If you had told me before the game that Dallas was only going to come away with 17 points, I would have said the Eagles had an excellent chance to win. However, I would have been wrong. While the Eagles' defense played arguably its best game of the season, the offense played its worst.
Coming into this game, both the Eagles and the Cowboys had two of the highest scoring teams in the league. Their head-to-head match-up this afternoon, however, wouldn't play out that way. As I said at the outset, the Philly defense played very well, holding the high-powered Cowboys offense to 368 total yards and 17 points. They forced two Tony Romo interceptions, sacked him two other times, batted down five passes, finished with three tackles for a loss, and three more quarterback hits. For as hard as this game was to watch for Eagles fans, it had to have been refreshing to see the defense play so well. It seems as if it's been about a year and a half since I could make such a statement about the Eagles defense. It'll be interesting to see if this was just an aberration or if the improved play continues.
As usual, the special teams aspect of the game was a mixed back for the Eagles. The coverage units were inconsistent. Philly's returners were average. Place kicker Alex Henery was 1 for 2 on field goal attempts. In all fairness to him, though, his miss was from 60 yards toward the end of the first half on a rather perplexing decision by head coach Chip Kelly, since the team faced a 4th and short. Punter Donnie Jones averaged 46.6 yards on 9 punts, which is solid. However, only one of those nine punts was placed inside the 20-yard line.
I've saved the worst for last - the offense. After this performance, I think it's safe to say that if all players are healthy, there isn't a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia. Michael Vick is the starter. While second-year back-up quarterback Nick Foles played very well in the team's win over winless Tampa Bay last week, I have a feeling I could put up decent numbers against the Bucs defense. Last week's performance is but a distant memory now, after Foles' awful performance. He finished the game completing 11 of 29 passes (37.9%) for 80 yards (2.9 ypa, 7.3 ypc) and a quarterback rating of 46.2 (7.5 QBR). He also ran the ball 3 times for 25 yards (8.3 per). I'm not sure I've ever seen an NFL quarterback average just 2.8 yards per attempt after throwing the ball at least 20 times in a game. Foles showcased why Chip Kelly decided to start Michael Vick in the first place. Foles still has to develop a better intermediate- and long-range passing game. He missed several wide open receivers when passes were longer than 10 to 15 yards. It's why his yards per attempt figure is so low. The only passes he could complete were of the 5 to 10 yard variety. He's also not nearly as athletic as Vick, but tried to be so at times, and wound up just getting himself into trouble, being sacked on three separate occasions. While Foles had a very poor showing, he didn't receive much help in the running game. Standout running back LeSean McCoy ran for just 55 yards on 18 carries (3.1 per). As a team, the Eagles ran for just 84 yards on 23 rushes (3.7 per).
Looking for at the offensive numbers from a team perspective, here's how bad the Eagles were on Sunday:
- 4 for 18 on 3rd down (22.2%)
- 278 yards on 75 plays (3.7 per)
- 22 for 49 passing (44.9%) for 194 yards (8.8 ypc and 4.0 ypa)
- 3 turnovers
- 84 rushing yards on 23 carries (3.7 per)
- 23:47 time of possession
Ouch...
There is good news to come from all of this, though. Even with the loss, the Eagles fell to 3-4 and 2-1 against NFC East opponents - just a game back of 4-3 Dallas. If the defense continues to improve and Vick comes back for next week's game, then the Eagles may have as good a chance as anyone to win the East. Philly will face the Giants at home next Sunday and head to Oakland the following Sunday. If they're able to come away with those two games, they'll likely be 5-5 (3-1 in division play) going into their November 17th game against Washington (I have a hard time seeing them winning at Lambeau between their games with Oakland and Washington). Like I said last week, I could really see an 8-8 team winning the East this year. All Philly has to do is play at about .500 and then beat Dallas in their regular season finale. They may need to win these next two to make that a possibility, however.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=331020021
Coming into this game, both the Eagles and the Cowboys had two of the highest scoring teams in the league. Their head-to-head match-up this afternoon, however, wouldn't play out that way. As I said at the outset, the Philly defense played very well, holding the high-powered Cowboys offense to 368 total yards and 17 points. They forced two Tony Romo interceptions, sacked him two other times, batted down five passes, finished with three tackles for a loss, and three more quarterback hits. For as hard as this game was to watch for Eagles fans, it had to have been refreshing to see the defense play so well. It seems as if it's been about a year and a half since I could make such a statement about the Eagles defense. It'll be interesting to see if this was just an aberration or if the improved play continues.
As usual, the special teams aspect of the game was a mixed back for the Eagles. The coverage units were inconsistent. Philly's returners were average. Place kicker Alex Henery was 1 for 2 on field goal attempts. In all fairness to him, though, his miss was from 60 yards toward the end of the first half on a rather perplexing decision by head coach Chip Kelly, since the team faced a 4th and short. Punter Donnie Jones averaged 46.6 yards on 9 punts, which is solid. However, only one of those nine punts was placed inside the 20-yard line.
I've saved the worst for last - the offense. After this performance, I think it's safe to say that if all players are healthy, there isn't a quarterback controversy in Philadelphia. Michael Vick is the starter. While second-year back-up quarterback Nick Foles played very well in the team's win over winless Tampa Bay last week, I have a feeling I could put up decent numbers against the Bucs defense. Last week's performance is but a distant memory now, after Foles' awful performance. He finished the game completing 11 of 29 passes (37.9%) for 80 yards (2.9 ypa, 7.3 ypc) and a quarterback rating of 46.2 (7.5 QBR). He also ran the ball 3 times for 25 yards (8.3 per). I'm not sure I've ever seen an NFL quarterback average just 2.8 yards per attempt after throwing the ball at least 20 times in a game. Foles showcased why Chip Kelly decided to start Michael Vick in the first place. Foles still has to develop a better intermediate- and long-range passing game. He missed several wide open receivers when passes were longer than 10 to 15 yards. It's why his yards per attempt figure is so low. The only passes he could complete were of the 5 to 10 yard variety. He's also not nearly as athletic as Vick, but tried to be so at times, and wound up just getting himself into trouble, being sacked on three separate occasions. While Foles had a very poor showing, he didn't receive much help in the running game. Standout running back LeSean McCoy ran for just 55 yards on 18 carries (3.1 per). As a team, the Eagles ran for just 84 yards on 23 rushes (3.7 per).
Looking for at the offensive numbers from a team perspective, here's how bad the Eagles were on Sunday:
- 4 for 18 on 3rd down (22.2%)
- 278 yards on 75 plays (3.7 per)
- 22 for 49 passing (44.9%) for 194 yards (8.8 ypc and 4.0 ypa)
- 3 turnovers
- 84 rushing yards on 23 carries (3.7 per)
- 23:47 time of possession
Ouch...
There is good news to come from all of this, though. Even with the loss, the Eagles fell to 3-4 and 2-1 against NFC East opponents - just a game back of 4-3 Dallas. If the defense continues to improve and Vick comes back for next week's game, then the Eagles may have as good a chance as anyone to win the East. Philly will face the Giants at home next Sunday and head to Oakland the following Sunday. If they're able to come away with those two games, they'll likely be 5-5 (3-1 in division play) going into their November 17th game against Washington (I have a hard time seeing them winning at Lambeau between their games with Oakland and Washington). Like I said last week, I could really see an 8-8 team winning the East this year. All Philly has to do is play at about .500 and then beat Dallas in their regular season finale. They may need to win these next two to make that a possibility, however.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=331020021
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