Eagles-Cowboys analysis: Mistake-prone Birds get blasted at Dallas and lose grip on NFC’s top seed

ARLINGTON, Texas — For a second week in a row, the Eagles turned in an ugly performance in a pivotal game.

The defense continued its free fall and the offense was plagued by turnovers and stalled drives in a 33-13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, dropping the Eagles to 10-3 and marking the first time Jalen Hurts has lost consecutive games in two years.

Now sharing the same record, the Eagles will need to maintain their tiebreaker with division wins to stay ahead of the Cowboys, who have won five straight games. They’ll also need to worry about the 49ers in the race for the No. 1 seed after San Francisco moved to 10-3 with a win over the Seattle Seahawks.

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» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Receivers, defensive line get low marks in blowout loss to Cowboys

The Eagles’ defensive skid continued in full force against the Cowboys, dispelling any notion that the major concerns about the group propping up against the 49ers were isolated to a singular matchup.

The unit that gave up six straight touchdown drives last week conceded another four consecutive scoring drives against the Cowboys before finally forcing a punt early in the third quarter.

There were breakdowns on all three levels of the defense. The pass rush failed to impact the game, particularly in key third-down situations, the linebacking corps continued to struggle against the run, and the defensive secondary was gashed for big gains.

“We’re not coaching well enough, we’re not playing well enough,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “It’s my job as a head coach to make sure that we start fast, so I’m not doing a good enough job for us to start fast. We’ve played way more from behind, we obviously have to figure that out.”

There was some bad fortune — Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis seemed to draw a holding penalty that elicited a flag that was later picked up on CeeDee Lamb’s 13-yard touchdown catch on the opening series. The Eagles also seemed poised to force a midfield punt on third-and-17 when a debatable pass-interference call on Darius Slay led to an automatic first down.

Still, the Eagles defense wasn’t good enough. There were questionable coaching decisions like the choice to use two high safeties on a fourth-and-2 that the Cowboys converted with a running play. There were also missed assignments.

With four games left to play, the defense has plenty to correct if it’s going to keep the Eagles in the race for the top seed in the conference.

“To me, it’s like a playoff game from here on out,” Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. “We’ve got to fight to the end right now.”

The Eagles defense did eventually find some traction, courtesy of Cox and Jalen Carter.

Cox strip-sacked Dak Prescott early in the third quarter, leading to his rookie position-mate scooping the fumble and returning it for a 42-yard touchdown return to bring the Eagles back within two scores.

It was the Eagles’ second sack of the evening and No. 4 on the season for Cox. They finished with three sacks, two of which came from edge rusher Haason Reddick.

The defensive tackles’ big play turned out to be something of a turning point for the defense, which held Dallas out of the end zone for the entire second half and conceded three field goals after the dreadful start.

Still, the Cowboys finished with 394 yards of total offense, with Prescott going 24-for-39 for 271 passing yards and two touchdowns.

“Let’s be honest, we’ve been punched in the mouth two weeks in a row,” Cox said. “We’ve got a little blood dripping from our lip, but the great thing about this team is we’ll get it stitched up and make the corrections.”

The Eagles’ reliance on improbable comebacks after sluggish starts is beginning to catch up to them.

The Eagles’ offensive momentum was stalled by turnovers and inconsistency throughout the first half and they trailed 24-6 at the break. They couldn’t make up the ground despite chances to do so in the second half.

Hurts’ fumble was the first anchor on the group. The quarterback got sprung on a zone-read keeper in Cowboys territory, but he lost the ball just as he crossed the 20-yard line. It’s Hurts’ fifth lost fumble this season, a career-high, and his 15th turnover of the year. The Cowboys responded with a field goal, giving them a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter.

“They had good technique in their rips,” Hurts said. “ ... I have to be better with my ball security as a runner.”

The offense got into a rhythm momentarily on the opening drive of the third quarter, but A.J. Brown committed the Eagles’ second fumble of the evening after catching a pass in the middle of the field. The Cowboys didn’t capitalize with points that time.

Even with two drives of over 40 yards in the second quarter, the Eagles settled for field goals each time. It’s important to note that one of their field-goal drives was set up by a fake punt by Braden Mann, who completed a 28-yard pass to Olamide Zaccheaus after the offense failed to convert on third-and-2 from its own 33-yard line.

A turnover on downs in the third quarter felt the most costly, with the Eagles stalling out at the Dallas 29-yard line while trailing by two touchdowns.

Hurts finished 18-for-27 for 197 yards while contributing just 30 rushing yards on five carries.

The Eagles fared better on the ground than they did a week ago, totaling 106 rushing yards in the losing effort.

After the game, Hurts said the offensive struggles are something he’s confident they can iron out.

“It’s something we’re going through not something we’re stuck in,” Hurts said. “I think the will for this team to get things done is going to continue to be challenged. It’s all in how we respond to that, and I think it’s a beautiful opportunity for us. You have to have a hunger and a will and want-to. I think we have the right guys to do that.”

DeVonta Smith’s fourth-quarter fumble felt symbolic of the kind of night it was for the offense.

The receiver had just reeled in a 22-yard catch as the Eagles offense clung to a sliver of a chance while trailing by three scores late in the fourth quarter, but Smith coughed the ball up for the Eagles’ third fumble of the game.

After overcoming an iffy turnover differential most of the season, the Eagles’ three fumbles buried any hope of a comeback throughout the game. Their 19 turnovers through 13 games tied their season total from last season and Hurts’ 15 giveaways are the most of his career.

The Eagles’ differential now sits at minus-4, which ranks in the bottom third of the league.

“I thought we moved the ball up and down the field pretty well against a good defense, but they did a good job of taking the football away from us,” Sirianni said. “Three turnovers on fumbles. They got us to punt two times there, and I really thought a lot of it was about the turnovers because I thought Jalen did a good job of kind of going to the right place with the football, guys were getting to the spots they needed to, but we turned it over.”

The Eagles were without Reed Blankenship for most of the game after the starting safety went into the concussion protocol midway through the second quarter after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit from Dallas tight end Jake Ferguson.

Blankenship was eventually ruled out, leaving the Eagles with rookie Sydney Brown filling in for him opposite veteran safety Kevin Byard. The rookie finished with eight tackles and a pass breakup.

The Eagles also lost starting right guard Cam Jurgens midway through the fourth quarter, although the second-year lineman didn’t miss much time. Rookie guard Tyler Steen filled in for Jurgens for the few plays he missed.