Eagles-Cowboys film predictably reveals a complete team loss

You have to go back to the regular season blowout against the New Orleans Saints to find a worse team performance by the Philadelphia Eagles than what they produced on Sunday night against the Dallas Cowboys. The 37-10 stomping not only handed the division lead to the Cowboys, but magnified several concerning problems with the Eagles.

The first problem being that they now have a quarterback in Carson Wentz who is pressing hard, just like he did in the Saints game last year. This was a bad game for Wentz, whose time-to-throw of 3.16 per PFF was the slowest of his career. His pocket management was poor and his ability to make quick decisions and get rid of the ball saw a significant drop off.

The Eagles have to get Wentz back on track because if they don’t, they stand no chance. When Wentz has an average or poor game, as he’s had against the Vikings and Cowboys respectively, there isn’t enough support from the rest of the team to keep them from being blown out early. Even when Wentz gives them high levels of play, they still lose games in an infuriating fashion.

Speaking of that support, the Eagles defense is collapsing to a historic degree.

The cornerbacks catch a lot of the heat and to a degree that’s accurate. But Jim Schwartz has failed to help his players out via scheme. Whether that’s leaving his cornerbacks on an island or giving opposing offenses free access to large swaths of space via alignment or call, Schwartz has consistently failed in all situations. Including situations like the Cowboys two-minute drill that lead to a 63-yard field goal, as highlighted by Benjamin Solak.

The coverage and scheme from Schwartz has been so catastrophically bad that it’s hiding another major issue with the defense. That being that the defense can’t tackle. PFF grades them 28th in team tackling and the film shows that several of Eagles’ defenders, both new and old, have struggled to finish plays. This was on full display during an 11-yard run by Cowboys running back Tony Pollard.

There’s too many defenders to list in this regard because it’s happening on all three levels to multiple players. The concern there is that if the Eagles do switch to more Cover 2 or Cover 4-type looks, well, those schemes are predicated on rallying up to tackle. That’s quite the pickle.

There was one bright spot in this whole review on The Kist & Solak Show #136. It was the 28-yard touchdown strike from Carson Wentz to Dallas Goedert. If you’re looking for something positive, this is it.

Maybe saying this was the only positive takeaway is an exaggeration. Derek Barnett finally hit a beautiful spin move, which he’s never done going back to his college days. That’s huge progress for him in his development. Also Andre Dillard hit one of the prettiest log blocks you’ll see on a wham concept that Miles Sanders ruined. So there’s some good in the film, you just have to wade through the sewer for far too long to find it.

We detail all that and more on The Kist & Solak Show #136! Listen on the media player below or click here if the player doesn’t load. New to podcasts?! Check out our guide on how to listen to BGN! FLY EAGLES FLY!