Never in Doubt - 24 Immediate Takeaways from Eagles 26, Cowboys 17
It was never in doubt.
Yeah, that third quarter was super shitty, but this is what the Eagles have done all season long. They start fast and play well, fall asleep coming out of the locker room, and then buckle down in the fourth quarter, make plays, and win the game. They’re undefeated at 6-0 and they continue to find ways to get it done.
You didn’t really think they were gonna lose to Cooper Rush, did you? Not that we were taking the Cowboys lightly, because we weren’t, but you gotta have confidence in the boys playing at home on prime time. The Eagles were the better team by record and better team on paper. If you believed all of those things as we did, then this is pretty much the result we all should have expected – a close, scrappy, tough game against a hated divisional rival.
Enjoy the win. Bask in it. We only get a couple of chances to beat the cockroaches each year, and this one capped off an incredible weekend in Philadelphia sports.
The takeaways:
1) Jill Biden was booed before the game. What gives? She’s a Birds fan. I thought we were neutral on FLOTUS. Maybe people have had enough of her husband, but we’re not gonna get political here:
FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden gets booed. Being an "Eagles fan" didn't save her #DALvsPHI
— John McMullen (@JFMcMullen) October 17, 2022
2) Appreciate Jordan Mailata shouting out “Jeff Stoutland University” in his intro:
Jordan Mailata: Jeff Stoutland University pic.twitter.com/CISjfbGT1C
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) October 17, 2022
3) Not a great opening series for Jalen Hurts. He threw a Donovan McNabb-inspired worm burner on the first play, took a sack, and then on third down missed A.J. Brown, who was open. But after that, he played a smooth first half, throwing for a couple of touchdowns and building a 20-point lead for his team. He finished 15-25 for 155 yards, and that big 3rd down conversion with his legs on the fourth quarter drive really put a lot of people at ease. He was the better quarterback on the night.
4) They did the Geno’s and Pat’s cheesesteak bump shot going to the very first commercial break. We get the same cutaways every single time the Eagles play on national TV. Cheesesteaks, Rocky statue, William Penn, etc. We got the ubiquitous Mike Trout shot as well. You’d think there is nothing else in the city besides those things. Oh yeah, we also saw Meek Mill twice.
5) The Eagles can do better than Arryn Siposs. Not sure why they didn’t at least bring in some competition this summer.
6) Seven passes and two runs to start the game, with a couple of RPOs in there as well, so it wasn’t as heavily skewed to the pass as you’d think on the first two drives. Still, I thought they might try to establish the run on the first two drives, since Dallas was a little weaker in that portion of the game. They had 134 on the ground prior to the final drive, so overall they did do some damage there once they got the gears grinding.
7) No issue honestly with the 3rd and 5 run on the second drive. You knew you were in 4-down territory there, and they went play action on the ensuing sequence and moved the sticks. Nice job here to option off Micah Parsons and make the correct read:
execution here is perfect. Micah Parsons is the option read, but look at Lane Johnson and DeVonta Smith: pic.twitter.com/GDDDSStkC2
— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) October 17, 2022
They ran the same thing again for the second touchdown, and had a lot of success leaving Parsons unblocked and letting Hurts read him over and over again. Keep feeding the pig, yeah? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. They were optioning Parsons all night long, to great effect:
The Eagles put Micah Parsons in conflict using a run-pass option, setting up A.J. Brown for a 15-yard TD reception.
Brown had a 99.9% chance of gaining a first down when he caught the ball and a 40.7% chance of scoring a TD.#DALvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/ODrdvE7o51
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 17, 2022
8) The Birds continue to show interesting short-yardage looks. Last week we had that Power-I/pistol/rugby scrum looking monstrosity, and on the second drive, plus that fourth quarter scoring drive, they pushed the pile using a deployment that looked like the way you take a knee at the end of the game:
9) Can’t believe Dante Fowler jumped into the neutral zone on fourth down. That’s a Derek Barnett and Andrew Sendejo level of dumbassery.
10) Cooper Rush threw three picks in this game after throwing zero this entire season. Give the defense some credit, because everyone was talking about Dallas coming into this game, but as we pointed out earlier this week, the Birds were right up there on paper in every meaningful statistical category.
11) Dallas going for it on 4th and 1 in their own territory, down 14 in the second quarter? That was an appalling decision, but it’s Mike McCarthy, so we shouldn’t be surprised.
12) Not exactly sure what the Eagles were going for on that failed 3rd down on the 4th drive. There was orbit motion pre-snap, but DeMarcus Lawrence played it well. Hurts didn’t have anywhere to go and shoveled it over to Quez Watkins for a loss instead.
13) I was eating Tostitos with the Cheesy Enchilada Dip during this game. The dip is really good, you should try it.
14) Good thing Mailata was healthy for this game, because when Lane Johnson went out, they had Jack Driscoll available to deputize on the right side. Not sure where they would have gone if Driscoll had to start on the left, sans Mailata and Andre Dillard. Maybe Sua Opeta kicking out to tackle or something? Honestly, no idea. They needed Opeta to come in at guard anyway. Could have gotten ugly there.
15) Nice Dallas drive to open the third. They got Cooper Rush moving a bit, ran some play action, bootleg, stuff like that. He was getting out of the pocket and finding some space. There was a moment where Chauncey Gardner-Johnson went down and I was thinking to myself, “these motherfuckers better not make a game of this.” Sure enough, Zeke Elliott punched it in a few plays later and it was game on.
16) Parsons has to be thrilled that that unsportsmanlike conduct didn’t come back to bite him in the ass. 3rd and 10 right there, gave the Eagles a fresh set of downs instead, which Hurts did nothing with. Could have been a HUGE moment in the game.
17) The no-call on the Tony Pollard block in the back? Looked like Dallas guy extended the arms to me. Not sure what the discussion was all about there:
???? pic.twitter.com/wYLoapNLfi
— Green Light with Chris Long (@greenlight) October 17, 2022
18) 15 plays, 93 yards on that second Dallas touchdown drive. The Eagles had them in 2nd and 14, 2nd and 9, 2nd and 9 – basically a bunch of situations that they should have chained into another stop, and then 3rd and long. They just couldn’t put together two good sequences in a row there.
19) lol
I’m sorry, what did he just say? #SNFonNBC #Eagles pic.twitter.com/qq0HLk0eDn
— nick (@nukRBCFHPod) October 17, 2022
20) Very interesting sequence there with Trevon Diggs getting the unsportsmanlike conduct after the Eagles touchdown. It pushed them right up to the end zone, and so they decided to go for two in an attempt to extend the lead to 11 instead of 10. They didn’t get it, but it was the right thinking there if you go by the analytics. Hindsight says they probably should have just put Hurts under center and pounded it over the goal line. I’m sure Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen will be asked about it this week.
21) Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Melissa Stark on prime time. I’ve always been a Tirico fan, but something about his big play calls leaves me feeling… empty? Like I want more? Needs more oomph on his TD calls. I’m not sure how to explain it. He does a great job otherwise, but I need him to lose his shit at least once on an interception or touchdown.
22) If you’re one of those boners who was just sitting there waiting to tweet negative shit when Dallas began to figure it out, do us all of a favor and log off. There are too many douchebags who would rather “keep the receipts” and be right instead of watching their team win. Get a life, you wet blankets.
23) Only two penalties on the Eagles all game long. You do that while going +3 in turnover margin, and you’re not gonna lose.
24) fucking Go Birds