Eagles have no one to blame but themselves following breakdown loss to Cowboys after blowing massive lead
The Philadelphia Eagles are definitely going to be angry at themselves, and potentially others in the building, after their Week 12 loss at the hands of the rival Dallas Cowboys. In a game where the team donning green felt comfortable early on, the wheels came off when it mattered most, and Dak Prescott got to look Philly straight in the face and chuckle when it was all said and done.
Eagles blow huge lead and allow 24 unanswered points to Cowboys in latest loss
The description of this loss can truly be summed up in one word. Collapse. The Eagles were dominant for basically the entire first half. The offense was humming, and the defense had the explosive Dallas offense searching for answers. Then, the second half occurred.
Eagles allow 24 unanswered points to lose to the Cowboys 24-21. pic.twitter.com/gPsaEt9BWH
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Philadelphia refused to push the ball downfield through the air, and the impact of the wide receiver wasn't nearly the same, in comparison to the first half. Now, add in timely turnovers on offense and special teams. That's the perfect recipe for blowing a huge lead, and that is exactly what the Eagles did in a massive game for the playoff picture.
Now, looking forward, both the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams (with the Seattle Seahawks lurking) are in contention to steal Philly's top overall seed in the NFC. This was an inexcusable loss, but Nick Sirianni's team found a way to do it.
According to Tucker Bagley, the Eagles had not blown a 21-point lead since Andy Reid's first game as head coach for Philly. That was Week 1 of the 1999 season against Arizona. That is an unfathomable sort of statistic that shows that the Eagles beat themselves in more ways than one.
Patriots Defense Made Key Adjustment to Beat Joe Flacco, Bengals
Facing a Cincinnati Bengals team without injured quarterback Joe Burrow and suspended star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase should’ve been a chance for the New England Patriots to feast on defense, but instead the unit needed to make a key adjustment to hold veteran backup Joe Flacco at bay late in Week 12’s 26-20 win on the road.
The adjustment was made on the final drive at Paycor Stadium, when the Patriots finally sent extra rushers after 40-year-old Flacco. As Next Gen Stats, via NFL Pro revealed, “The Patriots did not blitz until the final Bengals drive, in which they blitzed four times, with Joe Flacco completing just 1 of 4 passes (12 yards) against the blitz. Despite their low blitz rate (10.3%, their 2nd-lowest this season), the Patriots still generated pressure on 41.0% of their pass rushes.”
Sending the blitz proved worth the risk when the Pats sent “the house on 4th & 10, K’Lavon Chaisson gets a hit on the QB, and Marcus Jones breaks up the throw to Mike Gesicki,” per Taylor Kyles of Patriots on CLNS.
The telling contribution by Jones capped a clutch performance from the nickelback, who also scored on a pick-six to help dig the Patriots out of an early hole. Jones’ theft was the result of cleverly disguised coverage, making this game a strong endorsement of the defensive staff led by stand-in coordinator Zak Kuhr.
Patriots Needed Sophisticated Defense
A rare dismal showing from QB1 Drake Maye left the Patriots needing to lean on their defense in Cincinnati. Fortunately, Kuhr had a nuanced plan based around sophisticated coverage concepts and pressure packages.
The layers of disguise in their coverage showed up most effectively when Jones picked off Flacco and went to the house in the second quarter. It happened because “on their first pick-six since the 2023 season (Kyle Dugger vs. Miami), New England plays the early down in quarters coverage with a four-deep, three-under zone coverage,” according to Patriots.com Staff Writer Evan Lazar.
This coverage design fooled Flacco, who saw “the deep-zone coverage taking away his downfield routes, and thinks he’s just going to harmlessly check it down into the flat to RB Tahj Brooks. Instead, NCB Marcus Jones was baiting Flacco to throw the check-down the entire time, and jumped the flat for a 33-yard pick-six that was a sweet, sweet play by Jones.”
Changing the picture on the back end was necessary to keep a battle-tested veteran with Flacco’s level of experience guessing. Yet for all the rotations in the secondary, the Patriots still needed a more direct approach to seal the win.
Zak Kuhr Adjusted Core Plan in Key Moment
When Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel hired Terrell Williams to be his defensive coordinator, he hoped for a defense based on getting pressure with only four rushers. Williams has taken a leave of absence to deal with health problems, but Kuhr has mostly stuck to the same blueprint, at least until the waning moments against the Bengals.
That’s when Kuhr pushed the blitz button to great effect. His more aggressive approach worked to unleash edge-rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, while also helping fellow edge Harold Landry III notch the Patriots’ only sack.
Registering just a single sack shows the Patriots still have a problem getting to quarterbacks often enough. The defense has recorded a mere 23 QB takedowns, per Pro Football Reference, because there isn’t a bluechip pass-rusher in the lineup.
It means Kuhr will be wise to continue drawing up elaborate ways to send additional rushers to wreck the pocket. Blitzing can offset the absence of elite talent on the edges, while it will also help the defense compensate for any further below-par days from Maye and the offense.
