09-06-2025, 12:31 PM
This is off-topic, but there's nothing going on in the NBA, really, and this thread kind of opened the door a crack, so...
I was pleasantly surprised by this Cowboys game. They didn't win, obviously, and there were some tangible and disappointing mistakes we can point to that explain why, but Philly is obviously among the best teams they'll face this year, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say they matched up well with the Eagles, even outplaying them at times.
For all the talk of missing Parsons, I felt they were able to put decent pressure on Hurts. The problem in the first half was that the pressure played into Philly's hands, and they weren't able to keep him contained, once pressured (a blatant missed holding call on the left tackle on Ezeiruaku helped with that). In the second half, Eberflus smartly switched his coverages in the secondary to a more zone-heavy approach, keeping more eyes on Hurtz, and that helped quite a bit.
Similarly, the defense made some great adjustments in the second half to shut down Philly's run game. They looked as dominant as I've seen them look in years. I think I saw that Barkely gained one total yard on his last SEVEN carries, which is obviously a big reason Dallas was able to stay in the game all the way until the end. Kenny Clark is a beast, and I'm glad he's a Cowboy.
Offensively, I couldn't believe how well Dallas was able to run the ball at times. In true Cowboys fashion, it seems like we're seeing the early stages of an offensive line that could grow into the league's best soon. All three of the Tylers were marvelous, imho.
I thought Dak looked pretty good. About three dropped passes, the worst of them being Ferguson's dropped touchdown, kept his night from looking VERY good, actually. I thought the new offense was interesting, less predictable than it has been in recent years, and for one week at least, it seemed like it was designed by someone who understands the weapons the Cowboys have at their disposal. It was nice to see Turpin more involved in the offense. I hope they find ways to get Pickens some more targets moving forward.
All in all, I was impressed, actually. It's easy to get frustrated by losing a game that was winnable, and I know that's a common theme in the life of Cowboys fans these past 30 years (lol), but I would guess most of us expected this game to be lopsided, and not in the Cowboys' favor. I came away feeling like an extra five minutes on the clock would've resulted in a Dallas victory, which is absolutely not what I expected leading up to the game.
I'm cautiously optimistic that we're in for a decent season.
I was pleasantly surprised by this Cowboys game. They didn't win, obviously, and there were some tangible and disappointing mistakes we can point to that explain why, but Philly is obviously among the best teams they'll face this year, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say they matched up well with the Eagles, even outplaying them at times.
For all the talk of missing Parsons, I felt they were able to put decent pressure on Hurts. The problem in the first half was that the pressure played into Philly's hands, and they weren't able to keep him contained, once pressured (a blatant missed holding call on the left tackle on Ezeiruaku helped with that). In the second half, Eberflus smartly switched his coverages in the secondary to a more zone-heavy approach, keeping more eyes on Hurtz, and that helped quite a bit.
Similarly, the defense made some great adjustments in the second half to shut down Philly's run game. They looked as dominant as I've seen them look in years. I think I saw that Barkely gained one total yard on his last SEVEN carries, which is obviously a big reason Dallas was able to stay in the game all the way until the end. Kenny Clark is a beast, and I'm glad he's a Cowboy.
Offensively, I couldn't believe how well Dallas was able to run the ball at times. In true Cowboys fashion, it seems like we're seeing the early stages of an offensive line that could grow into the league's best soon. All three of the Tylers were marvelous, imho.
I thought Dak looked pretty good. About three dropped passes, the worst of them being Ferguson's dropped touchdown, kept his night from looking VERY good, actually. I thought the new offense was interesting, less predictable than it has been in recent years, and for one week at least, it seemed like it was designed by someone who understands the weapons the Cowboys have at their disposal. It was nice to see Turpin more involved in the offense. I hope they find ways to get Pickens some more targets moving forward.
All in all, I was impressed, actually. It's easy to get frustrated by losing a game that was winnable, and I know that's a common theme in the life of Cowboys fans these past 30 years (lol), but I would guess most of us expected this game to be lopsided, and not in the Cowboys' favor. I came away feeling like an extra five minutes on the clock would've resulted in a Dallas victory, which is absolutely not what I expected leading up to the game.
I'm cautiously optimistic that we're in for a decent season.
![[-]](https://www.mavsboard.com/images/collapse.png)