Catching Up

The Eagles are coming off a frustrating loss and now go on the road to play a key rival. This will be the home opener for Dallas and they’ve already played two really good teams. This is both a big challenge and a big opportunity for the Eagles.

Dallas has the #4 offense in the league and they will be a handful for the Eagles. Dak Prescott is healthy and has had some big games against the Eagles. Slowing them down will not be easy.

If the Eagles can win, they go 2-1 and stay atop the NFC East. The upcoming schedule is tough so every game is critical right now. You don’t want to go on a losing streak. Dallas looks like they could be a good team this year so getting a win over them, especially on the road, would be huge.

We’re still trying to figure out what to make of the 2021 season. Are the Eagles a playoff contender or is this a year mainly focused on getting better for the future? After the opener, the Eagles looked legit. After last week, it was harder to tell. The Eagles lost to a good team, but they were sloppy and lost. This week will help us to figure out what our expectations should be.

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Big news on the injury front for this week. We already knew Brandon Graham and Brandon Brooks were out. Jordan Mailata is now out as well, although he’s not going on IR. He got hurt on Thursday and will miss the game. That means we get Andre Dillard at LT.

That is…scary interesting.

Dillard played well in the preseason finale, but he struggled for much of the summer. The coaches praised him, but just about every reporter chronicled his ups and downs, and there were a lot more downs. We know Dillard has talent and potential, but he’s also had plenty of problems.

This game is a huge opportunity for him. A good game would show the Eagles and other teams that he can play well in the NFL. It would help the Eagles in a big division game. It would help Jalen Hurts in a game where the offense is likely going to have to score points to win. I don’t think the Eagles can score less than 17 and feel good about their chances. They will need to find the end zone a few times.

Rodney McLeod is out. That hurts. Eagles safeties have not made many plays so far this year. Heck, have they made any? You can bet Dallas will try to challenge them.

Roster Move: Eagles have activated TE Zach Ertz from the Reserve/COVID-19 list. pic.twitter.com/QYAlAxlsul

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 25, 2021

The Eagles didn’t do much with their TEs last week. That could be a point of emphasis this week. Get the ball to Ertz and Dallas Goedert.

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Dallas has some issues of their own.

The Cowboys' Front 7 will be without Demarcus Lawrence, Keanu Neal, Dorance Armstrong, Neville Gallimore, Carlos Watkins, Bradlee Anae and Trysten Hill against the Eagles on Monday.

— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) September 25, 2021

Dallas still  has some good pieces up front, but this helps the Eagles offense in a big way. You wonder if the Eagles will use tempo as a weapon to try and wear down the short-handed Dallas D.

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I’m really interested to find out if the Eagles defense is for real. They are 2nd in scoring defense and 4th in yards allowed. That’s a great start.

Is it real?

After a slow start, the defense shut down the Falcons for three quarters. They shut down the Niners for the first half, then had some struggles in the second half.

The Eagles have faced two veteran QBs. They have handled explosive TEs (George Kittle, Kyle Pitts). They have not faced a good OL or good set of WRs. That will change on Monday night.

I’m curious to see how the defense handles the Cowboys offense. They have a lot of weapons. They can beat you on the ground or in the air. They have a mobile QB. They have a deep group of skill players.

I think the Eagles defense has good talent, but I don’t know if this is legitimately a Top 10 group. We’ll find out a lot on Monday night, especially about the secondary. Things are about to get very real.

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A personal note…

I haven’t been posting as much for the last month or so. Nothing is wrong. I’m not sick. I’m not trapped in Kate Beckinsale’s sex dungeon. Rich Paul didn’t tell me to do this in support of Ben Simmons.

My day job has been insane for most of the summer, and really for most of the pandemic. For the past 6 weeks, I’ve been working 9 to 9 every day. That puts me home at 930, needing to watch tape, listen to interviews or read about what happened so I can then write.

Needless to say, I’ve been struggling to get that stuff done. My apologies for that.

I have been writing about the Eagles in some for or another for 18 years. I’ve seen a lot of writers come and go because real life overwhelmed them and they chose to give up on covering football.

That won’t happen with me.

My company is hiring a bunch of new people to be able to handle our increased business. I will get back to a normal schedule. Please just be patient and know that I’m doing the best I can.

Thank you for all your support over the years.

And let’s hope the Eagles give us plenty of good things to talk about, starting with a win on Monday night.

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