The Philadelphia Eagles had a complete collapse in their game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, and star quarterback Jalen Hurts issued a challenge to his teammates afterward.
The Eagles looked like they were going to cruise to an easy win over Dallas after they jumped out to a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Hurts connected with wide receiver A.J. Brown on a 16-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and then had a pair of rushing scores on Philadelphia’s next two drives. It was all downhill from there.
Dallas scored a touchdown on a pass from Dak Prescott to George Pickens with 21 seconds left in the first half, which cut the deficit to 21-7. The Eagles’ offense then went completely stagnant, with five punts, a missed field goal and a lost fumble on their seven drives in the second half.
Philadelphia’s issues on offense allowed the Cowboys to come from behind and beat their NFC East rivals 24-21.
Jalen Hurts has a message for the Eagles
While the Eagles are 8-3 and remain in strong position to make another postseason run, the loss validated some of the concerns about their offense. Hurts said he and his teammates need to use the result as motivation.
“You look inward first,” Hurts told reporters, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “Looking at the things we can control from a penalty standpoint, an execution standpoint, those are all things we control. I don’t point towards how we adjusted or what we did or didn’t do. In the end, we had an opportunity to win the game and we didn’t. We’ve got to own this one, let it light a fire in us as a team and stay together and move forward.”
As Hurts mentioned, penalties were also an issue for the Eagles. They were called for 14 in total, which was a significant factor in the outcome of the game.
Nick Sirianni is facing another challenge
Even with the Eagles coming off a Super Bowl win and looking like one of the best teams in the NFC, head coach Nick Sirianni has once again had to navigate some choppy waters. Brown has been openly frustrated with Philadelphia’s offense all season, and a recent report suggested he is not the only one.
Hurts completed 27-of-39 passes for 289 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions against Dallas. Brown had a big game with eight catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Still, it was not enough. That is a concern for the Eagles no matter how you look at it.
The Eagles should be 9-2 and in complete control in the NFC East. Instead, they have given the Cowboys life and magnified the concerns about themselves. Sirianni and Hurts will have to find a way to help the team quickly move past all of that with a Friday afternoon game awaiting against the Chicago Bears.
