The Philadelphia Eagles lost against the Dallas Cowboys at home on Saturday night. The final score of this game was 51 to 26. The Eagles decided to rest most of their starters during this game as they have clinched a playoff spot.
Jason Kelce got the honorary first snap at the beginning of this game before Brett Toth was subbed in his place. This was a classy move as Kelce has been the leader of the Eagles offensive line all year. Devonta Smith also got some snaps in this game as he made his mark in the first half.
Philadelphia kept this game close in the first half before Dallas and their starters took over in the second half. This article will recap the Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 18 game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Gardner Minshew had a rough day
Minshew struggled in this game against the Dallas defense. In his defense though he was playing with second and third-string players on offense for most of the night. The Dallas pass rush harassed him for most of this game, which made it difficult for him to make plays on offense. Minshew got sacked three times throughout the night. He did however limit turnovers for most of the most part. He had one interception towards the end of this matchup. Minshew threw the ball high, which ended up being tipped by J.J. Arcega Whiteside and fell in the hands of Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch. Furthermore, the Eagles’ receivers also dropped a lot of balls, and the offense had a lot of costly penalties. Minshew ended the night with 186 yards passing, two touchdowns and one interception.
The Eagles Receiving Core
Gardner Minshew did throw a couple of touchdown passes. The first touchdown pass was to former Buffalo quarterback turned tight end Tyree Jackson. Minshew threw a short shovel pass to Jackson near the goal line for the three-yard touchdown pass. This was Jackson’s first NFL touchdown.
.@Tyree3Jackson‘s first catch ends in a TD!#DALvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/4a2IkbZeMS
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 9, 2022
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The other receiver who got on the board with a touchdown is Quez Watkins. Minshew threw a short pass where Watkins managed to avoid defenders and break tackles for a 36-yard touchdown pass. Watkins was the leading receiver in terms of yardage in this game as he had 86 yards. DeVonta Smith did manage to make history in this game. He broke the rookie franchise record for receiving yards as he had 916 yards during the regular season. He will be a key part of the Eagles’ success as they head into the playoffs.
The Eagles Running BacksÂ
The Eagles started rookie third-string running back Kenneth Gainwell as Philadelphia decided to rest Jordan Howard and Boston Scott. Miles Sanders is still dealing with an injury, but he would have probably sat out too.
Gainwell had an impressive day. He had 12 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles running back did this through his speed and his ability to be elusive as he can make a lot of defenders miss. Jason Huntley also got playing time. He had a productive day sharing carries with Gainwell. Huntley had 51 yards on the night. Philadelphia also made history in the rushing department as they set the franchise record for the most rushing yards in a season.
The Eagles defense struggled all nightÂ
Philadelphia’s second-string defense got picked apart by Dak Prescott. He had 295 yards and five touchdowns. There were multiple instances where Prescott had wide-open receivers down the field. Cowboys’ receiver Cedrick Wilson burned the Eagles’ defense all game. Wilson had 119 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The defensive line also could not get a lot of pressure on Prescott. He had a lot of time to throw in the pocket the whole night. He did manage to get sacked once but it did not move the Dallas defense back any. Overall, The Eagles’ second-string defense was really no match for a potent first-string Dallas offense. This concludes this Philadelphia Eagles’ Week 18 game recap
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