The Eagles D seemed to play Dak like the amateur that he is though tbh. He crumbled under the rush in a way that I dont think Romo would have, and for the first time this season it made me feel like Romo should start once he is fully healthy (he shouldnt rush back though). Beasley was also open enough in crucial situations where Dak should have thrown to him;. It's almost like he was intentionally trying to give Bryant a big game despite all of the coverage on him. I dont agree with you that Elliott wasnt given enough carries/plays; I remember him getting the ball on a good amount of carries (stats say 22). He also accumulated 148 all purpose yards, so what did you expect?
I've thought Romo was the better option when healthy regardless of Dak's performance so far. The Eagles flooded the middle of the field and blitzed in ways they hadn't according to the film so far according to the post game press and analysis. Good scheming on the part of Schwartz to change it up and put the pressure on. I didn't think Dak "crumbled" under the rush at all, he showed some excellent pocket skills even with the line collapsing on him pretty regularly (see this:
https://imgur.com/wnLwdP9 ) , and avoided sacks/fumbles. The Eagles gave Bryant regular 1 on 1 coverage and Beasely was often off the field in favor of a TE for more blocking, both caused by the regular blitzing. The deep out and the back shoulder throws were available but are the two most difficult kinds of throws to make, and that's where Dak showed Romo is still a superior option at this point. The two bad passes in the endzone that were picks/should have been picked were as much a play call problem as a poor decision.
I was livid with the play calling though. Linehan didn't call a good game/adjust soon enough to the different looks they were getting from the Eagle D. 1st and goal from the 5 and pass pass when your Olines strength is run blocking and you have Elliott makes no sense. The 3 and out with all passing in the next to last possession of regulation was also infuriating. Zeke had a reasonable amount of touches but he should have had more based on not only the tape from the Skins game, but based on how Schwarz was blitzing the fuck out of the passing game and flooding the short zones. When Zeke did get the ball he was mostly picking up big chunks like I knew he would, why put it on Dak against a good Pass D?
Other points of irritation were the almost constant special teams mistakes/penalties (all legitimate calls), and then the reffing on the holding call on the 60yd Zeke scamper and the lack of penalties on the Eagles. The call on Frederick was for doing something that occurs on basically every single outside run in football, and you can't tell me the Eagles played a nearly mistake free game.
All of that said, the coaching staff and Dak ultimately outplayed/coached Pederson's crew and Wentz. Wentz isn't allowed to or can't throw a pass more than 10yds down field, and Pederson punting within field goal range was a gift. Schwartz might have outschemed Linehan but Garrett > Pederson. Last year was fucking painful as a Cowboys fan, but appears to have been the necessary catalyst for change seen this year, in terms of both draft picks and getting the coaching staff to stop coaching to not lose. On the OT 4 and 1 sneak, video close up of Garrett shows him saying "Let's go for it, let's win this game". That and the punt fake were awesome.
The Pats blew out the Bills so badly this time that Rex was crying to the media that his playoff hopes are ruined. I just hope mastermind Belichick has a good reason for trading Jamie Collins to the Browns, kind of wtf move right now tbh.
Yeah no amount of money would have tempted me to bet for the Bills going into that game lol. I think Belichick has established himself enough as a judge of talent/mentality to be comfortable with whatever moves he makes. Collins must have really pissed him off to get dealt to the goddamn Browns. Fucking career graveyard.
