Eagles stats: Josh Sweat ranks among NFL’s top pass rushers; Jalen Hurts is elite on the ‘go’

The Eagles claimed a 28-23 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in come-from-behind fashion. Here are four numbers from the win that help tell the story.

The Eagles enter their bye week with the NFL’s best record at 8-1. They’ve either held or shared the top record in the NFL every week since Week 1 of 2022. This marks the seventh time in franchise history that the Eagles have started 8-1. Nick Sirianni is just the 11th NFL head coach to start 8-1 in back-to-back seasons.

“I know there will be a lot of chatter about how [we] have the best record,” Sirianni said. “We don’t care about any of that. All we care about is how we get better to win our next game, how we rest our bodies this week, how we go 1-0 each day the following week to try to go 1-0 against the Kansas City Chiefs. That’s our mission.”

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After he recorded six pressures on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, defensive end Josh Sweat is now tied with Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons for most pressures in the league with 50 each, according to Next Gen Stats. Sweat helped deliver the knockout blow at the end of Sunday’s game when he sacked Prescott for a loss of 11 yards.

Linebacker Haason Reddick, who recorded a game-high seven pressures and one sack, ranks fifth in the NFL with 43 pressures. Through nine games, Reddick leads the Eagles with 7½ sacks, with Sweat second with 6½.

“This big rivalry, having the biggest play right at the end of the game,” Sweat said, “I’ve never had that type of moment before. It feels amazing. O-line, D-line is always the biggest [factor], and that’s what it came down to.”

Since the beginning of the 2022 season, quarterback Jalen Hurts has completed a league-high 16 touchdown passes when targeting go routes. During the opening drive of the second half, Hurts connected with wide receiver DeVonta Smith on a 29-yard touchdown completion down the left sideline. On the play, Smith beat Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland off the line of scrimmage and streaked past him toward the end zone.

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“We’re just working on it, man,” Smith said. “[Go routes] are something we work on a lot. We want to have those explosive plays. That’s what it’s all about as an offense, having those explosive runs and passes. That’s something we work on a lot. ... I saw they had man [coverage], and my plan was just to run up the sideline. So I ran right by him.”

The Eagles entered Sunday with the second-fewest penalties in the league, with an average of just 4.6 per game. But against the Cowboys, the Eagles more than doubled that number with their 10 penalties, which marked their second-highest total this season. They committed a season-high 11 penalties against the Commanders in Week 4.

Most notably, the defense was penalized three times on the Cowboys’ final drive that began at their own 14-yard-line. A pass-interference call on James Bradberry, a roughing-the-passer penalty on Reddick, and an encroachment call on lineman Jalen Carter totaled 71 yards, and the Cowboys suddenly reached the Eagles’ 6-yard-line with a prime opportunity to win the game before time expired.

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“There is always room for improvement. Always room for improvement,” Sirianni said. “We’ll continue to work on things, the details, the ball security, the ability to take the football away. That’s something we’re going to continue to work on. ... Your head has to be down, focus has to be on the mountain, focus has to be on your next step and that will be our next practice and this week resting our bodies.”