NOT exactly a banner night.
EAGLES 24 – Cowboys 20
EAGLES STATS:
Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (19/23 – 82.6% – 152 – 0 – 0)
Rushing: QB Jalen Hurts (14 – 62 – 4.4 – 2 – 0)
Receiving: WR Jahan Dotson (3 – 3 – 59 – 19.6 – 0)
Drive Killer: CB Quinyon Mitchell (TD: 0/Int: 0 / FR: 1/ 4th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)
Sack Leader: N/A (Sacks: / FF: / Tackles: )
Special Teams Ace: P Braden Mann (3 punts – 48.7avg – 2 inside 20)
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I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned in Four Things: COWBOYS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Don’t Get Bullied: Dallas (as anticipated) over-committed to stopping the run. All night long, there were eight players (and on a couple of occasions, 9 players) in the box. Instead of audibling around it, we took plenty of opportunities to crash directly into it.
We opted to meet them in the street, and slugged it out. In the first half they seemed to be keeping pace, but by the end of the third quarter, it was clear that they simply lack the artillery to hang with us in a firefight. So we didn’t get bullied, and we still established our run game. (DONE)
2) Play the Hits: At no point did we get the Dallas QB on the ground. I would say it looked like we left our pass rush at home, but we played this game AT HOME. This was embarrassing. (NOT DONE)
3) Settle the Hash: The goal was 7 to 10 targets to WR Jahan Dotson and TE Dallas Goedert (7 – 7 – 44 – 6.2 – 0). They came up with 10 exactly, and our three RB’s (24 – 96 – 4.0 – 1 – 0) laid the groundwork for the 62 rushing yard added by Hurts. This was despite the loaded boxes we saw all night long. (DONE)
4) Take Their Heart Away: We didn’t really ever go to our five man defensive front, as DT Jalen Carter was ejected before the first snap of the game, for spitting on the Dallas QB. Stepping up was DT Jordan Davis (6 – 0.0 – 0 – 0), who had to play more snaps than usual. He managed a tackle for loss and pass deflection, but he’s still playing too upright at the snap. (NOT DONE)
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This week’s Four Things score was 2 of 4. It wasn’t pretty, but it’s still a “W”. Luckily we get ten days to tend to our injured, and find our pass rush, before we visit the Chiefs.
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Game Hero: WR Ceedee Lamb (13 – 7 – 110 – 15.7 – 0) – He had 4 drops (3 in the second half), that hit him in the hands. Seems like 136 million dollars would buy a clutch grab, here or there. In any case, his efforts helped the Eagles win this one.
Game goat: Jalen Carter (no stats) – Getting thrown out of the game before the first snap, is all at once a new low to be ashamed of, and a new low to be celebrated! The Eagles were deep enough however, to make up for the loss. We’ll see what further punishment the league intends to hand down.
On The Whole: Not a big fan of the way the game was called by Offensive Co-ordinator Kevin Patullo. At no point did we try to exploit their weakened secondary. This resulted in WR A.J. Brown (1 – 1 – 8 – 8.0 – 0) going nearly the entire game without noticing that he wasn’t being targeted. It had the feeling of playing down to the opponent.
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