The Eagles shot themselves in the foot about 39 times before actually pulling through and beating a dreadful Cowboys team. Regardless, they are riding a 2-game win streak into a much-needed bye. Here are the players who shined and the ones who made us whine last night.
Eagles Standouts
T.J Edwards
With Nate Gerry injured and T.J Edwards returning, Schwartz had no choice but to give the former UDFA extended playing time and boy, did he make it count. Edwards led the team in tackles, forced a critical fumble and rallied to a QB hit and TFL as well.
Edwards wasn’t perfect, but nobody was that game. He was. however, about as solid as one could’ve possibly asked for.
Travis Fulgham & Jalen Reagor
Travis Fulgham is a stud. There’s no hiding behind ‘it’s a fluke’ takes anymore, no worrying about keeping up. Fulgham now has over 70 yards in four straight games and has found the endzone in four of his last five. W. R. !.
As for Jalen Reagor, fans were treated to another dose of the team’s first-round pick. Reagor caught his first NFL touchdown against the team’s most-hated rival and showed some dynamic ability with the ball in his hands, breaking tackles on a screen for a first down. We still need to see more, but for his first game back, this was a nice step forward.
Defensive line
Fletcher Cox finally had the type of game we expect him to have on a regular basis. Army crawls, a sack, and 2 tackles for loss saw Cox step up when the team needed him most.
Brandon Graham’s carer-year continues as the hype surrounding an elusive pro-bowl nod begins to build. Graham now has 7 sacks in 8 weeks and has been an absolute game-changer for the Birds this season, wreaking havoc at every turn. His forced fumble early last night was no exception.
Darius Slay
Darius Slay shut down Amari Cooper, big time. Cooper had 1 reception for 5 yards after Slay exited the game prematurely with injury. It’s still surreal to see a lockdown corner in the secondary, but he isn’t getting the praise he deserves right now. Slay is balling out week after week.
Strikeouts
Carson Wentz
You simply cannot throw 3 interceptions against that defense and fumble a further two times and not expect some kind of backlash. Wentz was terrible for the most part outside of a few throws that provided flashbacks to the QB of old. It’s not good enough. It’s on Wentz every week and it’s on the coaching staff for not ironing out glaring mistakes that repeat so often.
Doug Pederson
The play-calling has been predictable and poor. Pederson’s only usage of Jalen Hurts comes on zone-reads in the red zone, and Dallas Goedert, a second-round pick with debatable franchise tight end potential, gets one target all game. I won’t even mention Mailata at RT. It’s just as much on Doug as it is Wentz. The entire offensive coaching staff simply has to be better. They have shown little to no improvement all season long.
Offensive line
Both interior guards struggled massively, Jason Peters was Jason Peters, and Jordan Mailata somehow stopped a monumental collapse. The Eagles o-line still cannot pass protect to save their lives and run-blocking only seems to work laterally. There is a very clear ceiling on the remains of a once heralded offensive front…and it’s low.
