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grading for the Eagles in Week 14 following a humiliating loss to the Dallas cowboys
The post Week 14 Eagles grades following a humiliating Dallas Cowboys loss first aired on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Texas’s Arlington Their fiercest opponent kicked the Eagles in the butt when they traveled to Dallas.
The Cowboys not only defeated the 49ers 33–13, but they also suffered a humiliating 42–19 setback at home. The Eagles have lost to two of the NFC’s top teams in consecutive weeks, which is quite concerning as the postseason draws closer.
In this one, the Eagles fell behind early. The Eagles’ season ended with a 10-3 record as the defense was destroyed and the offense failed to score a touchdown.
For the second week in a row, the MVP contender on the other sideline outperformed the Eagles quarterback, who had an opportunity to prove to the NFL why he deserves to be named MVP. Hurts mishandled the ball once more, giving the Eagles a chance to tie the game early and stay ahead of the Cowboys. It was a deadly turnover—his fifteenth of the season. Hurts didn’t exactly get a lot of assistance in this game; both of his top receivers fumbled and lost passes. Additionally, coaching is still a problem. Hurts, however, acknowledged following the game that he must lead the turnaround, and he is correct. He must do better on the field.
The run game of the Eagles wasn’t great in this game either, following a week of discussion about it. In the end, they gained more than 100 yards, although Hurts only contributed 30 of those. The fact that they had to pass in order to try to get back up was the issue with this game. Even still, the running backs didn’t have much space. Boston Scott had three for nine yards, Kenny Gainwell had four for twenty-eight, and Swift had 39 yards.
Brown’s ultimate stat line is respectable, but he fumbled the ball and failed to catch a major pass that would have resulted in a big gain. DeVonta Smith, who had five receptions for 73 yards in this game, is comparable. Indeed, those figures are impressive, but Smith also stumbled and dropped a few balls. Olamide Zaccheaus was the only other receiver with a reception; on a trick play, the punter hit him for a 28-yard gain. Hurts finished up targeting just three guys, with neither Julio Jones nor Quez Watkins receiving any targets.
Goedert made his game-day comeback against the Cowboys on Sunday after missing three, but he didn’t really contribute. Though he wasn’t a major contributor to the passing attack, his longest reception was for fifteen yards. Even though it was anticipated that his comeback would strengthen the running game, the Eagles were hampered there and had to abandon it after falling behind quickly.
Even before this game got out of hand, the Eagles were having trouble with the run game. Hurts ended up in a little bit of duress during this game and Lane Johnson actually gave up a sack to Micah Parsons, who simply beat him with a bull rush. The entire offense looks disjointed right now and the O-line is certainly a part of that. Cam Jurgens suffered a chest injury, but was able to return; that’s something to monitor this week.
The Eagles’ greatest play of the game occurred when Cox took Dak Prescott’s jersey, which Jalen Carter recovered and raced for a 42-yard touchdown. However, that was the only bright spot in an otherwise unsatisfactory defensive effort. Haason Reddick had two sacks in total, although one of them was during garbage time. Prescott was able to slightly carve up the Eagles through the air because they were unable to apply consistent pressure. The front line’s ability to pursue quarterbacks is the foundation of the defense, so when it falters throughout a game, it poses a serious threat.
Making his Eagles debut, Shaq Leonard played a little bit longer (12 snaps) than the Eagles perhaps would have liked because Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow had to visit the medical tent. The linebackers contributed to an Eagles defense that gave up three 75-yard touchdown drives to the Cowboys in the first half, though they weren’t quite as terrible as they were against the 49ers last week.
In this game, the Eagles’ problems on third downs persisted. The secondary was in charge of many of those conversions, including a couple significant ones that resulted from penalties by Slay, James Bradberry, and Kelee Ringo. They just can’t seem to get off the field. In the end, Prescott threw for two touchdowns and 271 yards. CeeDee Lamb had 71 receiving yards, while Jake Ferguson had 72. In this game, six different Cowboys had a reception, despite Hurts only targeting three guys.
Special teams were this game’s greatest asset. Mann was able to fake a punt that looked urgent but was successful in hitting Zaccheaus. Covey of Britain returned punts for eighteen yards. The two field goals and the extra point were both made by Jake Elliott. Josh Jobe’s aggressive call for fair-catch interference in the second half was the only poor special teams play. But all in all, special teams performed well once more.
The Eagles are still in charge of their own destiny in the NFC East and have a very strong record. However, this was a complete disaster, and the coaching staff bears a great deal of responsibility. Yes, there were issues with execution. It wasn’t like Nick Sirianni and Brian Johnson were fumbling the ball. To let their gifted offensive players take the stage, though, they must exert greater effort. That was just not the case in this game. Of course, the guys need to make plays on third down in defense. However, Sean Desai was outcoached by the offensive play-caller on the other sideline for the second straight week. Now that the Eagles are in trouble, it’s time to see if Sirianni can save them.
