3 Takeaways as Philadelphia Eagles lose to Dallas in Arlington

In the end, the Philadelphia Eagles just couldn’t get it done.

Does it get much bigger than the Philadelphia Eagles playing the Dallas Cowboys with both team’s playoff lives at stake? Well, that was the case when the Eagles traveled to Texas to take on their rivals.

In the end, the Birds needed to handle their own business versus one of the teams they hate the most. They entered Jerry’s World needing a win and couldn’t get it done. They also needed a Carolina Panthers victory over the Washington Football Team to keep their postseason hopes alive.

The Panthers did their part, upsetting Washington by a score of 20-13. Philly faltered, losing by a 37-17 margin to the Cowboys, and with that loss, any hopes of making the playoffs are gone. Here are a few takeaways from this heartbreaking loss by the Eagles.

1. Fletcher Cox’s injury proved to be devastating for the Philadelphia Eagles.

As is the norm in sports, when a major superstar goes down, it impacts the whole team, and that was the case for the Eagles. Things seemed to be going quite well, Philadelphia would score two early touchdowns, including an 81-yard bomb to DeSean Jackson, and with that built a 14-3 lead that had fans buzzing.

Soon afterward, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox left the game with a stinger and did not return. This proved to be a major loss as the defense could not find any answers to the Cowboys’ high octane offense.

2. Jalen Hurts has his worst game as the Philadelphia Eagles’ starting quarterback.

For the last three weeks, rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts has been the talk of the town in Philadelphia and across the NFL, and with good reason, but against Dallas, he had his worst game of the season. Hurts finished with one touchdown pass, two interceptions, a fumble, and he was sacked three times. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back in Week 17.

3. Again, the Philadelphia Eagles need an offensive coordinator.

One thing that has constantly frustrated Eagles fans is the play-calling of head coach Doug Pederson. In Week 16, he walked into AT&T Stadium to face the NFL’s worst run defense, and he continued his pass-happy approach.

Few Eagles fans will say that he’s a bad head coach, but he isn’t. It’s become painfully obvious that he needs an offensive coordinator, however, and he needs to give up the playcalling duties. Overall, the Eagles won’t be playing in January, past Week 17 of course (their regular-season finale is scheduled for January 3rd). This team has a lot to fix when the 2020 regular season comes to a close.