Let the tanking begin.
With nine minutes left, large segments of open seats began to appear at Lincoln Financial Field Monday night. Not that it really mattered, because the Linc seemed lifeless all night anyway in a rare moment for an Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game.
The Cowboys’ anemic running game, which averaged 76 yards rushing a game, certainly found a remedy in the Eagles’ tired, haggard defense in a 38-21 Dallas victory.
The Eagles are in the throes of a five-game losing streak, the first of Nick
Sirianni’s tenure and first for the Eagles since 2016, Doug Pederson’s first year as head coach.
Dallas moved to 3-4 and the Eagles fell to 2-5, and even though the Cowboys are just a game better, the teams seem light years away from each other.
The Eagles looked defeated in their eyes. They looked defeated in their play. They looked defeated in their body language. They looked defeated in trusting the game plan presented by the coaching staff.
In his quest to tank, Howie Roseman may be calling every former high school star in the Delaware Valley over the next few months.
The over-under apathy line was set last week at mid-November. Do not look now, but the shroud of apathy descended on the 2026 Eagles under a full moon on Monday night.
Dallas won for the first time at the Linc since 2021.
The Eagles have turned 2026 into an extended exhibition season. That’s the feel the empty Linc had in the fourth quarter Monday night.
Prepare for the Linc to be primed for takeovers by contending teams like the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Seattle Seahawks—you know, teams that matter.
The Cowboys ran 65 plays and the vaunted Eagles’ defense had zero tackles for a loss. Dallas pounded the Eagles for 416 total yards, averaging 6.4 yards a game, with 204 yards on the ground, averaging 5.4 yards a carry.
Whatever the Cowboys wanted to do, they did. Dak Prescott completed 15 of 27 for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Javonte Williams sliced his way through the Eagles for 155 yards rushing, averaging 6.2 yards a carry.
Tanner McKee was okay, completing 23 of 35 passes for 211 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
But it was spotty defense that really took the blame for the Eagles’ most recent debacle. Dallas scored on seven of nine possessions. The Cowboys threw Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis around the field like ragdolls. Riq Woolen beat out everyone for best Halloween costume—he wore an Izel Jenkins mask.
In two year’s time, the Eagles went from the pinnacle of the NFL, to one of the worst teams in the league with no solutions in sight.
This is a new level of low.
Let the tanking begin.
There was little good, a mountain of bad and myriad piles of smoldering, steaming ugly in the Eagles’ 38-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
The Good
The Eagles’ first drive of the second half. It’s the first time this season that the Eagles scored on the first drive of the second half, when Makai Lemon scored on a four-yard reception and a 21-20 Eagles’ lead. The Eagles’ 17-play, 9-minute, 16-second drive was their longest this season. They were 5-for-6 on third-down conversions and 1-for-1 on fourth-down conversions.
Makai Lemon’s 15-yard reception on a fourth-and-one at the Dallas’ 24 on the Eagles’ first drive of the second half. At the time, it was Lemon’s team-high fourth catch for a team-high 50 yards. Lemon was one the best of a bad situation, with a game-high seven catches for a team-high 67 yards.
Hollywood Brown’s 19-yard reception on the Eagles’ first drive of the second half. Saquon Barkley’s 12-yard run on the first play of the second marked the first time this season that the Eagles did not go three-and-out on their first drive of the second half.
The Eagles’ first drive. It was the first time the Eagles scored on their first drive this season. The remarkable thing about the four-play, 75-yard drive that took just 2:05 off the clock is the Eagles never faced a second down. The huge play in the drive was Saquon Barkley’s 29-yard run that brought the ball to the Dallas’ 34. Barkley’s two carries amount to 37 of the 75 yards on the drive. Tanner McKee’s 21-yard completion to Makai Lemon brought the ball to the Dallas 13.
The Eagles second drive. The Eagles went up 14-10 on a great drive that traveled 76 yards on 13 plays. The big play was a McKee-to-Darius Cooper 17-yard completion on a third-and-10 at the Cowboys’ 12, made on Cooper’s run-and-after catch zig-zagging his way through the Dallas secondary. Hollywood Brown did a nice job blocking cornerback DeRon Bland on Dameon Pierce’s 5-yard touchdown run with 13:25 left in the first half.
The first punt of the game with 2:37 left in the first half. Punter Braden Mann nailing a 48-yard punt that Darius Cooper downed at the Dallas two-yard line.
The Bad
Running out of timeouts in the first half with 1:31 left in the half facing a third-and-10 at the Eagles’ 41. The Eagles had to settle for a 5-yard completion on third-and-five with 1:24 left at the Eagles’ 46. The Eagles gave the ball back to Dallas at the Cowboys’ 13 with 1:14 left and two timeouts. It led to a Brandon Aubrey 27-yard field goal and a 20-14 halftime lead.
The Cowboys first drive. Dallascameout and drove 28 yards on seven plays, gaining 25 yards on the ground. The result of the series was a Brandon Aubrey 55-yard field goal.
Cooper DeJean has not had a good season this year. Another case in point came on the 17-yard pass interference call with 14:11 left in the game. DeJean earlier in the game gave up a first-quarter touchdown covering CeeDee Lamb in the slot, who DeJean attempted to cover—and failed.
The Ugly
Riq “Reek” Woolen had himself a game. He completely lost CeeDee Lamb with 12 seconds left in the first half for a 30-yard completion to the Eagles’ nine-yard line. Woolen was fortunate Lamb lost his balance and had to crawl out of bounds. The Cowboys had to settle for an Aubrey 27-yard field goal (3 points thanks to Woolen). The Cowboys scored on four of five drives in the first half. Woolen ran away from adversity, he declined to speak after the game.
Woolen did not have a good game. On a third-and-nine on the Cowboys’ first drive of the second half, he was flagged for holding, giving the Cowboys a new set of downs. He was later burned on the same drive by Ryan Flournoy for a 16-yard completion on a first-and-10 to the Eagles’ 27. On the same drive, Woolen was smoked by Lamb in the corner of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown and a 28-21 Cowboys’ lead with 1:30 left in the third quarter (11 points thanks to Woolen after Prescott’s two-point conversion).
Earlier in the game, Woolen gave the Cowboys’ Flournoy took much space on a third-and-eight on Dallas’ second drive. Prescott found Flourney open on the sideline, and Woolen proceeded to miss him, turning a good gain into a large gain, from the Cowboys’ 31 to the Eagles’ 34. It was the crushing play on the Dallas touchdown drive. Five plays later, Prescott hit CeeDee Lamb for a nine-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone for a 10-7 Cowboys’ lead. Lamb caught the TD pass over DeJean, who has not had a good season. In two drives, the Cowboys scored twice.
Did anyone see Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis? While Woolen was very ubiquitous in his blunders, Carter and Davis were invisible in theirs. They got no push up front. They created no roadblocks to stop the Dallas running game. They were nowhere to be found. They had quarterback pressures and were knocked off the ball the whole night. Carter, the highest paid defensive tackle in the NFL, ran from the adversity and declined to talk to the media after the game and wished everyone a good night.
McKee’s fourth-quarter interception by DeMarvion Overshown on a pass intended for Dallas Goedert with 7:47 to play. The Cowboys were up 31-21 and the droves began filing to the exits.
The Eagles’ first drive of the fourth quarter. Right guard Tyler Steen was flagged for holding, pushing the ball back to the Eagles’ eight, followed by a three-yard sack pushing the ball even further to the Eagles’ five.
The Eagles’ last possession of the first half. Offensive coordinator Sean Mannion had his moments in the first half, then blew it with the final drive of the half, throwing three times, with two incompletions on a series that shaved just 15 seconds off the clock, giving the Cowboys the ball back with 1:14 left in the half and two timeouts. McKee failed to make two open throws, and just one first down would have would have placed the Eagles with a chance to kick a halftime walkoff field goal. Instead, it was a six-point turnaround when Aubrey banged a 27-yarder to conclude the first half. It was bad play calling, bad execution, and bad game management, or, considering how this season is going—typical 2026 Eagles.
The Cowboys first half. Dallas outgained the Eagles 275 to 154 yards, ran off 39 plays to the Eagles’ 26, and averaging 7.1 yards a play to the Eagles’ 5.9. The Cowboys scored on four of five drives in the first half.
Three drives and three scores. It was hard to tell what defense was worse—the Cowboys or Eagles. The Cowboys scored on their first three possessions, scoring touchdowns on their second and third drives to take a 17-14 lead. Through their first three drives, Dallas gained 191 total yards, averaged 6.6 yards per play over 29 total plays, while rushing for 95 yards over 16 attempts averaging 5.9 yards a carry. Dallas converted 4 of 6 first downs and one fourth down. Prescott completed 8 of 13 passes for 96 yards passing and two touchdowns, one to CeeDee Lamb and another to George Pickens. The Cowboys had plays of 11, 15, 21 and 35 yards. What helped was Dallas getting flagged 7 times for 42 yards—five were defensive penalties. The Eagles converted four Cowboys’ penalties into first downs.
Javonte Williams’ 12-yard on the Cowboys’ second drive. Zack Baun, Jalen Carter, Quinyon Mitchell, Arnold Ebiketie, Cooper DeSean and Andrew Mukuba all failed to bring him down. It was demoralizing how Williams churned through the Eagles’ defense.
