3 Takeaways from Eagles' Week 9 Win vs. Cowboys
The Philadelphia Eagles barely managed to pull off a 28-23 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
The Eagles made the final few minutes of the NFC East contest harder on themselves than they needed to due to some offensive inefficiency and defensive errors.
Nick Sirianni's team found a way to stop Dallas from scoring in the final minute to move to 8-1 ahead of its Week 10 bye.
The Eagles now have a three-game lead and a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Cowboys in the NFC East.
They are free to chase the loftier goal of the No. 1 seed in the NFC during the second half of the season, but they will likely do so without one of their top offensive players.
Late Game Execution Must Be Better
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The Eagles were a few plays away from blowing an 11-point fourth-quarter lead.
The final three offensive drives were over in three plays and that forced the defense to finish off the win.
That almost did not happen since the Cowboys' final drive ended at the Eagles' four-yard-line.
Philadelphia committed three defensive penalties on Dallas' final drive to allow Dak Prescott to have a chance to make the game-winning throw. Luckily, Josh Sweat came up with a big sack on 1st-and-10 from the 11 to force Dallas into a tougher final 30 seconds.
A better, or more polished, team probably finishes off the comeback on Sunday. Dallas turned the ball over on downs and came up just short of the end zone on its final two drives.
The less-than-ideal finish should motivate the Eagles to get better during the bye week, and they need to be sharper in the second half, as the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and San Francisco are up on the schedule after the bye.
Pass Defense Still Needs Improvement
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Dallas stayed in the contest in the fourth quarter because of how easy it was for Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb to pick apart the Eagles secondary.
Lamb finished with 191 receiving yards on 11 receptions. Tight end Jake Ferguson was nine yards away from the century mark.
The Eagles have been thin in the secondary for a few weeks now due to injuries, and so far, they have avoided a handful of defeats with that as their biggest shortcoming.
The Philadelphia coaching staff must spend the bye week scheming up the best way to slow down opposing passing attacks with the defensive backs they have.
Kansas City, Buffalo, San Francisco, Dallas and the Seattle Seahawks are all capable of torching the defensive back unit over the next five games.
The Week 10 bye should allow Kevin Byard to get more familiarity with the defense, and that should help, but the Eagles need a better overall performance to avoid even being in the situation they faced in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Dallas Goedert's Injury Will Hurt Offensive Approach
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Dallas Goedert reportedly suffered a fractured forearm in the second half of Sunday's win, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The tight end is the Eagles' third-best pass-catcher behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Twenty-five of his 38 receptions this season occurred over the last five games.
Goedert found a rhythm inside the passing offense after a rough start, and now the Eagles have a week to figure out how to adjust to his absence.
Jack Stoll is not much of a pass catcher and Albert Okwuegbunam has not been involved in the offense since he was acquired from the Denver Broncos.
Okwuegbunam was productive at the start of his career in Denver, but he has not played a role in the passing game over the last two seasons with the Broncos and Eagles.
Philadelphia can also turn to the recently-signed Julio Jones for a higher level of production in the physical role across the middle.
Rashaad Penny and Kenneth Gainwell could get more involved in the short passing game out of the backfield as well.
The Eagles have the personnel to make things work without Goedert, but in order for that to happen, multiple players have to step up so that Brown and Smith do not shoulder the entire workload in the passing game.
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