What happened?
A late touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Miles Austin pushed the Dallas Cowboys past the Eagles and into first place in the NFC East in a very ugly game.
The Good:
LeSean McCoy looked solid, rushing for 54 yards on 13 carries and catching five passes for 61 yards.
The run defense was good for most of the night, allowing just 76 yards on 23 carries for the game.
The Bad:
DeSean Jackson was held to two catches for 29 yards.
Jeremy Maclin wasn't much better, catching three passes for 44 yards, and having a pass bounce off his helmet that ended up being an interception for Dallas.
Sheldon Brown had an interception in the game, but was burned badly by Miles Austin on the game winning 49 yard touchdown pass.
The Ugly:
Donovan McNabb had his worst game of the year, completing just 16 of 30 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions. However, most of his incomplete passes were either in the dirt or overthrown.
Moise Fokou nullified two big plays: a kickoff return by Ellis Hobbs and an interception return by Sheldon Brown, with penalties.
Andy Reid wasted two timeouts in the second half on bad challenges. Time management, anyone?
The Breakdown:
After looking like one of the top teams in the NFC a week ago with a beatdown of the Giants, the Eagles came out last night and laid an egg against the Dallas Cowboys. With the loss, the Eagles move into second place, a game behind Dallas, while the Giants have slid into third place and the Redskins are...the Redskins. That's not the point right now, though. The point is that the Eagles lost an ugly, ugly game by both teams, and while it's not time to overreact yet, it always sucks to lose to the Cowboys.
Last week, the offense looked like it couldn't be stopped. This week, the Eagles showed how much they actually miss Brian Westbrook, as the Cowboys were able to take advantage of LeSean McCoy in a few situations. McCoy had a good game, but he couldn't pick up the blitz like Westbrook can, and the threat of the big play wasn't there as much as it is when Westbrook is in the backfield. Without that threat back there, the Cowboys could focus more on the passing game, and when they were able to shut down DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin, they stopped Donovan McNabb.
Of course, McNabb did all he could to help the Cowboys out, too. Early in the first quarter, McNabb was 0-4 with an interception, meaning he had completed more passes to the Cowboys than he had to his own receivers. Many of his passes were either in the dirt or simply uncatchable, and the play of the wideouts suffered in kind. I'm not blaming him for the first interception: that was Maclin's fault for having the ball bounce off his helmet. However, there were other times in the game where he had players open and just simply missed them. It wasn't always a case of the pass rush, but it was vintage Donovan. After he gets hit a few times, he gets happy feet, and he keeps them for the rest of the game. If he doesn't have confidence in his offensive line, he's going to throw the ball quickly, and that's what happened last night. McNabb was sacked four times, and he wasn't comfortable for most of the night. The Dallas defense did a good job of getting to him and making him like that, and it ended up with two interceptions.
Despite the way McNabb played, the Eagles still had a chance late in the game. However, thanks to some poor clock management, Philadelphia was out of time outs. Andy Reid has never had a good record when it comes to challenging plays, and last night was a perfect example of that. The first challenge, when LeSean McCoy was called down short of the first down line, was a good call by the officials. I'm not sure why Andy challenged that one. McCoy clearly came back to catch the ball, and wasn't touched beyond the first down marker, meaning he was short of the first down. The second challenge, on the other hand, was a bit more interesting. It looked like Donovan McNabb had gotten the first down on the quarterback sneak, but it was called short. Before you jump on the refs for blowing that call, you need to look at the situation. The Eagles had second and third down with just one yard needed to convert, and couldn't get it. It was the same problem as last year, and it had the same result. I don't fault Reid for going for it on fourth down, but I fault him for challenging the play and leaving the Eagles with no timeouts left early in the fourth quarter. Five plays later, the Cowboys scored the winning touchdown, and that was all she wrote.
I'm not going to get on Andy Reid for kicking a field goal on the next Eagle drive. If he went for it in that situation and missed, Dallas would have won regardless. With a field goal, at least the Eagles had a chance with a defensive stop. Of course, the defense couldn't stop Dallas, and they won the game, but that happens in the NFL. The issue I have is with his clock management in the third and early part of the fourth quarter. This was an ugly game that was probably going to be won by the last team that had the ball, and had the Eagles had any timeouts left with ten minutes to go in the fourth quarter, they may have been that team. Instead, they dropped the game to Dallas, who had just enough to get past the birds.
I wouldn't go overboard with this loss, at least not yet. The reason it stings so much is because it was against Dallas. Had it been just against any random team, it would have hurt, but not nearly as much. The Eagles lost a close game to a team that has usually played them close over the last decade. It's bound to happen that they lose a game like this. The most important thing is not to overreact and get ready for the Chargers next week. San Diego is a good team, and any mistakes against them will lead to problems. Donovan is going to have to get himself together, and Brian Westbrook needs to play for the Eagles to do well on Sunday.
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