December 10, 2023
The Eagles will be angling for yet another double-digit comeback, as they head into halftime trailing the Cowboys 24-6 in prime time. Here's what I've seen so far in this one. Be sure to stay tuned for my final observations at the game's end.
Let's get after it...
• Special teams coordinator Michael Clay dialed up a big trick play down in Texas. With the vibes in the gutter and the Eagles railing 10-0 early in the second quarter, punter Braden Mann faked a punt and threw a pass to Olamide Zaccheaus for a 28-yard gain that briefly shifted momentum:
🚨 Fake punt 🚨
— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2023
📺: #PHIvsDAL on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/YCEDNi5Ozb pic.twitter.com/EhChllFeu0
Nick Sirianni's decision-making was too conservative in their horrific loss to San Francisco. The Birds needed to shake things up, they did and the drive resulted in a 52-yard Jake Elliott for three badly needed points.
• There isn't much else to be positive about to be perfectly honest.
Time for the bad stuff!
• The Eagles' defense was methodically sliced up on the game's opening drive. With the newly acquired Shaq Leonard nowhere to be seen (he didn't see his first Eagles snaps until the second quarter), Dallas ran for five yards on a whopping nine yards per carry. Dallas found their way into the end zone on a 13-yard toss from Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb. A flag was thrown on the play initially, and it appeared that there may have been a hold among the Cowboys' offensive linemen, but it was picked up and the score stood.
It was the seventh consecutive drive this Eagles' defense allowed a touchdown, dating back to last week's stinker against the 49ers.
Coming into Sunday, Lamb had had 38 catches for 582 yards (15.3 yards per catch) and three TDs against the Birds in seven career games. He's played like a top-five wideout in 2023 and is perhaps the biggest single thorn in the Eagles' side in the league currently.
• Jalen Hurts looked the best he had so far this season as an athlete on the Birds' first drive. On the team's second play from scrimmage, a designed run picked up 11 yards. On a must-have third and 16, Hurts moved through pressure in the pocket and fired a 30-yard strike to DeVonta Smith.
He looked to be on the wavelength yet again, sprinting up field 11 yards in Dallas territory, but he proceeded to fumble on a hit from Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson. This was no Clete Blakeman scenario. The ball was clearly out and in the hands of the Cowboys. That's disastrous with how this Eagles defense has looked.
Hurts had just eight total turnovers (INTs and fumbles recovered by the opposition) in the 2022 regular season. That was his 15th so far in the 2023 campaign.
His fumble was rough, but Hurts has been slinging the ball over the field in Arlington. There have been multiple missed opportunities for both Smith and A.J. Brown so far. Again, the turnover count is too high for Hurts in 2023, but his arm has been good in Week 14.
• Prescott had a 9-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio in his last three games against the Eagles entering this game. He's already thrown two touchdowns on the board in an evening that could look like a full-on blowout shortly.
• The Eagles look simply gassed. It's a week-to-week league. That's not a pass for this performance when it's Dallas in prime time, nor is for the 49ers debacle, but this gauntlet stretch is clearly taking its toll. The 49ers played them on 10 days' rest. The Cowboys are doing the same now. The defense was immediately winded on Dallas' opening drive and it continued right on through the half.
• Lane Johnson had a bloody nose after an illegal hands to the face penalty against Micah Parsons in the first quarter:
Lane Johnson has a bloody nose pic.twitter.com/gof73blJp4
— DIE-HARD 🦅 Fans (@Eaglesfans9) December 11, 2023
He was channeling massive John Ritchie enegy.
• Social media is ablaze with the officiating so far. I can't say that I blame Eagles fans. This take from famed sportswriter Mike Lupica is pretty blunt:
There has never been officiating this bad or this intrusive in the history of the league.
— Mike Lupica (@MikeLupica) December 11, 2023
Eagles all-time leading rusher LeSean McCoy is not a fan of Birds linebacker Nicholas Morrow:
How in the HELL IS #41 n the NFL????
— LeSean Shady Mccoy (@CutonDime25) December 11, 2023
Morrow had an atrocious outing against the 49ers that will go down in infamy with this fan base.
• "The Eagles are still 10-2. It doesn't feel like it," NBC's Mike Tirico said shortly before kickoff. After 30 minutes at AT&T Stadium, it sure as hell doesn't.
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