Behind enemy lines: How Eagles plan to contain Prescott

As the Philadelphia Eagles prepare for their highly anticipated matchup against Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on Sunday Night Football, fans are no doubt wondering how the Birds' defense plans to shut down one of the league's most potent passing threats.

In a recent Q&A with Bleacher Report's Zachary Scott, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz offered some insight into his team's game plan for containing the dynamic signal-caller:

'We're going to have multiple coverages in there,' said Schwartz. 'We'll mix up our pressures and try to keep him off balance.'

One of Prescott's greatest strengths is his ability to read defenses pre-snap, allowing him time to escape the pocket and make plays outside the numbers with his legs or deliver precision passes downfield.

To counter this, the Eagles will likely employ a combination of man coverage schemes along with some zone concepts designed specifically for blunting Prescott's dual-threat capabilities. According to Schwartz:

'We'll be pressuring him at times, but we also want to make sure that if he does get outside and gets out in space, our guys are there to wrap up and tackle him.'

Additionally, the Eagles' secondary will likely employ some zone coverage schemes such as Cover 4 orCover 3 underneath where safeties like Malcolm Jenkins can provide help over top while linebackers like Jordan Hicks and Najee Goode drop down into underneath coverage. This type of scheme would force Prescott to either throw incomplete passes short or take a sack inside the pocket.

Overall, it will be an interesting chess match between Schwartz's Eagles' defense and head coach Jason Garrett's Cowboys offense as both teams try to outmaneuver each other on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

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