The Cowboys are a mess right now.
The Dallas Cowboys, without Dak Prescott, fell 34-6 to their division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s frustrating because you can see traces of what the Cowboys can do once they’re healthy. They buckled down in the red zone for most of the first half and prevented the Eagles from running up the score. Unfortunately, the Cowboys couldn’t capitalize on Philadelphia’s mistakes and were chasing points until the final whistle. The loss keeps the Cowboys winless at home and sends them to 3-6 for third place in the NFC East. It’s time to accept that a season is slipping away with each passing week. Here are three reasons. among others, that the Cowboys were soundly beaten at home again.
Losing the turnover battle and not capitalizing on their chances
It could have been a game-changer when Micah Parsons forced a fumble on Jalen Hurts to set the offense up inside the Eagles’ 10-yard line. Unfortunately, Dallas couldn’t take that chance and punch it into the end zone. After the takeaway, the Cowboys netted one yard of offense. Their first play on the series was a three-yard gain from Ezekiel Elliott. Then, it was followed by an incomplete pass to a wide-open CeeDee Lamb, who couldn’t see the pass because the sun was in his eyes, which has been a distraction for years at home for the Cowboys. Finally, Rico Dowdle had a two-yard loss before the Cowboys had to settle for another field goal. This sequence returned to haunt the Cowboys as Philadelphia scored a touchdown just before the half to take a pivotal 14-6 lead.
Dallas fumbled four times and lost each of them. Cooper Rush’s first fumble came after a stellar defensive drive by the Cowboys to force the Eagles to punt after a few terrific plays by DeMarvion Overshown, including a sack on Jalen Hurts. Rush took the snap in the Pistol formation and took his eyes off the ball before being unable to wrestle it back from the Eagles’ defense. It’s a shame because not only did the play appear to be well-blocked for Dowdle, but Philadelphia scored on their drive to notch the game’s first points.
However, the biggest fumble of the afternoon was from Elliott. Remember, Elliott has been voicing his concerns about his role in the offense and had been disciplined because of a repeated pattern of tardiness for meetings. The team had moved past that and was willing to oblige Elliott and put him in a position where he would be most beneficial to the team. Instead, Elliott fumbled the ball into the end zone after 13 13-play series that took over six minutes, squandering the offense’s longest sustained drive. The Cowboys shot themselves in the foot too often to give themselves a fighting chance.
Cooper Rush’s 45-yard stinker
There’s a cliff-like dropoff in going from Dak Prescott to Cooper Rush, but no one could have imagined how poorly Rush would look. Rush is an eight-year veteran and has started games for Dallas before. Therefore, it’s puzzling how bad he was against the Eagles. The protection was sometimes solid, and Rush had moments where he could have stood in the pocket and made some throws. Replacement starter Asim Richards did favorably well in place of the injured Tyler Guyton. Rush attempted 23 passes and only had 45 yards for a QBR of 16.5. As to why Rush was so Inefficient, look at his passing chart.
Rush wasn’t anywhere as aggressive as he needed to be or had been in the past. He settled for too many short throws and didn’t push the ball to the first-down markers. When he did push it downfield, he was wildly inaccurate. Again, it feels out of character for Rush because we’ve seen him be more assertive and accurate in attacking defenses.
When Rush did take a shot deep, he missed a throw to Lamb, who was behind a hobbled Darius Slay, but Rush underthrew the pass. If Rush hopes to continue to give Dallas the best chance to win, he’ll have to be less opposed to riskier throws. There are expectations on Rush, and there will be more pressure to improve if he hopes to calm the overtures for Trey Lance. Another loss and abysmal performance, and Rush would likely be on thin ice moving forward.
Not keeping Jalen Hurts in the pocket
Playing against the Eagles, you know you’re in for a challenge containing the mobility of Jalen Hurts. For a time, Dallas fared well and kept him in the pocket with all four rushers meeting at the quarterback. However, Dallas made the mistake of allowing Hurts to extend plays off schedule and it cost them dearly. First, as a rusher, Hurts had 56 yards on seven carries, including a back-breaking 24-yard scramble to set Philadelphia up in the red zone before the break. On the same drive, Hurts was able to evade Overshown on a blitz as a free rusher and threw a strike to Dallas Goedert for the touchdown. In the second half, Dallas again let Hurts bail the pocket in the red zone, this time finding Johnny Wilson to take a 21-6. Dallas’ inability to contain Hurts is disappointing because they essentially held Saquon Barkley in check but weren’t prepared for what Hurts did with his legs.