DALLAS — All good things must come to an end, and for the Dallas Cowboys, that meant two things in the Week 6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. First, in defeat, the winning streak for the Cowboys was halted at four games.
The defeat also meant that Cooper Rush’s time manning the ship at quarterback has likely come to an end. Starter Dak Prescott is on track to return in Week 7 and, after the performance from Rush against the Eagles, it’s a welcomed sight.
The Cowboys and Rush played their worst game since the season opener, so it’s no surprise that they lost to undefeated Philadelphia. With the Rush-led streak over, life will get back to some normalcy with Prescott under center, and we’ll discover what that means for the season.
Before looking ahead, let’s see what we learned from the Week 6 loss to the Eagles:
Offense must capitalize on chances
The offense only put up 17 points but there were opportunities to make plays. In the first half, Rush missed an open Michael Gallup in the end zone with an underthrown pass, and he missed a wide open CeeDee Lamb for a potential score in the second half that could’ve made the game close late.
Of course, it didn’t help that Rush threw his first three interceptions of the season on Sunday, but even with the mistakes, there were chances to score more points. Prescott’s return will open up the offense and he has the ability to make some of those throws that Rush couldn’t complete against the Eagles.
NFC East isn’t a cakewalk
The season still feels too new to determine this, but the Eagles are now two games ahead of the Cowboys in the standings, and they currently hold a tiebreaker. Meanwhile, the schedule for both teams offers little resistance. The Eagles are one of the best teams in the league right now and it’s difficult to find where they could falter (injuries aside).
The Cowboys might have some tougher than expected games coming up, but they should easily be positioned for a playoff spot. The NFC East is back to being one of the best in the league with the step forward from Philadelphia and the resurgence of the New York Giants, who are also ahead of the Cowboys in the standings.
There’s a long way to go but leapfrogging the Eagles might be a longshot at this point.
Tight ends are stepping up
Starting tight end Dalton Schultz couldn’t play due to tweaking his sprained knee, yet the offense didn’t miss him. The other three tight ends on the Cowboys made their mark and Schultz, who is playing on the franchise tag this season, could be missing out on a big payday after the season.
In this contest, the Dallas tight ends combined for seven catches, 72 yards and a score. Rookies Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot continue to stand out.
Ferguson led the way with his seven-yard touchdown catch where he made a defender miss in the open field. The rookie out of Wisconsin is also a solid blocker who is earning more snaps regardless of Schultz’s status.
Undrafted free agent addition Hendershot might have the most athletic ability of the group and keeps impressing as well.
KaVontae Turpin can change games
The Cowboys found themselves a kick returner this summer when Turpin had two returns for a score in the preseason. However, Turpin hadn’t made an impression in the regular season until the Eagles game.
On Sunday, Turpin gave the team a spark with his 63-yard return at the tail end of the second quarter. It was an electric return that set the offense up for points near the end of the half after being down 20-0.
The rookie speedster wasn’t finished. In the third quarter, Turpin put together a 34-yard punt return to potentially set the Cowboys up with good field position but the play was called back due to a suspect holding penalty. The hold had nothing to do with Turpin’s return and the rookie returner continued to provide a jolt for the Cowboys.
Dallas shot themselves in the foot
The Cowboys had been playing very smart, sound football for the last four weeks, but that came undone against the Eagles. Rush threw three interceptions, the defense was caught off guard by the same Philly play call, one of which resulted in a 15-yard score by wide receiver A.J. Brown, and the team committed bad penalties that cost them chances to win the game.
One of the most egregious errors came courtesy of the head coach and offensive coordinator. Down 14 points in the second quarter, the Cowboys appeared to have moved the ball for a first down on a third down play, but the ball was marked short. Mike McCarthy could have asked for replay officials to take a look.
Instead, McCarthy and Moore made the decision to hurry up to the line and run a pass play that didn’t look like it had any chance of succeeding on 4th & 1. There was no need to rush anything, and the team would have benefitted from taking their time, throwing the challenge flag, and winning a review.
You won’t win many games on the road when you have three turnovers, 10 penalties, and make a rash decision on your own side of the field.
The Cowboys didn’t put themselves in a good position to win the game.
Do you think the Cowboys can climb back to the top of the NFC East? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
