Nick Foles left the game in the fourth quarter with a head injury in the Eagles 17-3 loss to the Cowboys. Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com
It made no difference who threw the ball, who caught the ball or who was out with injury. The Philadelphia Eagles were facing a Dallas Cowboys team without DeMarco Murray and without Demarcus Ware. And that was no problem for the Cowboys.
Dallas' defense helped silence the Eagles while mistakes proved costly in what was easily the sloppiest game of the season for the Eagles. Nick Foles struggled to the tune of a 46.2 passer rating before leaving with a concussion. Matt Barkley came on to throw three interceptions in the fourth quarter as a disaster of a game ended with the Cowboys claiming the NFC East lead with a 17-3 win over the Eagles.
For the Eagles, it was their ninth straight loss at home.
It took 26:37 for either team to even score. After both teams struggled to even make it past midfield, the Cowboys drove to the Eagles 25 before a drive halted. It still resulted in a 38-yard field goal by Dan Bailey. That was the difference at halftime.
The Cowboys started the second half with the ball and led off the half with a six-minute drive to score the game's first touchdown, a one-yard run by Philip Tanner.
The Eagles countered with a field goal by Alex Henery from 31 yards out. That followed a 17-yard drive on 10 plays that saw the Eagles stall following a DeMeco Ryans interception.
The Eagles defense was certainly a positive in the game. Despite struggling to stop the Cowboys late, they did hold Dallas to a low-scoring first half. Ryans led the defense with eight tackles, a sack and an interception. Earl Wolff was second with five tackles and also intercepted a pass to close the first half.
The Cowboys were still able to ice the game with a nine-yard pass from Tony Romo to Terrence Williams with 9:28 to play in the game.
Foles stuggled, completing 11 of 29 passes for 80 yards. When Barkley came on in relief, he completed the same number of passes in 20 attempts for 129 yards. He also threw three interceptions and a fourth that was only negated due to an offsides call on Dallas.
LeSean McCoy was also silenced by the Cowboys defense. McCoy finished with 55 yards on 18 carries. McCoy and Riley Cooper tied for the team lead in receptions with six. Cooper led the team with 88 receiving yards.
Romo started to heat up in the second half. He finished completing 28 of 47 passes for 317 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions.
The Eagles, now at 3-4 on the season and 2-1 within the division, stay at home to face the New York Giants in Week 8 next Sunday.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Eagledelphia. Look for his Monday Review the morning after every Eagles game. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
