Dallas was embarrassed on national television tonight, looking thoroughly overmatched by the Philadelphia Eagles and it didn't take long. The Cowboys gave up their first opening drive touchdown of the season to an array of offensive excellence by the Eagles; then watched things turn ugly. LeSean McCoy and Mike Vick danced in and out of the entire defense through the night. When they rested their legs, Vick sat back in the pocket and fired lasers to wide open receivers. The two combined for over 500 total yards from scrimmage, more than 200 on the ground. Unofficially, they might have had 114 broken tackles.
The defense couldn't wrap up, the offensive line couldn't protect, the center couldn't snap, the receivers couldn't get open and the quarterback couldn't throw on target. The cornerbacks gave huge cushions and the front seven wasn't able to get any pressure outside of DeMarcus Ware; absolutely nothing was working tonight.
The disheartening part is, Philadelphia was doing just as much right, if not more, as the Cowboys were doing wrong. Dallas was beaten man-to-man and scheme-wise on both sides of the ball.
Whatever Rob Ryan was planning to unleash on the Eagles offense he must have been saving for the rematch in Cowboys Stadium. DeMarcus Ware tallied a career-high four sacks; as he, DeMarco Murray, Laarent Robinson and the punt coverage were the only things that looked professional tonight.
The offense was inept, as Miles Austin wouldn't catch his first pass until deep into the third quarter. Dez Bryant wouldn't catch his first until 6:50 left in the game. DeMarco Murray's eight carries for 74 yards was the only thing that worked through much of the game.
Martellus Bennett let an early pass hit him in the chest, and of course the ball bounced directly to Nnamdi Asomugha. The Cowboys middle linebackers were abused repeatedly, all of them. Lee left with a sprained wrist, Mike Jenkins hurt his hamstring, Mat McBriar reinjured his foot and late in the game Jay Ratliff went out when he was hit by Bradie James.
A fourth quarter 70 yard deep ball to Laurent Robinson kept the Cowboys from being shut out.
All in all, this was one of the worst possible outcomes for a game that held much promise. The team will have to return to the drawing board as there are nine games remaining in the season. The Cowboys fall to 3-4 overall, and 1-1 in the division.
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