KING of the fucking NFL hill! STILL!

EAGLES 26 – Cowboys 17

EAGLES STATS:

Categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s (6 points) + 3rd downs converted by handoffs (1 point) + sacks allowed (-2 points) = score); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).

New Category Ace is for Kick return TD’s, Returners run-down, kicks blocked, etc.

Passing : (S) QB Jalen Hurts (15/25 – 60.0% – 155 – 2 – 0)

Rushing : (S) RB Miles Sanders (18 – 71 – 3.9 – 1 – 0)

Receiving : (S) WR A.J. Brown (8 – 5 – 67 – 13.4 – 1)

Offensive Line Report/Enforcer : (1 + 1 – 4 = (-1)) / NA

Drive Killer : (S) SS Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (2 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0)

Sack Leader : N/A

Ace : K Jake Elliott: 51 yard FG

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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) Score points: I said three touchdowns should put this game out of the Cowboys reach, and it did. Hell., the 20 points we’d scored by half-time, were enough to win the game. Our Eagles are not the offensively challenged weaklings, that the Cowboys schedule had been feeding them.

If anything, this game highlighted all of the Cowboys offensive shortcomings, which had heretofore been washed aside, due to the fact that they were winning games. In any case, mission accomplished. (DONE)

2) Drop the Mic(ah): While the world was probably looking for a blocking scheme designed to double OLB Micah Parsons (4 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) all day, the smarter thing was to punish the Cowboys for trying to “fake the funk”. Dallas lines him up at LB, but uses him like a lineman. They think it’s clever, but it just means that down in and down out, they won’t have a LB out there, doing LB things. We penalized that. And how!

The idea was to use TE Dallas Goedert (5 – 2 – 22 – 11.0 – 0) to either force Parsons into coverage, or beat him with short passes. Well, using more than just Goedert, we did both. Parsons had a couple of hurries once RT Lane Johnson left the game with a concussion, but he had no sacks, and he was beaten by A.J. Brown for a 15 yard touchdown. (DONE)

3) Stay At Home: This was done fairly well in the first half, and completely abandoned in the second. Particularly on the right side of our Defensive Line. The containment was soft. There was no edge.

I was also frustrated with the slow adjustment to the Cowboys double teaming DT Fletcher Cox (3 – 0 – 0 – 0). Using DT Jordan Davis (1 – 0 – 0 – 0) to bullrush the opposing C, would have been the ideal counter. It would have localized the double team and given MLB T.J. Edwards (8 – 0 – 0 – 0), some clean shots at the ball carrier. Instead, we got the ball run down our throats for 134 yards. (NOT DONE)

4)Rush Rush: The idea was to force QB Cooper Rush (18/38 – 47.3 – 181 – 1 – 3) to reset his feet, and not allow the plays to run on schedule. The Cowboys like to roll him out so that he can 1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi 3 Mississippi and throw, after the route has developed. Which says that he always knows where he’s going with the ball.

So instead of trying to fool him, the coverage was kept tight, which made every throw about whether or not he had the zip to get it in. Well, his weak arm is partly what kept him undrafted. One late pass was deflected and picked.

Another was flat-out picked.

Another was badly under-thrown and picked before it could be incomplete. (DONE)

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This week we got 3 of the Four Things done, and so naturally we also got the ‘W’. Next week we have a way too early Bye Week, followed by a visit from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have given a rookie QB the keys to the kingdom.

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On The Whole:

Despite the game announcers talking about a “momentum shift”, when Dallas finally managed to score a touchdown in the third quarter, this game was never as close as the score. What had happened was, the Eagles once again fell asleep at half-time.

This team is 6 – 0 and has yet to put together a complete game. On one hand, it means that we haven’t seen this team’s ceiling yet. On the other hand, it suggests that this coaching staff has no clue of how to get this team there.

Well, now they get a week to try and figure it out.