Coming off the bye week, Philadelphia Eagles fans were hoping that their team would come out inspired against the injured Dallas Cowboys. Nope, they were treated to more of the same, which is to say a brand of football more depressing than the HBO original program “The Leftovers.”
Then, something unexpected happened: The Birds played a decent second quarter and managed to escape tied up at seven. Here’s what I saw:
The good
• In the first quarter, this joke was pretty good. That is about it, though:
• To start the second quarter, the Eagles lined up Sam Bradford under center and pounded the rock with all of three of their running backs. The result was an 80-yard touchdown drive, 63 of which came on the ground. It was a beautiful thing, and a reminder of a time in August when everyone in this city felt like this was a minimum 10-win team.
• Sweet play by Brandon Graham to beat all-pro left tackle Tyron Smith and force Matt Cassel to fumble. That knocked Dallas out of field goal range.
The bad
• You guys aren’t going to believe this one: The Eagles offense started three-and-out to begin the game.
• Also, for the unbelievable file: After getting a running into the punter penalty on the first drive… the Eagles offense proceeded to go three-and-out again. You can’t predict sports, folks!
• Nolan Carroll, who has played well this season, had trouble in man coverage with Dez Bryant on the Cowboys’ 93-yard opening touchdown drive. Bryant had two catches for 57 yards on the opening possession, highlighted a slant route that included quite a bit of YAC.
• Lane Johnson, filling in well for Jason Peters at left tackle, appeared to get his right leg rolled up on. Luckily, he remained in the game. Scary moment for the Eagles, though, as Johnson is someone they can’t really afford to lose.
The ugly
• Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if Sam Bradford (10-17, 74 yards, yuck) understands what a first down is. The point is to make it beyond the sticks, sir:
• I have no idea what the Eagles were doing at the end of the half.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann