Fletcher Cox, the Eagles’ Joel Embiid, must be huge; Cowboys reunited; Commanders charge in NFC East

Fletcher Cox is a lot like Joel Embiid: dominant, at will.

Not always in shape, not always engaged, Cox, the Eagles’ defensive tackle, like Embiid, the Sixers’ center, can be among the best in his business, or he can disappear.

We’ve seen both of them play big. Embiid, lately, has been huge for the Sixers in the absence of James Harden.

As the Eagles’ defensive line crumbles around him, Cox has to be huge, too.

He had three sacks in the first three games, but he hasn’t sacked a quarterback in the six games since, and hasn’t hit one in a month. If the Eagles are to survive the upcoming stretch of elite running backs, Cox must return to dominance. If he does not, they will not.

The Eagles added Ndamukong Suh on Thursday and Linval Joseph on Wednesday to replace two young defensive tackles who were injured the last two games. Suh and Joseph are large, and they are professional, but they also are 35 and 34, respectively, and, in a league that still employs Justin Ellis, they were unemployed. Both experienced significant drops in overall production the last two years as their age caught up with them.

Who knows? Suh and Joseph could wind up being adorable and useless, or magnificent and game-changing.

They need to wind up being irrelevant.

Javon Hargrave, the $13 million pass-rush specialist who lost his starting spot to Davis, shall not go unmentioned in this call to arms, but Hargrave has always been one-dimensional, and he never was as important as Cox. Cox has seldom been as important as he is right now.

Cox has been a chief reason the Eagles allowed an average of 154 rushing yards in their last three games.

He must be a reason that trend ends.

Over their final eight games the Eagles face the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor, the Titans’ Derrick Henry, the Packers’ Aaron Jones (and A.J. Dillon), the Cowboys’ Tony Pollard (and Ezekiel Elliott), Bears running quarterback Justin Fields, and the Giants’ Saquon Barkley, and they get him twice.

» READ MORE: Colts’ Jonathan Taylor has a ‘won’t be denied mentality’ that started at Salem High School

The Eagles need Cox.

Not the pliant Cox who sleepwalked through 70 snaps on Monday Night Football in the loss to the Commanders that cost the Eagles an undefeated season. Not the passive Cox, whose profootballfocus.com ranking, once consistently top 5, has been, among high-usage tackles, 19th in 2020, 27th in 2021, and 47th in 2022.

Fourteen million dollars. Forty-seventh? Not good enough. They need the best Cox that Howie Roseman’s money can buy. They need Cox to rise to this moment.

They need elite Cox, who went to six Pro Bowls. They need sturdy Cox, who plugged the middle at Super Bowl LII.

That’s right.

They need Super Cox.

Now that the Commanders apparently have realized that Carson Wentz was always their biggest problem — his injured finger is supposed to be better after a four-week layoff, but he wasn’t guaranteed his starting spot — they be more than a spoiler. The team has gone 3-1 behind Taylor Heinicke, who watched Wentz — the injury-addled former Eagles and Colts starter — throw six interceptions in six starts en route to an 84.1 passer rating, his worst in six years.

Ron Rivera is probably coaching for his job, and his players adore him, so they’ll keep playing hard. The defensive line is sound, Terry McLaurin remains a WR1, they have a punishing run game, the offensive line has improved, and they can make a cold-weather push. It begins Sunday in Houston, where the weather won’t matter, but it continues when the Falcons visit after Thanksgiving. That should leave the Commanders at 7-5 and winners of six-of-seven as they face the Giants in back-to-back games that sandwich a fortunate, late-season bye week.

As such, there’s every chance Washington is 8-6 entering the last three week. They could make the NFC East the first division with four teams in the playoffs (the AFC East is in the same situation). Surprised? Well, the Commanders are just a half-game out of the playoffs today. They also play the team ahead of them, the 49ers, on the road in Game 15.

Cowboys bell-cow back Ezekiel Elliott is expected to return Sunday after missing two games (and three weeks) with a knee injury, just in time for a visit to the one-loss Vikings. He’ll probably see limited time, for a few reasons: his downtime; the fact that the Cowboys play again Thursday; and the continued emergence of Tony Pollard, who just logged back-to-back 100-yard games for the first time in his four-year career.

We’re 10 weeks in and we still have no idea just what the defending division champion really is. Elliott and Dak Prescott, who suffered a thumb injury in the opener, have played just two games together this season.

By the end of next weekend, Zeke, Dak, and Pollard could be the three-headed backfield that moves the Cowboys (6-3) into a second-place tie in the East with the Giants (7-2), who get a breather when the Lions hit northern New Jersey for a 1 p.m. yawner Sunday.

Of course, if Cox & Co. don’t properly Process runners like Jonathan Taylor and King Henry, there might be a three-way tie on top of the NFC East.

Inquirer Eagles beat reporters EJ Smith and Josh Tolentino preview the team’s Week 11 game against the Indianapolis Colts. Watch at Inquirer.com/EaglesGameday