Philadelphia Eagles: 6 quick thoughts on a super ugly “Dallas week” victory

The Philadelphia Eagles are really bad, but the Cowboys are worse!

Despite doing their very best to throw away the game (on multiple occasions!), the Philadelphia Eagles did in fact grind out a win tonight. They topped the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 23-9, and remain in sole possession of first place in the NFC East.

Here are six quick thoughts on the impeccable display of football that we all witnessed this evening:

Carson Wentz is a train wreck.

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I’m a fairly big supporter of Carson Wentz, and a firm member of the “Let The Bronco Buck” community, but even I can’t trim up any excuses for his play this evening. Facing the worst defense in all of football, all Wentz had to do was not self implode.

Instead of just taking what was being given to him, Wentz continued to play hero ball, absolutely YEETING the ball into coverage on multiple occasions.

I still believe he’s the team’s best overall quarterback, and he delivered when it mattered most once more, but man he’s got to clean it up big time.

Defensive line continues to be elite.

Not only did the Eagles D-Line completely neutralize Ezekiel Elliot, but they flexed their pass rushing muscles too.

Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, and TJ Edwards all had sacks; and the Eagles defense logged 7 QB hits and forced two fumbles (one returned for a touchdown).

Cox was particularly dominant, routinely beating Zack Martin at the line of scrimmage and applying pressure to DiNucci.

Doug Pederson’s play calling is all over the place.

Wentz’ play obviously didn’t help things, but Doug Pederson’s play calling was all over the place tonight. He continued to dial up deep passes despite there being 20 MPH winds, he refused to heavily lean on the run, and his fourth down plays were questionable to say the least.

It’s hard for a coach to call a good game when his QB is playing poorly, but it’s also hard for a QB to play a good game if his offensive-minded coach is coaching poorly.

Travis Fulgham is the realest of deals.

Another day, another Travis Fulgham masterclass on the outside. Granted, Dallas has some fairly horrible corners, but Fulgham did his job nevertheless.

6 receptions on 7 targets, 78 yards, and 1 touchdown will definitely play.

The offensive line is still a disaster.

Even going up against a very depleted Cowboys’ defensive line, the Eagles O-Line had some serious problems in pass protection, specifically early on in the ballgame. The Cowboys defense recorded 4 sacks and 6 QB hits, and forced two fumbles.

The one fumble was unquestionably on Wentz, but the other was simply a blown blocking assignment. Wentz has been the most hit, most hurried, and most sacked QB through eight weeks of NFL football. Pass protection has definitely been poor.

Still some work to be done with Reagor.

Jalen Reagor scored a first quarter TD and “Eagles Twitter” exploded into a choir of praise. It was a nice route and a nice catch, but then the rookie wideout low-key disappeared for the rest of the evening. Obviously, it was Reagor’s first game back from the injured reserve, and he’s likely not fully assimilated into the playbook.

Regardless, you’d like more than 16 receiving yards from your first-round WR.

The Philadelphia Eagles will now waltz into the bye week at 3-4-1, primed to squeak out another division title. When they return for Week 9, they’ll get to play another lowly NFC East rival in the New York Giants.

Up first, however, is the trade deadline. First place is first place, but even Howie Roseman might be having second thoughts about “buying” this year.