Weekly Wrap: Dallas Pt. 1
The Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys often produce games to remember. And I hope that this is a game the Eagles do not soon forget, because it was an embarrassment. The Cowboys blew out the Eagles 41-21 on MNF. This is one of the worst losses in recent memory given it was in prime time against their biggest rival.
Last week there was plenty of blame to go around. You may be able to say the same this week. It would take me many posts to unpack this mess. To me, this loss falls most heavily on the shoulders of HC Nick Sirianni.
My keys to the game heading into Monday night were time of possession and establishing the run with Miles Sanders.The Eagles hardly controlled or ran the ball all night. The first hand off to a RB came in the second half of the second quarter. And when they finally did give it to Sanders he ran for 24 yards. Yet, we moved away from the run to the point of no return; handing it off to No. 26 zero times in the second half.
Jalen Hurts did not perform well at all. Under throwing Jalen Reagor for his first INT of the season and then throwing a second pick to Trevon Diggs which resulted in 6 points for the opposition.
Finally, Philadelphia added 13 penalties to give them a season total of 35, which leads the NFL and sets a club record through 3 weeks.
The game somehow could’ve been a lot uglier had the defense not stepped up in the first quarter with two turnovers. One fumble which resulted in a Fletcher Cox TD and a turnover on downs on their own half yard line.
Despite the early turnovers, the Cowboys offense won the matchup against the Eagles defense. Dallas’ offensive line dominated Philly’s defensive line and was effective running the ball with Zeke Elliot and Tony Pollard while Dak Prescott picked apart their zone defense with minimal pressure.
The Cowboys did everything I hoped the Eagles would do, recording more rushing attempts than Eagles total offensive plays in the first half.
This is a tough pill to swallow. Normally I would say “onto the next one”, but in this instance I hope this team remembers this loss for awhile. There’s a lot to learn from it. There will be plenty to think about on the trip back home to take on the Kansas City Chiefs.