Eagles - Cowboys: The Blowout That Wasn't

Stop Doing This Quite So Much

 > After going up 20-3 in the first half and looking like they didn't belong in the same frame with Dallas, the home team came out flat and gave Dallas hope before coming back to form late. Not playing four quarters hasn't cost them yet, but it's still worrisome.

> Injuries change games, and maybe even seasons. Losing your starting LT and S didn't excuse the change in this game, but it did accentuate it. The way to attack this Eagles defense is with patience in the running game. Dallas added tape to that, but it shouldn't be news.

> Really rough night for the refs, and a female one as well, which is just hard to see and will prompt more misogyny from a country that already overloads on it at the buffet. After discussion, a block in the block isn't a block in the back. That's about as bad as it gets.

> DE Brandon Graham with the hit that causes QB Cooper Rush's third pick and the coup de gras. NBC wanted to sell this as a near miss on a Cowboys touchdown and further drama because rooting for Dallas and a close game is where the money is, but assuming that Rush can air it out long and far enough is a bit of a reach, honestly. He's a telegraphing noodle-armed QB, which is to say, he's a backup for reasons.

> When the Eagles needs to end games, they do it with the ground game and it's downright porny. The fact that they can do that against an elite defense with backup linemen is impressive, but it's also kind of where football is now. Speed is more common than power.

> The Eagles need to stop it with the telegraphed QB power sneak / rugby scrum play. Someone's going to get hurt, and that someone can't get hurt. 

> The Dallas defense is for real. Great at pursuit, good at tackling, fast. They didn't really wear down tonight, and they had every reason to. If and when they get an offense, they are a playoff team, but the joy of Dallas is that their general manager is a crazy old man who isn't very good at being a general manager, so they rarely overcome injuries or get better over the course of a season.

> Another joy of hating the Cowboys is that they inevitably hire the village idiot to coach them. Mike McCarthy didn't challenge an obvious first down ball spot mistake, so that he could rush into an ill-advised bootleg on fourth and short deep in his own territory. The fact that this was a game after that still kind of astounds me.

> Would Dallas have won this game with QB Dak Prescott? There's reasons to think it would have been a lot closer -- Rush was telegraphing, bad, and threw three picks in limited attempts, all of which were ill-advised and executed -- but this game shouldn't have been close. They just aren't that good, and the Eagles are.

> The single biggest reason why the Eagles are 6-0 is that their secondary is playing some of the best ball in the history of the laundry. Passes are deflected, picks are made, tackling is usually strong and they make plays when the money is on the table. They also haven't faced a murderer's row of quarterbacks, but this year's schedule doesn't really have one. Besides, the pass rush is good as well, and it makes every QB look worse.

> The Eagles didn't really make their claim to being the best team in the league tonight; only a blowout would have done that, and the offense is still too hit and miss, mostly on their own execution and QB Jalen Hurts being vulnerable to odd man blitzes. It' maddening, because when they are good (like, say, in every second quarter), they are utterly unstoppable and can take their pick of how to beat you with mismatches all over the field. There's going to be a game where they play 3 or 4 quarters at their top level and put up a point a minute, and it won't matter who the opponent is.

But 6-0 is 6-0, and it closed one of the best weekends in the history of Philly sports -- and they get to rest up with a bye. Enjoy it.

> Three unsportsmanlike flags on the Dallas defense tonight, all in the second half. America's team, people. I used to rail against that, but then I used to not be quite so cynical about politics...