January 01, 2017
On New Year's Day, the Philadelphia Eagles are playing for the final time of the 2016 season against the Dallas Cowboys in a completely meaningless professional football game. The Eagles, who are out of the playoffs and don't own their own draft pick, have nothing to play for. The Cowboys, who have locked up home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, also have nothing to play for.
Despite all of this, they're going to play the game and we're going to analyze it.
The Cowboys (and Tony Romo) had some impressive moments, but a late Zach Ertz touchdown tied the game at 10 as the teams head to the locker room. Here's what I saw in the first half:
• Carson Wentz set an NFL rookie record with 355 completions, which is kind of cool. The previous record holder was the guy he took over for a week before the season started, Sam Bradford.
• Take THAT, Kempski:
And there it was! Zach Ertz breaks his first tackle of the season. (Seriously).
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) January 1, 2017
Zach Ertz makes a defender miss and everyone in the box turned to look at @JimmyKempski
— TURRON DAVENPORT (@TDavenport_NFL) January 1, 2017
Like in past years, Ertz is playing well at the end of the season. He finished the half with five catches for 48 yards and the touchdown just before halftime.
• Jordan Hicks' two interceptions admittedly came against Mark Sanchez, but that guy is developing a reputation as a Cowboy killer:
Oh dear... #FlyEaglesFly https://t.co/dAnNlRL5Jl
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2017
Jordan Hicks can't stop picking off passes against Dallas.#FlyEaglesFly https://t.co/E2Vib6qCYf
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 1, 2017
• It appears as if Eric Dickerson's rookie rushing record is safe, as Dallas gave Ezekiel Elliott the entire afternoon off. No need to add on to Elliott's 354 touches on the season.
For the most part, though, Dallas did play its starters through the first half...
• Which led to Dak Prescott getting planted into the ground by Malcolm Jenkins:
Jenkins comes on the blitz and forces the incompletion on 3rd down to hold the Cowboys to a FG, which makes it 3-3 @AdrianFedkiw pic.twitter.com/fFLtscKfn3
— Philly Influencer (@PHL_Influencer) January 1, 2017
That play ended the rookie's afternoon after a couple of drives, and gave us what we all came to see we were at least mildly interested in: Tony Romo's first NFL action of the season.
• More than anything, the Eagles are looking to stay healthy in this game. Nelson Agholor, nearing a personal milestone, had to leave with an ankle injury.
• Wentz had a nice first drive in moving the Eagles into the red zone for a field goal, but he made some poor decisions and inaccurate throws the rest of the half. The rookie finished 12-21 for 87 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
• Romo and Terrence Williams absolutely toyed with Nolan Carroll on this touchdown pass:
Tony Romo's 1st TD pass of the season?
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2017
Absolutely PERFECT. #DallasCowboys https://t.co/d3fRPAuqKU
Romo played one drive, and it was an impressive one. He marched the Cowboys down the field, finishing 3-4 for 29 yards and that TD throw. Playing behind Dallas' offensive line is almost like playing a different sport than every other QB in the league, but without Tyron Smith in the game, the Eagles were unable to muster much pressure at all on that particular drive:
TONY!@tonyromo finds @TerranceWill2 for a gain of 16! #DallasCowboys https://t.co/k6W9nEG5hA
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2017
From there, it was the Sanchize's game.
• It really is amazing that whenever Wentz buys time by escaping pressure and getting outside the pocket, no receiver is usually even close to open. Sometimes he buys his receivers 10 seconds, and they still can't find an angle and create a throwing lane for the rookie.
You may have already heard this, but the Eagles kind of need to upgrade their receivers in the offseason.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
