Zone Read: Eagles-Cowboys, the Day After
GAME BALL OFFENSE: THE O-LINE
Kelly didn’t need the tape to evaluate the guys up front.
“It was the best they’ve played this year,” he said right afterwards. “Obviously, we’ve had a lot of different lineups in there through the course of the season. Two games with this group this year, I thought they did a really good job.”
I asked Jason Kelce if he agreed.
“As a group, we played the best,” he said. “I think there have been times where individual efforts, especially when guys went in, some of the guys we had sub in, played great for us. But just from a collective group standpoint, we’ve been saying it for weeks and weeks that we’ve been very, very close in the running game. And we finally eliminated that one guy on each play who was kind of taking turns. There really wasn’t one glaring weakness along the front. It’s a guy here, a guy here, a guy here. And today we were really in unison. We felt like we were in a rhythm. And it felt kind of like the way we were moving along last year.”
That last line caught my attention. It really did feel like one of last year’s games where the O-Line was creating gaping holes, McCoy was making guys miss, and the run game (combined with tempo) looked unstoppable.
“Anybody that knows the Eagles knows we get rolling in December,” said Peters. “We finna to just get it rolling and get ready to try and make the postseason.”
It wasn’t just the run game. Sanchez was kept clean as well. He was sacked once and hit another time, but that was it.
The Eagles will start the same offensive line for the third week in a row against Seattle, a defense that went into the weekend ranked fourth against the run, per Football Outsiders.
GAME BALL DEFENSE: FLETCHER COX
Going into the year, the Eagles’ best chance at improving defensively was for guys like Cox to make the leap. And 12 games in, that’s exactly what’s happened.
“We knew we had to keep that chip on our shoulder and be the most physical front today,” Cox said afterwards.
“Every time he goes out on the field, he’s leaving his all,” said Logan. “No matter how long he’s in the game, how many snaps he’s in or when he’s in, he’s a force to be reckoned with.”
Multiple guys in the Eagles’ locker room used the words “Pro Bowl” when talking about Cox. Given what he did in front of a national audience Thursday, it’ll be interesting to see if people start to beat that drum nationally.
***
THAT’S WHAT HE SAID
“It’s the Cowboys. Everything they do is hyped up. They’re not a bad offensive line, but everything they do is magnified times 10. You’ve got offensive lines out there that’s good, but they don’t get the praise that the Cowboys get. We just do our job, and as long as we’re winning, it don’t matter if we get praise or not.” — JASON PETERS
It wasn’t just the Eagles’ defensive line that felt a bit slighted. The offensive linemen sounded like they’d heard quite enough about Dallas’ front as well.
***
FIVE THOUGHTS AND LEFTOVERS
1. The biggest surprise of the game? That the Cowboys didn’t throw it up and down the field against the Eagles. Romo finished with a passer rating of 53.7, his lowest mark in any game in the past three seasons. He completed 18 of 29 passes for 199 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Romo was sacked four times. It seemed pretty obvious that he wasn’t healthy. There were multiple occasions where he just fell to the ground, rather than try to escape.
“People can say it was his back or whatever, but that’s what happens when your rush is disciplined,” said Barwin. “We squeezed the pocket. He had nowhere to really go. He had no choice but to go down. So that’s a credit to rushing together as a group up front.”
Barwin’s point is fair. The Eagles’ defense played really well. But there were several easy throws that Romo missed. This was a guy who was completing 68.8 percent of his passes coming in.
Maybe it was the short week. Maybe Romo got hit early and that affected him.Whatever the case, the Cowboys’ game-plan was stunning. How do you not take more shots at Bradley Fletcher downfield with Dez Bryant?
It’ll be interesting to see how Dallas chooses to attack the Birds in a couple weeks.
2. I’ve gotten pretty far without saying more about Sanchez. The Eagles’ quarterback played a clean game, completing 20 of 29 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown. He fumbled once, but the Eagles recovered. Sanchez did not throw an interception, and as far as I could tell, there were no near-picks.
He continues to look comfortable throwing on the move. Sanchez rolled to his left and delivered a strike to Jordan Matthews for a 27-yard touchdown. He also made a nice throw to Jeremy Maclin down the sideline against Cover-2 on the 58-yard gain.
On the season, Sanchez is completing 63.4 percent of his passes and averaging 8.0 YPA. Those numbers were 55.1 and 6.5 with the Jets.
I’ll admit I was skeptical of the Sanchez signing in the offseason, even though adequate backup QBs are hard to find. He’s not perfect, but Sanchez has now started four games and played in five. The Eagles have gone 4-1 in those contests, and Sanchez has played better than anyone could have anticipated.
3. Tempo was clearly a key for the Birds’ offense early.
“We wanted to press the tempo on them fast and see if they could hang,” said Lane Johnson. “I think we ran the plays as fast as we have. We pushed the tempo and got to 14 pretty quick. That made a statement early.”
Said Cowboys defensive lineman Jeremy Mincey: “It was fast. You have to give them credit. They did a good job of game-planning us. We were losing gaps which we usually don’t do. We can always get better at that. We just have to focus on what we need to do and we’ll be fine.”
It’s worth noting that the Cowboys have faced the Eagles’ tempo three times. Some of the coaches and players have changed from last year, but they knew what to expect and still had trouble with the Eagles’ pace.
4. Big play by Brandon Boykin at the end of the first half. He gave up a reception to slot receiver Cole Beasley, but then stripped Beasley, and Nate Allen recovered the ball near the sideline.
“That’s really all he does is option routes and outs,” Boykin said. “So I knew I was gonna either get an in-route [with an option to go out] or just the out route. He caught the ball. I wanted to keep him in bounds as best I could, try to tackle him and hit the ball at the same time. And it worked out. …I always try to tackle and rake the arm, and this time it worked.”
Last time Boykin was at AT&T Stadium, he made the game-clinching interception against Kyle Orton. The Cowboys actually showed that play on the big screen before the game and then cut to clips of Dallas players preparing for revenge.
That, of course, didn’t happen. Instead, Boykin got ’em again.
5. Some leftovers… Did you notice Sanchez use a pump-fake in the fourth quarter even though he was 5+ yards past the line of scrimmage? I love that move and used to use it in backyard football all the time. For some reason, it’s surprisingly effective. Sanchez ended up gaining 13 yards on the play. …McManus with the line of the night after the Sanchez/Cooper dust-up and ensuing incompletion. “I think he just wanted to bean it at him.” …There is no combination more incompatible than Pitbull and sportswriters. I mean, I’m not a fan of the guy, but you should have heard the complaints in the press box. There were, however, no “Bruuuuuuce!” chants (as far as I could tell). …There may be no better example of good coaching on this team than what the staff has been able to get out of Casey Matthews. He had three tackles (one for loss) and a sack. Not eye-popping numbers. But against one of the best rushing offenses in the NFL, he was far from a liability. …Nate Allen has mastered the art of keeping his feet in bounds on turnovers near the sideline. …Sometimes, we forget to give Kelly credit in this space. That was one prepared team on a short week. Great job by the head coach. …Happy Thanksgiving to the best readers/commenters on the planet. Tim and I probably don’t say it enough, but we appreciate all the support that’s enabled the site to grow in the last two-plus years.
***