Over the past five weeks, the Eagles are 2-2-1. The losses came in close games against the Steelers and Ravens, two of the best teams in the league.
The Cowboys are 1-4 in that same span. Two of the losses were by 22 or more points and they trailed by 27 in another game. In their lone win, Dallas was down 17-3 to an 0-5 team and needed a last second field goal to win the game.
It is fair to say that both the Eagles and Cowboys are bad teams right now, but they are heading in different directions.
There is a lot of talk coming out of Dallas, with players questioning the coaching staff. Jerry Jones obviously got tired of that and decided something had to happen.
Griffen was traded today. The others were cut at some point. This sure feels like Jerry is getting rid of anyone he doesn’t totally trust. If you’re an outsider (free agent), you better have a great reputation with the coaching staff.
The Eagles are starting to get some injured players back. Some young players have benefited from the playing time they’ve gotten and you can start to see some reasons for optimism.
Dallas is reminding me of the 2012 Eagles. The team started 3-3, but had some ugly and some lucky wins. They fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo during the bye week and the team was never the same.
Castillo wasn’t a good DC, but his dismissal was the wrong move. It sent the wrong message to the team and the Eagles went 1-9 after that. Nnamdi Asomugha ate lunch in his car every day. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had to be shamed into tackling during a meeting in Andy Reid’s office. Desean Jackson avoided contact the way I avoid salads.
That team was a mess on and off the field. Once things started to go wrong, they just snowballed. It feels like Dallas could be headed in that direction. We’ll find out a lot about Mike McCarthy and the leadership of the core players (Zeke, Zach Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence, Jaylon Smith, etc.).
Dallas does scare me. That team is a mess right now, but that’s when teams can be their most dangerous. I hope they don’t figure things out on Sunday night.
We don’t yet know if Andy Dalton will play or if they’ll turn to rookie Ben DiNucci. Dalton has the experience, DiNucci is more athletic. Neither appears to be a great option at this point.
The Eagles know their QB, but the OL is again a question. Jason Peters was at practice on Wednesday and playing LT. Jordan Mailata slid over to RT, with Lane Johnson still in question for Sunday. Matt Pryor was back at RG, with Nate Herbig staying at LG.
We’ll have to wait and see if anything changes between now and Sunday.
A win would move the Eagles closer to .500 and the team might really start to build some confidence as they head into the bye week. Get some more rest and see who else is able to come back.
After facing the Eagles on Sunday night, Dallas gets a showdown with the Steelers and their #1 defense. The next two weeks could really bury the Cowboys if the Eagles and Steelers handle their business.
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IgglesBlitz is getting some work done to it. I’m trying to have all the hacker issues sorted out so the site functions better than the Eagles secondary. Hopefully it will be done by the weekend.
Thank you for your patience.
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