The biggest question going into Thursday night was how the Dallas Cowboys would response to losing All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons. It was a commendable effort all things considered, but Dallas fell just short
In the second half, both defenses made stops and forced punts, with the Cowboys defense finally bringing the heat to Jalen Hurts. The first half, though, was highlighted by a bunch of offensive firepower. Cowboys fans were quick to point out that Jalen Hurts was given way too much time to throw and way too much space to run.
Of course, Dallas missed Parsons’ impact, but to be honest their biggest issue on defense had nothing to do with Parsons. Instead, the Cowboys didn’t even bother to put a spy on Hurts for pretty much the whole first half.
Cowboys defense didn’t bother to put a spy on Jalen Hurts in the first half
Hurts finished the game with 14 rushes for 62 yards and two touchdowns. That reads like a stat line for Eagles backup running backs A.J. Dillon or Will Shipley, but it was Hurts.
This showcased just how phenomenal the Cowboys’ secondary was. A.J. Brown saw only one target all night, a clear sign the unit came to play. Meanwhile, Matt Eberflus leaned so hard into his bend-don’t-break approach that it backfired, allowing Jalen Hurts to score some of the easiest touchdowns of his career.
On 2nd-and-goal in the middle of the second quarter, the Cowboys’ secondary blanketed the Eagles’ receivers, only they played the receivers so tight into the end zone that Hurts had a bunch of room to run left and break the plane for his second score of the night. Jack Sanborn might’ve been the closest guy to play the spy, but he was playing so deep that there was no way for him to stop Hurts before he crossed the plane.
Eberflus’ plan also came back to bite them on the final drive of the game. On a 3rd-and-3, Eberflus decided to rush four while giving Hurts the space to move the chains and ice the game. This was something that wasn’t corrected, and it came back to haunt them in a critical part of the game.
The defensive play-calling needs to be corrected ASAP. This is an NFL with too many dynamic quarterbacks that can make plays running the football.
