Why couldn’t the vaunted Eagles defense stop the Cowboys offense?

[btcutter]

The Eagles defense came into the game as the #1-#3 rated defense depending on what stat you chose. They had been playing lights out all year long. Even after Saturday the Eagles are #2 in yards allowed. They’re #1 in passing yards allowed. They came into this game at full strength defensively. Why couldn’t they stop the Cowboys offense? Please one of you doubters tell me why the best defense in the NFL couldn’t stop the Cowboys offense?

Offense did play well. BUT......

4 TOs by Eagle offense and a miracle 3rd and 30 conversion were the difference.

 

[DripTooHard]

So many Eagles fans in this thread. SMH.

 

[DripTooHard]

Offense did play well. BUT......

4 TOs by Eagle offense and a miracle 3rd and 30 conversion were the difference.

So are we now apologists for the follies of each team that loses to the Cowboys? How many more asterisks will you place on this 11-4 record? Pray tell…

 

[Hadenough]

The Eagles defense came into the game as the #1-#3 rated defense depending on what stat you chose. They had been playing lights out all year long. Even after Saturday the Eagles are #2 in yards allowed. They’re #1 in passing yards allowed. They came into this game at full strength defensively. Why couldn’t they stop the Cowboys offense? Please one of you doubters tell me why the best defense in the NFL couldn’t stop the Cowboys offense?

Because Dak owns the NFC east. It's like you little brother being a great fighter but in your own eyes he is still your little brother and you could kick his ***. Big mental edge.

 

[Doomsday101]

Offense did play well. BUT......

4 TOs by Eagle offense and a miracle 3rd and 30 conversion were the difference.

Cowboys took the ball away 4 times, it is part of the game. Defense made some big plays in the game, had Philly done that I would think they would get praised for it. Offense did play well getting turnovers is key but mean nothing unless offense can put the ball in the endzone. Philly defense has not given up much in terms of passing yet gave up 347 to Dak along with 3 TD passes, despite the fact that had 6 sacks in the game on Dak, yet Dak still pulled off a monster game.

 

[btcutter]

So are we now apologists for the follies of each team that loses to the Cowboys? How many more asterisks will you place on this 11-4 record? Pray tell…

I did preface it by saying Cowboys offense played well.... in case you missed that.

Nevertheless, if our offense had 4 TOs we would have lost to a back up QB at HOME.

 

[OmerV]

They knew they were going to lose before they got there.
With Hurts out they knew the offense would struggle- and it did- giving up four turnovers.
The defense of the Eagles knew they couldn't play as aggressive because they would have to be on the field longer with their offense not being up to par.
It was a good victory, but one that anyone who knows football expected.
Dak got to play against a weaker version of the team Cooper Rush faced, and still nearly gave the game away early. The Cowboys won by six points after getting four turnovers from the Eagles, but Dak gave the Eagles seven points himself.
And the Cowboys were at home. Dak didn't have to play against a hostile crowd, one that would gave eaten him alive after the early pick six.
The Cowboys were able to maintain the momentum going against a weaker Eagles offense, so Dak played well.
You asked.

This really doesn't make sense.

1. Minshew is not a bottom of the barrel backup, and they had the 4th best rushing offense in the NFL, so there was no reason the Eagles would give up on having any offense. Yes, I know Hurts is part of that rushing offense, but Minshew also runs well, and Sanders has 1,175 rushing yards on his own

2. With a strong rushing offense & the Cowboy defense being vulnerable to the run, there was no reason to believe they would be incapable of sustaining drives & eating up clock.

3. It's a bit bogus to suggest the fact they had 4 turnovers is proof the Eagles knew their offense would struggle. The Eagles couldn't have anticipated that. Besides they still scored 34 points, which is the second highest total against the Cowboys all season. I could just as easily say that's proof the Eagles knew they could be effective.

4. With a strong defense there was no reason to make a decision not to even tryin to impact the game before they got the chance.

5. If they weren't trying to win why did they play their starters the full game? Why risk injuries?

6. Why would they throw 40 times if they weren't trying to win?

7. The game was close the whole way, so why wouldn't they have held back the entire game?

8. The Eagles won a Super Bowl 5 years ago with a backup QB. They know more than most that you can win games with a backup.

 

[OmerV]

I did preface it by saying Cowboys offense played well.... in case you missed that.

Nevertheless, if our offense had 4 TOs we would have lost to a back up QB at HOME.

So you're downplaying the offensive performance based on the notion that the Cowboys would have lost if they had turned the ball over 4 times? Isn't not turning the ball over supposed to be a good thing? How do you put a negative spin on that?

i don't get the argument that if they had played better and the Cowboys had played worse the Eagles would have won. That's just how competition works - attempting to play better than the opponent is the general idea with every team that tries to win. The Cowboys did that,

 

[Romo_To_Dez]

They knew they were going to loose before they got there.
With Hurts out they knew the offense would struggle- and it did- giving up four turnovers.
The defense of the Eagles knew they couldn't play as aggressive because they would have to be on the field longer with their offense not being up to par.
It was a good victory, but one that anyone who knows football expected.
Dak got to play against a weaker version of the team Cooper Rush faced, and still nearly gave the game away early. The Cowboys won by six points after getting four turnovers from the Eagles, but Dak gave the Eagles seven points himself.
And the Cowboys were at home. Dak didn't have to play against a hostile crowd, one that would gave eaten him alive after the early pick six.
The Cowboys were able to maintain the momentum going against a weaker Eagles offense, so Dak played well.
You asked.

Cooper Rush turned the ball over 3 times against the Eagles remember. The difference is that Dak was able to overcome the pick 6 and went on to play one of the best games of his career. Cooper Rush could not overcome his 3 INTS and threw the final pick which sealed the win for the Eagles. It's nonsense to say "They knew they were going to lose". When Eagles players went into that game with every intention of winning it and trying their best to clinch the division and number one seed against the Cowboys. Their reaction to the loss isn't one of players who knew they were going to lose the game ahead of time.

 

[CowboyRoy]

The Eagles defense came into the game as the #1-#3 rated defense depending on what stat you chose. They had been playing lights out all year long. Even after Saturday the Eagles are #2 in yards allowed. They’re #1 in passing yards allowed. They came into this game at full strength defensively. Why couldn’t they stop the Cowboys offense? Please one of you doubters tell me why the best defense in the NFL couldn’t stop the Cowboys offense?

They did a great job of shutting down the run game and pressured Dak all night long. Dak was just better.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Hurts was 15-25 for 155 yards passing and 9 for 27 yards rushing in the first game. Pretty dominate game…surprised he did not put 60 on us. If Prescott played we win…

Saturday Prescott was 27-35 for 347 yards and 6 for 41 rushing…

Prescott had 388 yards against the number 2 D

Hurts had 182 yards against a Dallas D that is not great at stopping the run…

When we meet again we will win. We are the better team, even with our scrubs on defence we are better...

We are not better with the injuries to the defense. If Hurts plays we dont win that game. Defense will have to be much much better if we are going to beat them on the road in the playoffs.

 

[Rockport]

Perhaps the fact that the 4 turnovers happened within Philly territory and resulted in 20 Dallas points is the point.

None of the turnovers themselves ended in a TD. The offense had to go and score. Something you haters use to say they couldn’t do once they got to the red zone.

 

[Rockport]

Offense did play well. BUT......

4 TOs by Eagle offense and a miracle 3rd and 30 conversion were the difference.

Butt, butt, butt.

 

[Runwildboys]

Point being 4 turnovers were the difference in the game.

I'll say that's probably true, but we don't necessarily know that, had the defense just forced punts in each case, the offense wouldn't have driven for TDs anyway. Unless your argument is predicated on the defense not doing their job, and allowing the Eagles to score on every possession, forcing our offense to also score on every possession, I don't understand your point.

 

[btcutter]

I'll say that's probably true, but we don't necessarily know that, had the defense just forced punts in each case, the offense wouldn't have driven for TDs anyway. Unless your argument is predicated on the defense not doing their job, and allowing the Eagles to score on every possession, forcing our offense to also score on every possession, I don't understand your point.

It's all stats and probabilities.

+1 TO winning 65%
+2 TO winning 76%
+3 TO winning 88%

 

[Runwildboys]

It's all stats and probabilities.

+1 TO winning 65%
+2 TO winning 76%
+3 TO winning 88%

Probabilities, yes, but only works if the offense does its job. I'm curious how different those odds would be if they were forced punts rather than turnovers

 

[Redline360]

PART OF EVERY GAME

If Dak doesn't throw a pick six maybe the game goes differently

ifs ifs if s ifs

Eagles lose game 1 if Rush doesn't give them 3,..we can play the what if game and try and make bold statements that can not ever be verified. Games go how games go. inserting a hypothetical cant change the outcome...

when fans understand this, well we would have smarter debates.

Our team since the last month of 2020 is turnover producing team, we are one of the top defenses in that category, pus 13 tops in league this year, last year point differential was ridiculously high.. so its not dumb luck, they stole those INTs ... we will either get pressure and sacks or get timely TOS , its part of our Identity. 

No **** it's part of the game. Thanks captain obvious. You then posts only reason philly won the first game was due to turnovers in their favor. Hence only reason why we won this game.

 

[btcutter]

Probabilities, yes, but only works if the offense does its job. I'm curious how different those odds would be if they were forced punts rather than turnovers

I am certain all of us will take those probabilities going into ANY GAME if we were to be guaranteed + TO margin.

I think it was Parcells who always put big emphasis in TOs. Short field matters. Doesn't matter how good your offense maybe. We all prefer <50 yd drives vs >80 yd drives.

I am ecstatic we won the game and Dak played a great game. This team still have plenty of things to clean up. We can't count on +3 TO margin every game especially going into the playoffs.

 

[Redline360]

Maybe we don’t need the turnovers if the defense didn’t give up so many points. Do people even think before the post?

You can also say, without the Offense scoring 40 points we don’t win.

This was a team win!

Never said the defense is not at fault. I never bought into the early defense hype and knew it was going to still be a problem late season and into the playoffs.

Still can't deny even Dak giving them 7 and scoring 20pts due to turnovers wasn't a major contributing factor to the win. One turnover gifted three easy points and the other two happened near mid field where the eagles were driving down the field.

It could have been ugly for Dallas(mainly the defense) if not for the turnovers. But hey that's part of the game and glad we got em. Great momentum killers.

 

[leeblair]

Cooper Rush turned the ball over 3 times against the Eagles remember. The difference is that Dak was able to overcome the pick 6 and went on to play one of the best games of his career. Cooper Rush could not overcome his 3 INTS and threw the final pick which sealed the win for the Eagles. It's nonsense to say "They knew they were going to lose". When Eagles players went into that game with every intention of winning it and trying their best to clinch the division and number one seed against the Cowboys. Their reaction to the loss isn't one of players who knew they were going to lose the game ahead of time.

You guys deserve what's about to transpire. The rest of us don't, but as usual we are forced to endure, while you guys make excuses.
Against the Giants, it was Dak who put the Cowboys in danger once again with an ill-timed interception. Fortunately, the Cowboys defense and the run game bailed them out. None of you are willing to talk about things like that.
I went back over the Eagles game and watched how the scoring and turnovers transpired; The Cowboys benefitted from a short field on every turnover(4), and it really looked as if both sides were going through the motions at times.
I want to give Dak some credit- I really do. But you guys are determined to ignore any of the facts. We didn't learn anything from that game. It might as well have not been played and Dallas just credited with the win.
And I can't forget Jerry Jones explanation after the Texans game. He said he wanted the Cowboys to be put in that position, and have them come back and win it. Suddenly Lovie Smith's decision to go for a touchdown on 4th down, despite getting knocked back on two consecutive plays, made perfect sense. And the 4th quarter meltdown by the Colts, Lions, and the "score-a-thon" vs the Bears add up to something I hate acknowledging. But even if I'm wrong, the scoring by the Cowboys offense has been aided by a short field on a record pace.
I really think the Cowboys should take acting lessons this year.