It's super rare to see Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts get honest about the team's play when it's bad, but he finally let some of it out.... in his own way.
The Eagles found themselves with a quick 21-0 lead in the second quarter after three straight drives with touchdowns to open the game. After that, nothing from the offense as the Dallas Cowboys stormed back to win it 24-21 in Week 12.
A lot was made about the penalties, the turnovers, and even the lack of a running game. After the game, Hurts was asked if not being able to run the ball was part of the problem, and he refused to put all the eggs in that basket.
"It’s not a matter of the run game. It’s a matter of discipline and focus in what we do. It’s been a lot of instances where it’s shown up and gotten us, but we’ve been able to figure it out and will ourselves to a win, and tonight we didn't. We played a hell of a first half, and we didn’t play not even close enough to our standard in the second half.”
Plenty of blame to go around for horrible second half by Eagles
Overall, Hurts had a pretty solid game with 289 passing yards and 33 rushing yards, scoring three total touchdowns in the loss. His one bad play of the game was taking an unnecessary sack on their last third down of the game before giving the ball back to the Cowboys to set up the game-winning field goal by Brandon Aubrey.
Some blame does need to go on the running game, or lack thereof, in the contest, with just 63 yards on the ground, averaging 3.5 yards per carry. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley couldn't get anything going in the game with 10 carries for 22 yards, averaging just 2.2 yards per carry, and had a fumble in the fourth quarter.
Part of that goes to the offensive line that struggled, specifically on the right side, with Fred Johnson filling in for Lane Johnson at right tackle and Tyler Steen at right guard. No running lanes were being opened up at all, so more was put on Hurts to carry the offense.
The second half was rough overall for the Eagles, as they had just 108 yards of total offense in the last 30 minutes. They also had a bad fumble from Barkley in the fourth quarter, with the other turnover being on special teams by Xavier Gipson on a punt return. Jake Elliott also missed a field goal in the fourth quarter.
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Adding in 14 total penalties in the game, Eagles fans have a game where everyone deserves the blame for the loss.