Eagles grades: Nick Sirianni’s conservatism; offense’s complacency costs the Birds at Dallas

ARLINGTON, Tex. – Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in their 24-21 loss to the Cowboys:

Jalen Hurts started hot, but cooled off as the Eagles became conservative after jumping out to the 21-0 lead. He had some big throws down the stretch, but he took a costly sack — the only one of the game — on third down late in the game.

Hurts completed 27 of 39 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t have a turnover. When there was pressure, Hurts did well to either find a receiver or throw the ball away. He found Saquon Barkley on a scramble drill and picked up 16 yards.

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Hurts was near perfect on the opening drive, completing five of six passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. And as a runner, he broke a tackle and muscled his way into the end zone on a draw play for the Eagles’ second touchdown.

Early on, the Eagles went heavy through the air and didn’t need the run game. But when they got ahead, it was again tough going for Barkley on the ground. He managed just 22 yards on 10 rushes.

Barkley was active as a receiver, catching seven passes for 52 yards. But he fumbled in the fourth quarter when Sam Williams stripped him from behind in Cowboys territory. In pass protection, he delivered a nasty chip block that knocked Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the ground.

Maybe it was catching passes from Tom Brady during warmups. A.J. Brown was firing on all cylinders to open the game, catching five of six targets for 67 yards and a touchdown on the first two drives. He ended the Eagles’ opening series with a 16-yard grab in the end zone when he beat cornerback DaRon Bland on a skinny post route.

Brown broke a tackle and picked up yards after the catch on a fourth-quarter 19-yarder. He finished with eight grabs for 110 yards.

DeVonta Smith was Brown’s near equal with six grabs for 89 yards. He made a highlight-reel catch in the second quarter, contorting his body to pull in a 41-yarder. Hurts’ heave traveled 54.4 yards in the air and had a 22.9% completion probability, according to Next Gen Stats. On the next play, Smith picked up 10 yards on a jet sweep that went down to the 1-yard line.

In the third quarter, he came back for a 12-yard grab on third-and-8. Smith and Brown had back-to-back penalties — pass interference and a false start — in the fourth quarter.

Tight end Dallas Goedert shed a defender on his first catch of the game — a 13-yarder late in the third quarter. Grant Calcaterra caught his first pass since Week 5 for 8 yards.

It’s been difficult to get much going on the ground all season against defenses primed to stop Barkley. But that doesn’t excuse the O-line’s run-blocking woes. The unit was better in pass protection, but couldn’t hold up once Hurts was forced to drop often.

Fred Johnson started in place of the injured Lane Johnson (foot) and had his struggles. He took a costly illegal use of hands penalty in the fourth quarter that brought back a 16-yard throw to Smith. He got beat inside in the first quarter and Barkley was dropped for a loss, and on the next play, false-started.

» READ MORE: A championship team doesn’t give away wins. That’s exactly what the Eagles did at Dallas.

Tyler Steen got dusted by Williams up the middle in the fourth quarter and Hurts had to shovel the ball away. The right guard also had a holding penalty on a second-quarter rush.

Center Cam Jurgens had a key block on Hurts’ 7-yard draw play touchdown. In the second quarter, he was whistled for a third-down false start. Left guard Landon Dickerson just couldn’t block Osa Odighizuwa long enough before Hurts ate the sack.

Left tackle Jordan Mailata got toasted off the edge by James Houston and Hurts was forced to throw the ball away in the third quarter. A play later, Mailata allowed pressure on the middle and his quarterback was hit as he threw. Matt Pryor lined up illegally as the sixth O-lineman, negating a nicely designed 20-yard play-action pass to Goedert.

The D-line started hot, but relented in the second half when forced to play so many snaps. Running back Javonte Williams was still held to 4.4 yards a carry on 20 rushes. In terms of the pass rush, the unit never got to quarterback Dak Prescott.

Outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips was kept in check for the first time since becoming an Eagle. He didn’t have a single tackle. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter somewhat made up for the spitting incident that got him ejected in the first meeting. The defensive tackle flashed multiple times. But it wasn’t enough.

Edge rusher Jalyx Hunt would have beaten Tyler Guyton on a rush if the left tackle didn’t kick him, resulting in a tripping penalty before the half. Hunt missed a run tackle attempt in the third quarter. Nolan Smith just hasn’t looked himself since coming back from a triceps injury. Brandon Graham couldn’t hustle off the field quickly enough before the Eagles were flagged for too many men on the field. The penalty brought back a Nakobe Dean interception. Earlier in the game, Graham got washed out on a Williams 20-yard run.

Moro Ojomo left briefly with an injury, but returned. He had a relatively quiet day. Jordan Davis dropped Williams for a 4-yard loss in the third quarter, but he didn’t do much on his rushes.

Nakobe Dean had another third-down sack when he blitzed and bowled over Williams in the third quarter. He later drew a holding penalty on another rush. Dean was in coverage when Williams couldn’t hang onto a fourth-down pass. A drive later, he was flagged for illegal contact. Dean might not have gotten deep enough on Prescott’s 17-yard pass to tight end Jake Ferguson just before the half.

Zack Baun recovered a fumble when receiver KaVontae Turpin slipped and clipped a teammate in the second quarter. He missed an open-field tackle on Ferguson in the second quarter. Williams zipped through Baun for a 12-yard gain in the third quarter. Baun let an interception slip through his hands a few plays later.

Prescott threw for over 350 yards and tossed two touchdowns against a secondary that got banged up. Adoree’ Jackson was in coverage when Pickens caught a 1-yard touchdown before the break. Jackson left with a concussion after Pickens caught a 24-yard pass in front of him in the third quarter. Cooper DeJean, who plays outside corner in base personnel, stayed there in nickel after Jackson left. He came up and made a tackle against the run not long after the switch.

DeJean allowed Lamb to catch a 50-yard pass in which he was also flagged for interference. The Eagles wanted offensive PI. Kelee Ringo was called upon soon after, but also committed a pass interference penalty.

Earlier, DeJean might have abandoned his zone when a scrambling Prescott found Turpin for a 48-yard reception just before the half. Michael Carter took his first snaps in the slot with DeJean outside. He had good coverage downfield on his first snap.

Unlike in the first meeting, Quinyon Mitchell played the boundary side of the field rather than follow Pickens. He allowed Ferguson to pick up a first down after he stiff-armed Baun. Mitchell had a pass break-up on Lamb in the third quarter, but was flagged for pass interference on the next down.

Reed Blankenship assisted on six run stops in the first half and intercepted Prescott in the end zone with a diving grab for his first pick of the season. Blankenship missed Turpin in the open field on his 48-yard catch and may have allowed too much space underneath for Ferguson to catch a 17-yarder that set up Dallas’ first touchdown.

Blankenship left in the third quarter and was replaced by Sydney Brown. Prescott dove over him on his 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. The quarterback had success going at Brown in the Cowboys’ game-winning drive.

Drew Mukuba got run over and lost tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford on his 4-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

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Xavier Gipson’s fumble in the fourth quarter should have been a gift to the Cowboys. He probably shouldn’t have fielded the punt at the 2-yard line in the first place. Gipson got hurt on the play and had to be carted inside.

Kicker Jake Elliott missed a 56-yard field-goal attempt wide right in the fourth quarter. Punter Braden Mann came up huge in the third quarter with back-to-back impressive boots. He had a 58-yarder that flipped the field and dropped a 48-yard spinner that Sydney Brown downed at the Cowboys’ 4. The Eagles had a player step out of bounds on Mann’s 76-yard touchback punt late in the game.

Will Shipley averaged 26.5 yards on four kick returns.

This one’s on Nick Sirianni. The coach’s conservatism finally cost the Eagles. It was a close game, but there’s no excuse for coughing up a 21-point lead against a team that kept shooting itself in the foot. The Eagles were sloppy with 14 penalties — tied for the most of the Sirianni era. That’s on the coaching.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo had a nice start, and a not-so-great finish. Repeated first-down runs after the 21-point lead were ill-advised. He continued to dial up successful plays in the red zone. Hurts’ draw play score came off a new wrinkle: a three-tight end set that shifted into an empty backfield.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio‘s unit folded under the weight of the offense’s ineffectiveness and injuries. The defense delivered a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter after Gipson’s fumble, but it relented in the end.