Recap
The Philadelphia Eagles continued their unbeaten streak against NFC East teams, defeating the Cowboys 28-23. The Eagles were able to survive a late surge by Dallas to secure the win; the defense provided some clutch stops late in the 4th quarter to seal the victory, including a sack on the final drive of the game. Philadelphia was leading 28-17 with 6:50 left in the 4th quarter before a Dak Prescott touchdown pass that cut the lead to 28-23. Although the Eagles escaped with the win, this game was very close to becoming a loss.
Positive Observations
1.) Jalen Hurts
Hurts had a great game against Dallas; he tallied 243 total yards, 3 touchdowns, and a 73.9% completion percentage. In addition to all of this, Hurts didn’t turn the ball over against Dallas; he made the right reads and distributed the ball effectively. In addition to this, Hurts broke the franchise record for career rushing TD’s by a quarterback in Sunday night’s game.
2.) Second half defense
The defense was shaky in the first half but ultimately pulled it together in the 2nd half to close out the game. The Eagles held Dallas to 6 points in the 2nd half, and a clutch play by Brandon Graham on a 2 point conversion kept the game just out of reach for Dallas. The Eagles would not have won this game without the defense playing like they did in the 2nd half.
3.) Defensive Line
The defensive line is a massive strength of the Philadelphia Eagles; they recorded 5 sacks and 4 TFL against Dallas. Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick led the way for the Eagles, each recording a sack in addition to 6 & 7 pressures respectively; Brandon Graham recorded 1.5 sacks and was a force during the game as well.
Negative Observations
1.) Costly mistakes
A questionable third down fade call to AJ Brown on 3rd and 3 with just under 5 minutes remaining, a fumble on the ensuing 3rd down attempt, and multiple defensive penalties during the Cowboys’ last drive were nearly enough to cost the Eagles the victory. Although the Eagles escaped with a win, these types of mistakes may come back to bite them if they aren’t cleaned up.
2.) 4th quarter offense
Although the Eagles offense looked to be in a good rhythm when they went up 28-13 late in the 3rd quarter, they seemingly shut down afterwards; the Cowboys out-gained the Eagles 163 yards to a measly 14 yards in the 4th quarter. Additionally, the Cowboys possessed the ball for 11 minutes and 18 seconds and had 14 first downs, while the Eagles had the ball for only 3 minutes and 42 seconds with 0 first downs in the final quarter.
Upcoming Opponent
The Eagles (8-1) travel to Arrowhead Stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs (7-2) on Monday Night Football. The Chiefs are coming into this game off of a win against Miami, looking to keep momentum going to lock up the #1 seed in the AFC. The Eagles are coming into this game fresh off a BYE week, where they received some much needed reinforcements in Cam Jurgens and Bradley Roby. Although I think this game will be close, I don’t see the Eagles having an answer for the Mahomes to Kelce connection.
Final Prediction: PHI 28, KC 35
NFC East Standings
The updated NFC East standings are as follows:
- Philadelphia Eagles: 8-1
- Dallas Cowboys: 7-3
- Washington Commanders: 4-7
- New York Giants: 3-8
Final Thoughts
Although the Eagles beat Dallas, it seems difficult to be content in the way that they won. Ultimately, wins are the most important thing, but the game against Dallas showed some weaknesses that this Eagles team has. With that being said, this Eagles team is a very good football team & have the talent to make a deep playoff run again. The injury to Dallas Goedert will be felt, but I believe that the Eagles offense is still a top threat in the league. As always, Go Birds!
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Nate Eichner is a featured writer at The Birds Blitz. For more from Nate, check out his archive and read through our Eagles articles for the latest news about the Birds.
