Eagles-Cowboys will be a heavyweight bout and the latest defining moment in ‘the biggest rivalry in football’

Kevin Byard paid $10,000 for one of his best football memories.

The Eagles safety was halfway through his third season with the Tennessee Titans in 2018 with a burgeoning confidence brought on by his first Pro Bowl nod a season prior. Playing the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, Byard viewed the game as a chance for a coming-out party.

The 30-year-old has 27 career interceptions and three in two games against Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, but few rank higher than the one he managed on that November evening in Dallas. The one where he jumped over Amari Cooper in the end zone to secure the catch, got two feet in bounds, and made a beeline to the Cowboys’ logo to celebrate.

Byard, a West Philadelphia native who grew up watching the Eagles, said the celebration got widespread approval from his family, but not from his coach or the league office.

“It was a party at the star,” said Byard, whose Titans won the game, 28-14. “Obviously everybody and their mom was hitting me up saying how cool it was and that they were super excited. Mike Vrabel didn’t like it a lot and also the league didn’t like it because they fined me $10,000. But it was worth it. It was a good fine.”

Joining the Eagles via trade last week, Byard is in a rare position as a newcomer with the team who has a firm grasp on the significance surrounding Sunday’s home game against the Cowboys.

» READ MORE: Kevin Byard grew up watching Eagles playoff runs, now he gets a chance to help craft one himself

He called the NFC East matchup “the biggest rivalry in football” earlier this week, but also echoed the sentiment shared throughout the Eagles locker room in the lead up to the game.

“I don’t think anybody is trying to make it any bigger than it is,” Byard said. “It is just another game, but it’s a division game, just keeping it real. But I think most guys are even-keel because they understand just how big the game is going to be as far as crowd-wise and all that type of stuff. We know it’s important to go out there and get a W, but I don’t think guys are trying to make it bigger than it already is.”

Eagles center Jason Kelce added, “The excitement and the energy on game day is going to be there. It’s going to be for this game and any game that has a lot of hype around it. But I think the reality is, your technique, how locked you are in mentally, how well you prepare during the week, all these things are going to make the difference in how well you play.”

Try as they might, there are things about this Sunday’s game that cannot be downplayed.

The dynamic between the Eagles and Cowboys isn’t like a college football rivalry with geographical or cultural difference at the center. The business of the NFL keeps players from tying too much of themselves up into the identity of one franchise as well.

“I don’t understand how there’s a rivalry in the NFL,” Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said. “I can’t have a rival if I could end up being on that team next year. Or this team can cut me. Rivalries are for colleges, because this is a business.”

Unconventional as it may be, the reason Sunday’s game matters so much is the reason the rivalry exists in the first place: These two teams have spent decades as heavyweights in the same division. The 33 NFC East titles and 59 playoff appearances between them since 1967 explain as much, with five of the last six seasons ending with the Eagles and Cowboys in the first two division spots in one order or the other.

This season could very well end the same, with this Sunday’s game potentially serving as a defining moment for the two teams. A win would give the Eagles a 2.5-game lead over the Cowboys going into their bye week while a loss would present Dallas with the chance to completely close the gap between the two teams by the time the Eagles return from the week off.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, far removed from the “BEAT DALLAS” shirt he wore before the teams’ first meeting in 2021 and rebuked a year later, instead brought a picture of Bob Knight with a quote from the late basketball coaching legend behind him on Friday.

“Victory favors the team making the fewest mistakes.”

“I thought that was cool in the light of him passing this week,” Sirianni said Friday. “One of my coaches sent that to me. But it’s about playing clean football. ... Because when you play a good team like we’re about to play, then you better make sure you’re playing clean ball.”

The message will be applicable for the foreseeable future with six consecutive games against legitimate playoff teams with Super Bowl aspirations.

Through eight games, the Eagles’ 7-1 record doesn’t tell the full story of how they’ve played. Their underlying numbers suggest they’ve benefitted from an easier slate of games; they rank ninth in defense-adjusted value over average, which measures team performances relative to opponent strength, one spot behind the Cowboys.

Each of their next six opponents rank inside the top-10 of the metric, with the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, and Cowboys each ranking ahead of them.

Especially after conceding 31 points to the Washington Commanders last week, the upcoming stretch will go a long way toward defining the Eagles defense, too.

» READ MORE: Eagles beat writers make their predictions for the Cowboys game

“I still don’t think, as a defense, we’ve found our identity,” Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. “I think we’re still kind of searching for it. We’re still finding ways to win the games, that’s the biggest part about it right now, we’re finding ways of slowing offenses down from what they like to do. But we’re still finding our identity. In a couple weeks, we’ll figure out who we are, because Sunday’s a good game for us. We’re looking forward to that.”

If the Eagles defense does rebound during this stretch, Byard will be a major part of things. The Eagles sent two Day 3 picks and safety Terrell Edmunds to the Titans for the former All-Pro and played him 100% of the defensive snaps against the Commanders after he went through just two days of practice.

Byard, already emerging as a leader of the group in short time, was critical of his play as well as the rest of the secondary after the Washington game.

With a notably successful track record against Prescott, Byard said establishing an identity in physicality may be a necessary start to the highly anticipated matchup.

“There’s going to be a lot of intensity, not only coming from the fans but on the field as well,” Byard said. “We’re going to have to out-physical them. We’re going to have to play more physical. It’s two teams that want to go out and impose their will on teams. I think, whoever does that, is going to win the game.”