that was missing a couple key starters. But they will get a chance to face the NFL’s No. 30-ranked pass defense in Dallas. It’s worth noting the Cowboys gave up just 209 yards against the Raiders in a win on Monday night but on paper they are susceptible through the air.

The Cowboys are still without Trevon Diggs, who remains on IR. That leaves them with DaRon Bland, Reddy Steward, Caelan Carson and Shavon Revel manning the cornerback positions for DC Matt Eberflus’s defense. The tricky thing is that the Cowboys line in zone coverage a ton and the Eagles have struggled against zone all season.

Against the Lions, the Eagles targeted A.J. Brown a season-high 11 times but he managed to catch just 7 passes for 49 yards. DeVonta Smith had just 1 catch for 8 yards on 5 targets. The Eagles are clearly not playing up to expectations this season but there seems to be some potential to break out this weekend.

Saquon Barkley vs. Cowboys run defense

We’re entering Week 12 and it feels like we’re still waiting for the 2024 version of the Eagles’ rushing attack to show up. It just hasn’t been there. The offensive line hasn’t been healthy and Saquon Barkley is 14th in the NFL in rushing with 662 yards (3.8) after a 2,000-yard season a year ago. While Barkley isn’t gaining as many yards after contact, he still has his burst. He has hit 15 mph on 26 runs this season and has hit 20 mph on 4 runs. Just Jonathan Taylor (6) has more 20 mph runs.

The Cowboys have the No. 24-ranked run defense in the NFL, giving up 131.4 yards per game, but they gave up just 27 yards on the ground to the Raiders on Monday night. The Cowboys added LB Logan Wilson via trade and recently got LB DeMarvion Overshown back from injury.

Eagles vs. Cowboys special teams studs

A little bonus here just to point out a couple of noteworthy special teams players on the Cowboys roster. Their kicker Brandon Aubrey is a two-time Pro Bowler, who doesn’t miss and has incredible range. Aubrey gets to play half of his games indoors at AT&T Stadium but is 18 of 19 this season and has a career percentage of 90.4. He is 30/34 from 50+ in his career, including 6/7 this season.

“I wouldn’t be shocked if he trotted out there for a 70-plus yarder,” Eagles ST coordinator Michael Clay said. “He’s a damn good kicker. He’s been doing a really good job this year. So we just got to be ready to be able to go out there and defend a long field goal. You have a kicker like that by all means, use him as a weapon.”

And then also keep an eye on return man KaVontae Turpin, who is very dangerous. Turpin is averaging just 26.0 yards per kick return this season and he hasn’t busted one yet, but he is always a threat to do it.