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

ARLINGTON, Texas — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 33-13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys:

Jalen Hurts just wasn’t good enough and got outplayed by his counterpart, Dak Prescott. The Eagles kept driving into Cowboys territory, but they kept finding ways to subvert their chances. Hurts fumbled at the Dallas 20 to kill the Eagles’ opening drive. Late in the third quarter, on a fourth-down gamble with 9 yards to go, Hurts faced a zero blitz and threw well short of the sticks to DeVonta Smith. The play call there didn’t help the quarterback. Hurts had some nice passes, including a step-up throw to Smith for 30 yards on third-and-16 on the first drive. But he still seems hesitant in the pocket and when he did get the ball out his receivers weren’t always reliable.

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

D’Andre Swift and the run game had a rough first half. He gained just 8 yards on four carries. Swift had more success after the break, but he hasn’t been as dynamic on the ground in recent weeks. Kenneth Gainwell found a little more room and rushed four times for 28 yards. Boston Scott had three runs for 9 yards.

A.J. Brown and Smith also had costly fumbles in Dallas territory. And they each had what could be categorized as drops. In the first half, Brown had a would-be third-down conversion slip through his hands. He did make up for it with a splendid back-shoulder grab in the second. Smith dropped a few early passes, however difficult the grabs may have been. Both receivers finished with close to 100 yards through the air but it’ll be their mistakes that are most remembered. Quez Watkins, Julio Jones, and Olamide Zaccheaus didn’t see a target from Hurts. Dallas Goedert had as many catches in the first quarter — two — as all the Eagles tight ends combined did during his three-game absence. He had a nice rumbling, bumbling, tackle-breaking 15-yard catch in the third.

The run game struggles continued, especially early on. Center Jason Kelce and the line opened some nice lanes for Hurts in the draw game, but it was otherwise tough sledding. The O-line seemed to give Hurts enough time in pass protection, but some of the assignments vs. the blitz seemed off. Lane Johnson allowed a rare sack when Micah Parsons bull-rushed him back into Hurts. No shame there vs. one of the NFL’s best edge rushers. Hurts could have also done better to move out of his spot or get rid of the ball on time. Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson moved some mountains on the left side of the line early in the second half, but they never got to flash their wares with the Eagles behind the entire contest. Right guard Cam Jurgens left briefly in the third quarter with a chest injury, but he returned.

One of the under-the-radar concerns for the Eagles defense has been a pass rush that has lacked teeth. Defensive end Josh Sweat has just one sack in the last six games and appears to be tiring. The D-line tightened up vs. the run in the second half, but the Cowboys’ O-line was winning matchups at the point of attack when it mattered most in the early going. Edge rusher Haason Reddick did notch the Eagles’ lone first-half sack. And Fletcher Cox injected some life back into the team with a strip sack of Prescott that rookie Jalen Carter scooped up and rumbled 42 yards for his first career touchdown. Jordan Davis might have been held on the Cowboys’ first touchdown, but the flag was picked up. Milton Williams drew a holding penalty in the first and blew up a screen in the third. Brandon Graham also drew a holding penalty. Rookie Nolan Smith seemed to play more snaps than normal, but he didn’t show up in the stat sheet.

Zach Cunningham’s return didn’t solve the defensive woes, and neither did the recent signing of Shaquille Leonard. There were, of course, plenty of guilty parties on that side of the ball, starting with the coordinator. Cunningham did add some physicality that had been missing last week vs. the San Francisco 49ers and led the Eagles with nine tackles. Nicholas Morrow, last week’s goat, got dragged by Cowboys running back Tony Pollard for a first down on an early dump pass. He had a couple of pass breakups in the first half, though. But, overall, it was another rough outing. Leonard was on the field for a small package of plays and had two tackles.

Darius Slay had two pass breakups in the first quarter. He got flagged for pass interference on a key third-and-17 in the second. It looked a ticky-tacky call on a pass that Prescott bounced short of his receiver and the sticks. Slay had another PBU in the third. James Bradberry got cooked by receiver Brandin Cooks on a post route that advanced the Cowboys 30 yards down to the 1-yard line just before the half. Two plays later, he was in coverage when Michael Gallup caught an easy touchdown. Bradberry took a pass interference penalty in the fourth. Bradley Roby played most of the snaps at slot cornerback and kept Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb from going off like he did a month ago when the cornerback was out. But he still got his on occasion. Eli Ricks again chipped in at the slot on passing downs and wasn’t as exploited. The honor fell to another rookie. Kelee Ringo, pressed into duty likely because Reed Blankenship left due to injury, had a difficult first snap. He completed the rare trifecta of allowing a completion that converted a third down and committing two penalties. Ringo had a nice third-and-long tackle in run support later on. But he got beat for 39 yards by Gallup to essentially seal the game.

» READ MORE: Another embarrassing effort shows the Eagles need a shake-up. It’s on Nick Sirianni to provide it.

Blankenship had one of the few run stops near the line of scrimmage in the first half. But he later left with a concussion. Kevin Byard missed a run tackle on Pollard early on. He recovered with a pass breakup later on the drive. Sydney Brown was part of one dime package, playing mostly in the post. He jumped in for the injured Blankenship, though. He got beat by Jake Ferguson on a pivotal third down in the third. Brown’s coverage wasn’t poor, but the 5-foot-10 safety couldn’t get a hand up on the high pass that the tight end caught for 32 yards. He had a nice stick against the run a few plays later, though.

Braden Mann had one of the few highlights when he executed a perfectly-timed fake punt. He floated a perfect spiral to a wide-open Zaccheaus for 28 yards in the second. The Eagles couldn’t settle for field goals to keep pace with the Cowboys, but Jake Elliott connected from 52 and 44 yards out in the first half. Britain Covey saw his first punt return chance in nearly four quarters and gained 18 yards. Josh Jobe gifted the Cowboys 15 yards on a third-quarter fair catch interference penalty.

Nick Sirianni may regret his fourth-and-nine gamble late in the third with his team trailing by 14 points. The Eagles coach has often been conservative, and it might have made sense to be aggressive there. But the play call vs. what was sure to be another zero blitz didn’t appear to give Hurts many options beyond the sticks. Defensive coordinator Sean Desai had a forgettable first half coming on the heels of an embarrassing performance last week. Minus the end-of-game victory formation in the 49ers game, his defense allowed nine touchdowns and a field goal during a ten-drive span over two games. He had a bunch of questionable calls in the first half including a two-high safety coverage on fourth-and-2. Desai made some adjustments at the half, but they were mostly all for naught. Brian Johnson’s play-calling often had the offense moving along. There weren’t any egregious moments and most of the blame for the ineptitude of the unit went to the players who made mistakes and the head coach who is ultimately responsible.