2024 NFC EAST WINNERS

EAGLES 41 – Cowboys 7

EAGLES STATS:

Passing: QB Kenny Pickett (10/15– 66.6% – 143 – 1 – 0)

Rushing: RB Saquon Barkley (31 – 167 – 5.3 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: WR DeVonta Smith (7 – 6 – 120 – 20 – 2)

Drive Killer: S C.J. Gardner-Johnson(TD: 1/Int: 2/ FR: 0/ 4^th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)

Sack Leader: DT Thomas Booker/LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (Sacks: 0.5 / FF: 0/ Tackles: 5/3)

Special Teams Ace: K Jake Elliott 2/2 FG, 5/5 XP

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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) Establish the Pass Immediately: Luckily we started the game with a defensive score, because it took three possessions for the Offense to find some traction. By that time it was already the second quarter. (NOT DONE)

2) Lean On the Run: We absolutely nailed this one. Barkley had a season high 31 carries in this one, and they were enough to make him one of just nine men in NFL HISTORY, to rush for 2000 yards in a single season.

Those rushes weren’t just to chase a record. We needed this win to clinch the #2 seed in the playoffs, and ensure that the NFC East, didn’t somehow fall to Washington. We started a back-up QB (Pickett), and when he went down, we played third string QB Tanner Mckee (3/4 – 75.0 – 54 – 2 – 0). So Barkley’s 31 carries were essential. (DONE)

3) Take Away Anything Simple: We did a great job of forcing Dallas QB Cooper Rush (15/28 – 53.7% – 147 – 1 – 2) into uncomfortable situations, and making him air out passes, instead of sticking to the dink and dunk, that got him picked off on the first drive of the game!

We rattled him early with a pick six, and he got totally away from who he is as an athlete. He tried to do too much, and it only helped his team sink faster. He was smart enough to get the ball out and avoid sacks, but he just doesn’t have any playmaker in his DNA. He’s a closer (pitcher) forced into starting. He never stood a chance. (DONE)

4) Use Five Man Fronts: We did some of this, but not a huge amount of it. It might have been wise not to, with LB Oren Burks (8 – 0.0 – 0 – 1) starting in place of injured LB Nakobe Dean. As a second level defender, rotating with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (3 – 0.5 – 0 – 0) the Eagles may have wanted to keep help close to them. (NOT DONE)

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This week’s Four Things score was 2 of 4, but it was more than enough. Next week we host the giants, in a game that will have either a ton of significance, or absolutely none at all. At least we now know it’s Sunday at 1:00

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Game Hero: C.J. Gardner-Johnson – He killed two drives, with interceptions. One he returned for a score, which equaled Dallas’s output for the entire game. He could also be seen calming fellow players down, as Cowboys players kept trying to bait Eagles into penalties, after the play. Given that he was ejected and fined $45,000 last week, this was some fast maturing on his part

Game goat: Defensive Line – We got just one sack, and allowed their mutt of a RB, to get 100 rushing yards.

On The Whole: It was a domination from start to finish. Offense, Defense and Special Teams all showed up and took care of business. We wrapped up a division crown; putting two players into the record books (Barkley’s 2000 rushing yards, and McKee becoming the only QB in NFL history to debut with more than one TD pass, on fewer than five attempts); or choking out a rival in front of a deserving fan base.

Nearly lost in all of this, is the huge day that DeVonta Smith put up. He had three plays where he reached into the Cowboys chest and extracted a still beating heart. A 22 yard score; a 49 yard bomb, that set-up first and goal from the one; and a 25 yard score, just to add battery acid to the wound. Just when an opponent thinks they have A.J. Brown under wraps: