The Philadelphia Eagles sit atop the NFC East and are in a great position to take the division crown, yet again, this season. Despite that cushion over the rest of the division, there is plenty on the line for the defending champions in Week 12 against the Dallas Cowboys. Unfortunately, the Eagles will have to overcome injuries to crucial players to get the job done.
Philadelphia still has plenty of work to do to lock up the top seed in the NFC, making every game crucial at this stage of the season. The margin for error is razor-thin when battling for playoff positioning, and the first-round bye that comes with winning the regular season title in your respective conference can be the difference between a Super Bowl run and an earlier-than-anticipated exit.
Now, with Cam Jurgens working his way back from a concussion suffered during Week 11, the Eagles could be stuck between a rock and a hard place, as there is no true right answer to how to best deal with Jurgens' injury while also putting together the best offensive line possible in front of Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley.
Cam Jurgens' Concussion Leaves Eagles Facing Difficult Decision
After the Cowboys showed off their shiny new pass rush led by trade deadline acquisition Quinnen Williams, this defensive front for Dallas must be taken seriously by Philadelphia's offensive coaching staff. This is where things get tricky when it comes to Jurgens. Yes, he was a full participant in practice on Friday, but he is still less than one week out from a concussion that forced him to leave the Eagles' win over the Detroit Lions.
There are two paths forward here for Philadelphia. First, they can elect to play Jurgens and hope that he is far along enough in his recovery from the concussion to be as effective as he'll need to be against what will undoubtedly be an aggressive pass rush. Given the strength of the Cowboys' defensive line being on the interior, that puts more pressure on Jurgens to be at his best on every single snap of the football.
Simply sitting Jurgens and allowing him extra time to recover is not an avenue without potential issues, either. With starting right tackle Lane Johnson on the IR, Fred Johnson has to move over from reserve left tackle to take the veteran's place in the starting lineup. Given the other injury issues facing the Eagles along the offensive line, Jurgens' sitting out pushes Brett Toth into the starting center spot, leaving just journeyman Matt Pryor and rookies Drew Kendall and Myles Hinton, who is fresh off the IR in his own right, as the only other healthy bodies available up front.
Regardless of how you look at it, Philadelphia is facing an imperfect situation on Sunday against this Dallas pass rush. It's on Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo to figure out whether a potentially limited Cam Jurgens gives the Eagles the best chance to win, or if the better route would be rolling the dice on healthier, less polished options further down the depth chart.