Long before Lincoln Financial Field is crammed with 70,000 fervent Eagles fans and millions more tuning in via television or other devices, Timothy Chandler pulls his pickup truck into a vacant lot outside the stadium and begins a ritual that is old as the game itself — tailgating.

He's not the only one. As the dawn breaks and the sun rises, with the air crisp, Chandler and dozens of others fill the parking lots outside the Linc with generators, tents, grills turning the darkened asphalt into a stage for one big party. And even with the Eagles on a 4-game skid and starting quarterback Jalen Hurts out for the season nothing gets this fan base more riled up than a clash with hated division rival Dallas Cowboys who visit Monday night for a nationally televised game.