The Eagles ran the pace car into the red with a scorching 21-0 start at AT&T Stadium Sunday before limping to a finish line marked by a Brandon Aubrey 42-yard field goal as time expired.
When Philadelphia’s players walked off the field at Jerry Jones’ palace just outside Dallas, they were looking up at a scoreboard that read 24-21 Cowboys, a collapse that was the largest of the decade for the Eagles and matched Dallas’ largest bounce back in franchise history.
While there will be plenty of hand-wringing in the coming days, a season-high 14 penalties, and the perception that the Eagles’ offensive coaches took their collective foot off the gas pedal are the most obvious narratives as Philadelphia fell to 8-3 and from the No. 1 seed in the NFC with its first loss since Oct. 9 at the New York Giants.
“I didn’t think so,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said when asked about laying up. “…We’re always trying to be a balanced attack. So I just think, we have to look at ourselves and look at the schemes, look at the execution and see what the issues were. We just weren’t very efficient as an offense in the second half. I didn’t feel we took our foot off the gas.”
Here’s the weekly stock market for the Eagles:
THE WEATHER – After two consecutive games playing in challenging environments, the Eagles got to play in the climate-controlled atmosphere of AT&T Stadium. That was expected to be positive for the offenses and more of a test of what had been a lights-out defense for Philadelphia.
To say that sentiment came to fruition was an understatement. The Eagles generated 339 yards of total offense and allowed 473 yards.
THE BEARS
SAQUON – After an other-worldly 2024 season, Saquon Barkley’s sequel has been ordinary, hitting a new low in North Texas with 22 yards in 10 carries and a crippling fumble in the fourth quarter with the Eagles’ driving and threatening to regain the lead in a 21-21 game.
“I’m not playing well. I’ve got to play better. That’s really it,” Barkley said. “… “I’m a big believer that the run game starts with me and ends with me. I’m in a little funk right now. I’ve had funks before. Just got to break it. Only way I know how is by flushing this, working my butt off, and get ready for the next opportunity.”
PENALTIES – The final numbers for the Eagles were a season-high 14 penalties for 96 yards, many of them of the pre-snap variety. Sirianni consistently preaches to “master the things that take no talent,” something the Eagles have seemingly not been able to accomplish too often this season.
“Uncharacteristic of us, obviously,” Sirianni said when asked about the penalty issues. “You have to put that on me. When it’s stuff like that we spend time going over, obviously I got to get my message across better. That’s got to be on me. We’ll fix the things we need to fix technique-wise, look-wise, but we’ve got to master the things that require no talent.”
SECONDARY INJURIES – The Eagles lost three starters in the secondary during the game with cornerback Adoree’ Jackson dropping out first with a potential concussion, safety Reed Blankenship leaving with a thigh issue and then Drew Mukuba leaving late with a lower leg injury that required a boot.
In a short week with Chicago coming to Lincoln Financial Field on Black Friday there is concern all three will not be able to answer the bell for the Bears.
The Eagles used Cooper DeJean outside at CB with Michael Carter handling the slot with Sydney Brown taking over for Blankenship on the back end. Mukuba was hurt so late it didn’t factor in to the solutions moving forward.
If Brown and Carter have to start at safety against the Bears, the CBs would likely be Quinyon Mitchell and Kelee Ringo outside and DeJean back in the slot.
George Pickens ate the Eagles’ secondary alive with nine receptions on nine targets for 146 yards and a touchdown.
DAUNTING DAK – Dallas QB Dak Prescott came into Sunday’s game 160 passing yards shy of moving past Tony Romo as the Cowboys’ all-time leader, but Prescott passing that and compiling statistics was the least of the Eagles’ worries.
Prescott is now 7-1 as a starting quarterback against the Eagles at home and 22-2 overall against NFC East divisional opponents in Arlington. The last time he lost a home divisional game was 2017.
STATEMENTS – The Cowboys came into this game with no wins against a team with a winning record and finally got one against the NFC East leaders to improve to 5-5-1 and keep playoff hope alive.
PAVING NO LANES – The Eagles are now 12-24 in games future Hall of Fame right tackle Lane Johnson has missed since the beginning of the 2016 season.
That’s bad news because Johnson is expected to miss a few more weeks with Lisfranc sprain.
KELLY GREEN – This is the first game the Eagles’ lost in their Kelly Green uniforms since bringing them back in 2023. Philadelphia came in 5-0 wearing their fan base’s preferred uni.
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