The Eagles’ Win Over The Cowboys Proves They’re ’re The Best Team In The NFL. Savor It, Philly

Hey  I get it. You were tied up for three days. You mind. You were busy painting your face scarlet and screaming your lungs out at Citizens Bank Park and playing and replaying the audio of Scott Franzke’s home-run calls and the video of Rhys Hoskins’ bat spike.

You got used to the kind of joyful comfort that the teams in this town don’t often afford you: easy victories in big games, celebrations pretty much from start to finish.

Eagles-Cowboys analysis: Birds rise to 6-0 after getting a jump on rival Dallas

So you might have missed a rather significant development Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. And if you didn’t miss it, watching the development play out and take its final form probably drove you close to crazy. But it happened, and it’s

The Eagles’ win over the Cowboys proves they’re the best team in the NFL. Savor it, Philly.

Hey, I get it. You were tied up for three days. You had other things on your mind. You were busy painting your face scarlet and screaming your lungs out at Citizens Bank Park and playing and replaying the audio of Scott Franzke’s home-run calls and the video of Rhys Hoskins’ bat spike. You got used to the kind of joyful comfort that the teams in this town don’t often afford you: easy victories in big games, celebrations pretty much from start to finish.

So you might have missed a rather significant development Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. And if you didn’t miss it, watching the development play out and take its final form probably drove you close to crazy. But it happened, and it’s true.

The Eagles are the best team in the National Football League.

They’re 6-0 now, following a stirring contest in a weekend full of them here, a 26-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. They are the last unbeaten club left in the NFL. They lead the NFC East by a game over the New York Giants, who are 5-1, and, effectively, by two games over the Cowboys, who are 4-2.

 

Will they be the NFL’s best team come mid-January and early February, when the games matter most? There’s no way to know that now, of course, but what they’ve accomplished through six weeks, giving themselves a margin for error, some cushion in the standings, has been impressive.

Their last two wins, by three points over the Cardinals last week in Arizona and Sunday’s, featured one significant quality in common: When the Eagles had to put together a long drive to decide the outcome — to take the lead over the Cardinals, to give themselves some breathing room against the Cowboys — they did it.

The numbers of that clinching march Sunday were startling: 13 plays, 75 yards, 7 minutes, 37 seconds worth of game clock melted away before Jalen Hurts found DeVonta Smith on a 7-yard touchdown pass.

Not every victory will be their Monday night blowout of the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 or their laugher over the Washington Commanders in Week 3. Sometimes the Eagles will have to meet the measure of a tense moment. Twice now, they have.

Hey, I get it. You were tied up for three days. You had other things on your mind. You were busy painting your face scarlet and screaming your lungs out at Citizens Bank Park and playing and replaying the audio of Scott Franzke’s home-run calls and the video of Rhys Hoskins’ bat spike.

You got used to the kind of joyful comfort that the teams in this town don’t often afford you: easy victories in big games, celebrations pretty much from start to

Hey, I get it. You were tied up for three days. You had other things on your mind. You were busy painting your face scarlet and screaming your lungs out at Citizens Bank Park and playing and replaying the audio of Scott Franzke’s home-run calls and the video of Rhys Hoskins’ bat spike.

You got used to the kind of joyful comfort that the teams in this town don’t often afford you: easy victories in big games, celebrations pretty much from start to finish.

Eagles-Cowboys analysis: Birds rise to 6-0 after getting a jump on rival DallasSo you might have missed a rather significant development Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. And if you didn’t miss it, watching the development play out and take its final form probably drove you close to crazy. But it happened, and it’s true.

The Eagles are the best team in the National Football League.

They’re 6-0 now, following a stirring contest in a weekend full of them here, a 26-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. They are the last unbeaten club left in the NFL. They lead the NFC East by a game over the New York Giants, who are 5-1, and, effectively, by two games over the Cowboys, who are 4-2.

Will they be the NFL’s best team come mid-January and early February, when the games matter most? There’s no way to know that now, of course, but what they’ve accomplished through six weeks, giving themselves a margin for error, some cushion in the standings, has been impressive.

Their last two wins, by three points over the Cardinals last week in Arizona and Sunday’s, featured one significant quality in common: When the Eagles had to put together a long drive to decide the outcome — to take the lead over the Cardinals, to give themselves some breathing room against the Cowboys — they did it. The numbers of that clinching march Sunday were startling: 13 plays, 75 yards, 7 minutes, 37 seconds worth of game clock melted away before Jalen Hurts found DeVonta Smith on a 7-yard touchdown pass.

Not every victory will be their Monday night blowout of the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 or their laugher over the Washington Commanders in Week 3.

Sometimes the Eagles will have to meet the measure of a tense moment. Twice now, they have.

How does a team learn to do that? What does a team that is handling success in the right way look like?

A yellow bracelet and inspirational strength tie the Eagles’ DeVonta Smith to his biggest fan“You’re preparing and practicing the same way when you’re 5-0 as when you’re 0-0 or 2-5 or whatever it is,” coach Nick Sirianni told reporters Friday.

“That’s what I see. The preparation — I’m not with them at all times, but I know that when they come into these meetings, right, when they go home and come into these meetings, they have the same detail and same preparation and same knowledge of the game plan as they had going into Detroit, going into last year’s Detroit [game], going into last year’s Tampa Bay [game], whatever. To me, that’s a sign that they’re handling it well.”

Look, you’re giddy. I know. But we need to do some tempering here. Let’s not go overboard. The Eagles are not without their flaws and reasons for worry. Lane Johnson, who is merely the finest right tackle, and perhaps the finest offensive lineman, in the league, left Sunday’s game in the second quarter after suffering a concussion. He didn’t play thereafter, and, given the nature of head trauma, there’s no way to know when he will be healthy enough to return to the lineup. That the Eagles have their bye next week is a benefit; it will give Johnson some time to heal.

But the fall-off in their offense’s performance after his departure was telling and concerning, as is their continued troubles on special teams. The Eagles were coasting Sunday, up, 20-0, with less than two minutes left in the first half, until they allowed the Cowboys’ KaVontae Turpin to zoom through their kickoff coverage team for a 62-yard return. It set up a field goal and reversed the game’s momentum; it gave Dallas life. Add that costly mistake to an inconsistent punter in Arryn Siposs and a shaky punt-return game with Britain Covey, and special teams coordinator Michael Clay has been fortunate so far that his unit hasn’t cost the Eagles a game — and will be fortunate if it doesn’t.

Sunday wasn’t that game. Sunday was a perfect capstone to a remarkable 72 hours in Philadelphia sports. It was ugly to watch and hard to stomach at times, but it was perfect just the same.

A team that might yet be the best in Major League Baseball. A team that, at the moment, is the best in pro football. Savor it.

Mike Sielski:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/the-eagles-win-over-the-cowboys-proves-they-re-the-best-team-in-the-nfl-savor-it-philly/ar-AA132w2z