Rare collapse, familiar problems: 5 takeaways from Eagles-Cowboys a day later

The Eagles played their first season in 1933. They have played 1,371 games in their franchise’s history. They accomplished something in that they have only done four times on Sunday: blow a 21-point lead.

For the first time since Andy Reid‘s head coaching debut on opening day in 2000, the Eagles bungled a 21-point advantage. Not just did they conduct this, but it happened in Dallas, featuring inexcusable executions and misfortunes.

The Eagles led 21-0 in the second quarter, and somehow lost 24-21 to the Cowboys, falling to 8-3 on the season.

It was a catastrophe. It was a nightmare. It was embarrassing.

Some of these issues are new; a lot are not.

Here are my five takeaways a day after the loss:

1. SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS are what scarred the Eagles most Sunday evening. They were penalized 14 times for 96 yards, the most since Nick Sirianni’s first game as head coach. On top of that, they turned the ball over twice, both at perhaps the worst possible moments.

Here are all 16 penalties against the Eagles (two of them did not stand; they either were offsetting or declined):

• Q1: Illegal contact: Nakobe Dean
• Q1: False start: Fred Johnson
• Q2: Offensive holding: Tyler Steen
• Q2: False start: Cam Jurgens
• Q2: Illegal motion on special teams: Sydney Brown
• Q3: Illegal formation on offense
• Q3: Running into kicker: Cameron Latu
• Q3: Illegal block above the waist: Joshua Uche
• Q3: Too many men on defense (offset)
• Q3: Defensive pass interference: Quinyon Mitchell
• Q3: Defensive pass interference: Cooper DeJean (declined)
• Q3: Defensive pass interference: Kelee Ringo
• Q4: Offensive pass interference: DeVonta Smith
• Q4: False start: A.J. Brown
• Q4: Illegal use of hands: Johnson
• Q4: Player out of bounds on kick: Ringo

The game turned for the worse when the Eagles started stacking the penalties. They were called for nine fouls in the second half. Nine.

“Uncharacteristic of us, obviously,” Sirianni said postgame. “Always put that on me. If there’s stuff like that, that we spend time going over, obviously I have to get my message across better. That’s gotta be on me. We’ll fix the things that we need to fix technique-wise and look-wise. We have to master the things that require no talent and that’s always going to be on me when something like that happens.”

Not just did these penalties impair, but a fair number of them negated big offensive gains. The defensive too-many-men penalty, which offset, took away an interception. The illegal formation negated a 20-yard Dallas Goedert reception. The OPI took away an 8-yard Goedert completion. The illegal use of hands took away a 16-yard gain for Smith and led to Saquon Barkley‘s fumble on the very next play.

Penalties have been a problem all season for the Eagles, most of them before the snap, however. But when you look at all of these, you see too many men on defense, false starts, illegal formations, among others. That cannot happen. That is undisciplined, losing football. That comes from the top.

The Eagles even lost the turnover battle. Barkley lost a fumble, ending a promising drive, and Xavier Gipson made that idiotic one, fielding a punt he should have let skip into the endzone down the stretch. Dallas may not have scored on them, but the Eagles shot themselves in the foot.

It is the little things that can make a team slip. A typically clean Eagles team played an ugly brand of football Sunday evening. It cost them the game.

2. AT A CERTAIN POINT in games, the Eagles’ offensive playcalling becomes incredibly soft. When they go up by a certain amount, they become predictable and conservative. The Eagles let teams come back in games, as they did in Dallas.

This offense looked incredible in the first three drives. Touchdown. Tochdown. Touchdown. 21 points, 192 yards, and 12 first downs. And then, they became conservative. The Eagles’ final eight possessions netted 107 yards, seven first downs, and how many points? Zero. How can you go up 21-0 after three drives and then die?

The Eagles’ last three games have featured 10 points against the Packers, 16 against the Lions, and no points over the final 41.5 minutes in Dallas. How do you expect to win like that?

The Eagles’ offense currently ranks 25th in success rate. They are producing a positive play on offense at the same rate as the Jets. This is the lowest success rate an Eagles offense has had through 12 weeks in the last 20 years.

The Eagles had no business losing this game if they operated like a team that tried to win after going up 21-0 instead of just playing not to lose. This happens every week when they have a lead. They play like all that matters is protecting the football at all costs, rather than trying to gain yards and score points. It is a Sirianni philosophy. It is a Sirianni problem. Kevin Patullo is the one calling the plays, and he is a major issue, but Sirianni is the one directing the big-picture in-game strategy.

The frustration should be directed towards Sirianni and Patullo equally.

3. UP BIG CALLS for running the football and chewing clock. Oh, but the Eagles cannot do that.

Barkley had just 10 carries for 22 yards, and once the Eagles took the 21-0 lead early in the second quarter, he had just six carries the rest of the game and no yards. 22 rushing yards is his fewest with the Eagles, and he was held to 2.2 yards per rush.

Barkley is averaging 3.7 yards per rush this year, 42nd among all running backs, and this would match the lowest of his career for a full season.

It is Week 12, and the Eagles still cannot run the ball. Barkley rushed for 2,000 yards just a year ago. Is he just not the same player? Is he in a funk? What in the world is going on?

“I wouldn’t say frustrated. More disappointed in myself,” Barkley said postgame. “Not frustrated with anybody else. 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 like this before. Just gotta break it. The only way I know how is by flushing this, working my butt off, and getting ready for my next opportunity…

“I’m not getting the run game going. I’m not getting yards. I’m tired of the excuse of people trying to stop our run game. I don’t really subscribe to that. It’s gotta be better. Gotta make plays.”

The Eagles have played in 11 games this season and have gone over 200 rushing yards just once. They did that eight times in the regular season last year. And Barkley has gone over 100 yards just once this season.

It is not just Barkley. He is averaging 2.3 yards before contact, 26th among running backs. Last year, he led all backs with 3.8 yards before contact.

“It’s not on Saquon,” Jordan Mailata said. “It’s on all of us. It’s on all of us. You can just watch the film. We always say we’re one block away and as tiring and as repetitive as that is, that is the truth. I’m tired of saying it. But it starts with us. We gotta do a better job of execution. Until we do that, the run game’s not going anywhere.”

Barkley had four rushing attempts in the second half. It is easy to ask for more, but why bother when you are getting nothing out of the run game anyway? Their longest rush of the game was for eight yards, and it was from Tank Bigsby, whose only carry was that one.

This team will go nowhere without a running game. They have to figure it out, fast.

4. THE DEFENSE WAS NOT INADEQUATE. Yes, Dak Prescott threw for 354 yards, and the Cowboys recorded 473 yards, but allowing 24 points in Dallas should be enough to win. The offense just could not stay on the field, and the defense was gassed.

The Eagles produced two more stops big on fourth down, forced two turnovers, and Dean trucked Javonte Williams for another sack.

This defense had to defend 12 possessions, and the secondary was really banged up by the end of the game. Adoree’ Jackson suffered a concussion, Reed Blankenship left the game with a thigh issue, and Andrew Mukuba suffered a fractured leg.

This was a major test for them in a dome against a top offense in the NFL. This is still a great defensive unit, and they are going to have to be with the way this offense is, or else they are not going to win many of their six remaining games.

5. THIS IS A GAME we are going to remember for one of two reasons. Either it will spark a rebound where the offense figures it out, or where the wheels will start to fall off.

The Eagles have a short week ahead of them. They host the Bears on Black Friday, who are also 8-3, have won four in a row, and are third in the NFL with six comeback wins this season.

Remember the 49ers game in 2023? This feels eerily similar. Melancholic reports coming out of the locker room, and you show up flat out on the field, leading to the spiral and collapse of that season.

We will learn a lot about the Eagles on how they respond this week. Hopefully, it is for the better.

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