I didn't see this coming, and I don't think many people did (somehow Dallas was only a three point favorite). I wrote all week that a bounce back effort was not only reasonable but possibly to be expected, and yet Philly went out and got themsevles blasted by their hated rivals. As I wrote on Friday, Philly still has their destiny in their own hands but it certainly doesn't look as of tonight like they're capable of doing anything with it. I call this the worst loss ever (or at least the worst loss over the last few years), not just because of the scoring margin but more because they had the benefit of the wake up call they had the week prior, even more because it's yet another bad loss in Dallas, but most of all because this was an Eagles team that was supposed to contend.
Other than the 33-13 final score, here's all you really need to know:
Three lost fumbles, all in Dallas territory, including two in the red zone.
Five dropped passes (by my count), including a sure touchdown and another that would have set up the Birds deep in the red zone.
Dallas went 3-for-3 on their meaningful red zone possessions, Philly went 0-for-2 (and failed to score a TD on two more trips inside the 30).
Ten accepted penalties for 95 yards.
Ten successful 3rd and 4th down coversions allowed.
The cherry on top is that, once again, the defense didn't show up. I know the second half looked a lot better, mostly due to the scoop-and-score, but the game was all but lost in the first half where Dallas was able to score on all four possessions. The Eagles went five full quarters without stopping an opponent one time. Not good enough by a wide margin.
This team has a lot of soul searching to do, from Nick to the rest of the coaching staff to Jalen (who didn't have a great game but as mentioned didn't get much help), to the recievers to the entire defense. There's still time to get right but the Birds have earned every one of the lump that they'll take this coming week.
I think that's all I have the heart to say tonight; more to come later in the week.
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