In case you missed it, the Philadelphia Eagles suffered their second loss of the season on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, the defeat came at the hands of their division rival, the Dallas Cowboys. While the Cowboys may have temporary bragging rights for tying the season series and stopping the Eagles from clinching the division title as well as the number one seed, here are five things that we learned about the Eagles on Saturday night.
The Brown-Smith combo
For the second game in a row, the Eagles had two wide receivers with more than 100 receiving yards in the game. To no surprise, it was the combination of A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The Eagles have found the recipe that not only works for the offense but it also works for the two wideouts.
Philly has found a way to allow DeVonta Smith to use his speed in open space while also trusting in A.J. Brown’s ability to make catches in traffic. These two will be paired with each other for the next four years which means the show is getting started. They also made franchise history as the only two wide receivers to have over 1,000 receiving yards within the same season.
No Safety Net
The Eagles’ secondary seemed extremely off on Saturday night. Not only did they allow a crucial 52-yard completion on 3rd and 30 but CeeDee Lamb had his way with the secondary as he tallied 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 10 receptions. That hasn’t been the norm for the Eagles’ secondary this season.
It seems that Jonathan Gannon was not able to hide the fact that CJGJ was not playing on Saturday. There were too many disconnects between the corners and safeties which led to several big plays. It also didn’t help that Avonte Maddox had to leave the game due to a toe injury. Maddox’s absence allowed the Cowboys to expose the secondary from the slot position.
Jalen Hurts is the Franchise
If you had any doubts, like Micah Parsons, if it is the team or Jalen Hurts then I would hope that you found your answer on Christmas Eve. While Gardner Minshew played better than expected, the fact of the matter is that Jalen Hurts is a truly special player.
Not only is it his ability to command the huddle but also in his decision-making and the ability to navigate his way through defenses without turning the ball over. Hurts should be the undeniable MVP but unfortunately, that won’t happen due to the mainstream media’s agenda.
Miles Sanders is human
While Miles Sanders has been on a tear this season, he didn’t look like himself on Saturday night. It seemed like he was unable to find his footing at AT&T Stadium. Sanders was stumbling quite a bit and the lost fumble didn’t help.
He’s still a great player though. If we define players by their mistakes then 50% of the league would be terrible and Patrick Mahomes wouldn’t be the new MVP favorite. See what I did there. I’d expect Sanders to have a bounce-back game especially if Hurts is back in the huddle against the Saints.
The Eagles’ pass rush is unstoppable
The Eagles defense has a league-leading 61 sacks so far this season with two weeks left. The NFL record for most sacks by a team in a season is 72 which was done in the 1984 season by the Chicago Bears. Philadelphia needs 11 more to tie the record and 12 more to break it.
They’re facing the Saints and Giants over the next two weeks which means that if they have six sacks in each game then they’ll stamp their names in NFL history. Haason Reddick leads the team with 14 sacks while Josh Sweat follows with 11 and Javon Hargrave follows him with 10. Brandon Graham has 9 sacks which means if he gets one more then the Eagles will be the first team in NFL history with four players on the same team that have 10+ sacks in the same season.
AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez
