It's rare when Eagles, Cowboys both have losing records when they play each other

It's rare when both the Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys are below .500 when the two teams meet.

It has happened just five times since 1988. The sixth time will occur this Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

What makes this sort of showdown unique is that despite the records, first place is on the line in the NFC East. The Eagles currently have a one-half game lead over Washington and Dallas.

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"Regardless of their record and what transpired, we understand who the Cowboys are and what this game means to both sides," safety Rodney McLeod said. "It’s a division opponent, and there’s a lot of history between the two teams. And so, you have to just put records aside and play ball."

They'll definitely put the records aside. Here's a look at the other games in which both teams were below .500 when they met:

Nov. 8, 2015

Records: Eagles 3-4, Cowboys 2-5

The Eagles won 33-27 in Dallas in overtime on Jordan Matthews' 41-yard touchdown reception from Sam Bradford. Matthews finished with 9 catches for 133 yards. DeMarco Murray, who left the Cowboys after leading the NFL in rushing in 2014 to sign with the Eagles as a free agent, had 83 yards rushing in his first game against his former teammates.

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The Cowboys started 2-0 that season, but went into a tailspin after quarterback Tony Romo was lost for the season with an injury (sound familiar?). Romo's replacement, Matt Cassel, threw for 299 yards and 3 TDs. 

It was a season of transition for both teams. The Eagles finished 6-10 and fired head coach Chip Kelly. Murray played just one season for the Eagles and was a major disappointment. Doug Pederson became the new coach and the Eagles traded up in the draft to take Carson Wentz No. 2 overall.

The Cowboys finished 4-12, ended up with the No. 4 pick in the 2016 draft and used it on running back Ezekiel Elliott. They also drafted quarterback Dak Prescott, who's out for the rest of this season with a broken ankle.

Nov. 11, 2012

Records: Eagles 3-5, Cowboys 3-5

Before Nick Foles was a Super Bowl hero, immortalized with a statue outside Lincoln Financial Field, he was a third-round draft pick in 2012, making his NFL debut in the first quarter after starting quarterback Michael Vick left with an injury.

It didn't go so well for Foles or the Eagles as the Cowboys blew open a 17-17 game after three quarters and won 38-23. Foles went 22 for 32 for 219 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

LeSean McCoy had 82 yards rushing and Jeremy Maclin 93 yards receiving. The Eagles were four games into an eight-game losing streak at the time (more on that next).

Dec. 2, 2012

Records: Eagles 3-8, Cowboys 5-6

Believe it or not, this game remained as the Sunday Night Football matchup, even though there were calls for NBC to "flex" out of the game, much like there are for the game this Sunday.

The deadline has passed for NBC to flex out of the upcoming game.

For the Eagles, this was loss No. 8 in a row. Rookie Bryce Brown, the Eagles' seventh-round pick that year, rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns. 

Brown, who was starting in place of the injured McCoy, rushed for 178 yards the week before. The two-game total of 347 yards marked the second-highest total ever by an Eagle in consecutive games since Steve Van Buren had 379 yards in two games in 1949.

The Eagles finished that season 4-12 and Andy Reid was fired after 14 seasons. Reid took the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance, and five appearances in the NFC Championship game.

Oct. 28, 1990

Records: Eagles 2-4, Cowboys 3-4

The Eagles, coming off two straight playoff seasons, were off to a slow start. It took a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Randall Cunningham to Calvin Williams to pull out a 21-20 victory in Dallas against a Cowboys team that had gone 1-15 the season before.

Cunningham threw for 183 yards and ran for 53, while Williams had 74 yards receiving.

But the Cowboys almost won behind a second-year quarterback in Troy Aikman, who threw for 233 yards, and a rookie running back in Emmitt Smith, who had 52 yards rushing and a touchdown.

That win propelled the Eagles to a 10-6 record and a third straight playoff season. But after a third straight first-round exit, the Eagles fired head coach Buddy Ryan.

Oct. 23, 1988

Records: Eagles 3-4, Cowboys 2-5

The Cowboys led 20-0 in the second quarter before the Eagles, behind two fourth-quarter TDs from Anthony Toney – one rushing, one receiving – came back for a 24-23 win. Cunningham threw for 298 yards.

The Eagles finished 10-6 and made the playoffs.

But the Cowboys were about to come to an end of an era. Dallas finished 3-13 that season and new owner Jerry Jones fired head coach Tom Landry after the final game of the season, a 23-7 loss to the Eagles.

Landry had been the Cowboys' only coach since their inception in 1960.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.