Well, it wasn’t pretty, but the Dallas Cowboys were able to outlast the Philadelphia Eagles and improve to 6-1 with a 29-23 victory in overtime.
This was by far the sloppiest the Cowboys have looked in 2016, and it nearly cost them the game. I would argue that the Philadelphia Eagles looked better in all three phases of the game, but the Cowboys were able to do just enough to win and improve their lead in the NFC East division.
I think winning these tough, hard-fought games will help the Dallas Cowboys overall, down the road, but it certainly isn’t something we want to see on a regular basis.
Having said all that, here is this week’s edition of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. I hope you enjoy.
The Good
If we’re being perfectly honest with ourselves, there wasn’t a whole lot of good last night for the Dallas Cowboys against the Philadelphia Eagles.
It was a sloppy game, but fortunately there were a few bright spots that allowed the Cowboys to do just enough to come away with the victory.
Dez Bryant made his return to the field Sunday night against the Eagles, and proved to all those who wanted to trade him why it is a ludicrous idea. Dak Prescott only connected with Bryant four times, but the results were 113 yards and one game-changing touchdown.
There was a lot of sloppiness last night, but there’s no doubt in my mind Dez Bryant makes the Dallas Cowboys offense better.
The Bad
The Dallas Cowboys were able to win a close game in overtime against the Eagles, but unfortunately they didn’t escape without suffering some bad news.
The secondary for the Cowboys took a hit last night when Barry Church exited the game with an arm injury. The severity of the injury isn’t really known yet, but it is believed to be at least fractured, if not broken.
To add salt to the wound, Morris Claiborne also exited later in the game with a groin injury. This is particularly unfortunate because Claiborne has been playing the best football of his entire career and is one of the reasons why the Cowboys defense is performing so well.
If either of these two players have to miss any amount of time, then the secondary will be shorthanded and the entire defense will suffer as a consequence.
Let’s just hope that these injuries aren’t too serious.
The Ugly
I don’t know about any of you, but I’m starting to get really nervous every time Lucky Whitehead is back to return either a punt or kickoff.
Whitehead nearly fumbled away the opening kickoff, which would have given Philadelphia the ball inside the red zone to start out the game.
Fortunately, it was a lucky bounce that fell right back in his hands, but it could have put the Cowboys in the hole to start off the game.
Lucky put the Cowboys in a bad situation later in the game when he fielded a punt inside the 10 yard line. To make matters worse, there was a penalty on the play that backed the Cowboys offense up even further inside their own 5 yard line.
It was just an overall ugly performance by Whitehead and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see someone else returning punts and kickoffs.
What’s your good, bad, and ugly for the Cowboys vs Eagles?
Please feel free to use the comment section below to share your thoughts and opinions on this topic.
Dez makes the offense better? Over ten targets and 3 catches. Thats not better. Dak needs to remember why he has been winning, its been the efforts of all the wide receivers, not just Bryant. The proof was in the overtime win when he finally started using the wining combination.
Armando, Prescott was forcing passes to Bryant, but I stand firm in the belief that 88 still makes this offense better. Prescott finally figured out that he needs to spread the ball around more towards the end of the ball game. I expect things to improve once Prescott and Bryant have had more time to develop chemistry. I don’t think things will be forced as much as they were against the Eagles.
who would get KO return duty if Garrett takes duties away from lucky?
Tommy, they have options, but nobody as explosive as Lucky Whitehead. Maybe Rod Smith, Terrance Williams, JJ Wilcox, or maybe they activate Darius Jackson. In all honesty, I would be fine if they just took a knee in the end zone every time and started from the 25 yard line.