Here are 10 Observations from Eagles' Blowout Loss to Cowboys
ARLINGTON, Texas – It’s clear the Eagles aren’t ready for primetime, so it’s fortunate that they only have one of these left, and that will be on Oct. 14 when the defending Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Lincoln Financial Field.
You might want to cover your eyes for that one if what happened Monday night in Dallas, in front of 93,267 fans at AT&T Stadium, is any indication of what that could look like.
The Cowboys rolled the Eagles, 41-21.
Here are 10 observations:
1. It’s been said many times, but the Eagles need to look at adding a linebacker in the draft, one who looks a lot like Cowboys rookie Micah Parson, who is 6-3, 245 and can run a 4.3 40 and made life difficult for the Eagles’ offense.
It’s a unit that has too many deficiencies that got exposed on several occasions, with Alex Singleton not getting to the proper depth on a 19-yard TD throw to tight Dalton Schultz to tackling deficiencies from Eric Wilson that helped the Cowboys run amok with Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott.
Schultz ended up with a single-game career-high two touchdowns. His second came from 22 yards.
2. Miles Sanders had how many carries?
Two. Yes, two.
As a team, the Eagles had 11 rushes, eight from QB Jalen Hurts and one from Kenny Gainwell.
That’s not going to win many games.
3. Darius Slay did yeomen’s work on a goal-line stand that prevented – only temporarily it turned out – the Cowboys from scoring midway through the first quarter. The CB stopped an end-around to CeeDee Lamb for a one-yard loss then on third-and-goal from the 5-yard line, he stopped Ezekiel Elliott just inches short of the goal line. T
The play was ruled a touchdown but overturned. On fourth down, Dak Prescott was stoned by the Eagles’ defensive front.
The Eagles, however, could not get a first down and, after a 49-yard punt by Arryn Siposs, Dallas set up shop at the 50 and going six plays for a TD to make the score 14-7 Dallas with 1:31 to play in the first quarter.
4. Penalties continue to pile up against the Eagles. They had 13 for 86 yards and now own 34 on three games to lead the NFL in that category. It's also the most penalties through three games in team history.
There were just too many holding calls on the offensive line, with Lane Johnson having one, Andre Dillard one, Isaac Seumalo one, Nate Herbig one, and after that it was too difficult to keep track.
"That’s just us being disciplined and we’ve got to go back to work and get better at that because that’s obviously unacceptable and we’re all in this together," said head coach Nick Sirianni.
5. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy inexplicably called off the dogs by not calling any timeouts despite having the Eagles in a second-and-31 situation with 1:55 to play in the first half.
McCarthy had two timeouts yet didn’t call one of them, even after putting them in third-and-24. McCarthy just let the game clock run down to 20 seconds when the Eagles called timeout after gaining 19 yards on third down.
Dallas was content to go to the halftime locker room with a 20-7 lead.
6. Like the penalties, injuries are also piling up.
The Eagles lost safety K’Von Wallace to a shoulder injury early in the game then left guard Isaac Seumalo needed to be carted off with 10:41 to play in the fourth quarter with what was called a foot injury.
That would be the third injury to an Eagles offensive lineman in three weeks, joining Jordan Mailata (knee) and Brandon Brooks (pec). It sure feels a lot like 2020 when the Eagles started 14 different OL combinations.
The prognosis for Seumalo did not sound good when Jason Kelce was asked about how he felt watching his teammate get carted off the field. Kele got emotional and took a long pause of nearly a minute to answer the question.
Not a good sign.
UPDATE: Isaac Seumalo's Season Over, as OL Injury Woes Continue
7. Jalen Hurts’ final numbers won’t look terrible, but they were compiled mostly when this game was well out of reach. The second-year quarterback struggled from the outset, throwing an interception on the Eagles’ first possession. The throw was well underthrown to Jalen Reagor and picked by Anthony Brown at the 1.
Yeah, it led to the Eagles' only score of the game when Javon Hargrave strip-sacked Dak Prescott in the end zone, with the ball landing in Fletcher Cox’s hands for a touchdown.
Hurts also threw a pick-six to Trevon Diggs, who went 59 yards to the end zone, on the Eagles’ first possession of the second half.
It was the kind of performance that, if it is repeated too often, will lead the Eagles to look for another quarterback this offseason.
As it was, Hurts completed 25-of-39 throws for 326 yards with two TDs and two interceptions, and a passer rating of 86.
UPDATE: Jalen Hurts Has to Better, But it Starts With Nick Sirianni
8. Zach Ertz is on pace to set the Eagles' franchise record for most receptions in a career, which is held by Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael, who made 589. Ertz had four catches for 53 yards and a three-yard touchdown catch and is now 22 away from owning the mark.
He moved into sole possession of seventh place on the Eagles’ all-time list with his 37th career receiving TD and surpassed Brian Westbrook (67, 2002-09) for the most receptions ever by an Eagle against the Cowboys after entering the game with 66.
9. DeVonta Smith has yet to live up to his billing as the 10th overall pick in the draft. The WR had just three receptions on six targets for 28 yards. He needs to do more. He fell down on a pass route that led to an easy pick-six, 59-yard TD from CB Trevon Diggs.
10. This Eagles team is staring at the very real possibility of being 1-6 heading into a Halloween game at Detroit if they don't turn it around soon. They play last year's two Super Bowl participants - Kansas City and Tampa Bay - in their net three games with a road trip to undefeated Carolina in between. Then they have a trip to Las Vegas to meet the still-unbeaten Raiders.
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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
