Eagles Team Grades: Young Stars Provide Hope For Future In Win Vs. Cowboys
By Kevin McGuire
The Philadelphia Eagles closed the books on the 2016 season with a home 27-13 victory against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in Lincoln Financial Field. Beating the Cowboys is always nice, but doing so knowing the Cowboys were essentially taking a knee on the game in order to avoid injuries to key players as they prepare to hold home-field advantage in the NFC Playoffs is a little deflating. Regardless, the Eagles had a job to do and young stars, such as Carson Wentz, Zach Ertz and Jordan Hicks provided hope of a bright future for the Birds.
Offense: C
Wentz ended his rookie campaign by passing for 245 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a perfectly placed touchdown in the end zone for tight end Ertz, who was on the receiving end of both touchdown passes. Ertz led all players with 139 receiving yards on 13 receptions. However, the Eagles need wide receivers to help out the quarterback as well. Dorial Green-Beckham had one catch for 15 yards and Nelson Agholor had no catches and one rushing attempt for a loss of one yard.
Byron Marshall was the leading rusher for the Eagles, with 42 yards. Darren Sproles added 32 yards and Terrell Watson had a rushing touchdown. The Eagles were without a turnover and 6-of-14 on third down, but just 2-of-4 inside the red zone. On one drive, the Eagles managed to move the ball one yard following an interception by the defense and ended the drive with a turnover on downs from the Dallas 34-yard line.
Defense: B
It would be difficult to give the Eagles a really high grade for holding the Cowboys to fewer than 200 yards of offense because Dallas was going through the motions with backups and third-stringers for the majority of the game after pulling starting quarterback Dak Prescott after the first quarter and giving Ezekiel Elliott the day off. But if the Eagles needed a reason to feel good about the defense, Jordan Hicks gave it to them. The second-year linebacker out of Texas came up with two interceptions to go with his team-leading five tackles. He was also credited with two pass deflections, one of which led to one of his interceptions. The Eagles held Dallas to just 15 first downs and only allowed one red zone score on two trips by the Cowboys, but once again, it was against the backups, as the Cowboys prepare for an NFC playoff run.
Vinny Curry and Marcus Smith II each came up with a sack in the final game of the season, and Brandon Graham had two tackles for a loss to lead the team.
Special Teams: B-
Kicker Caleb Sturgis has generally been one of the more reliable players on the Eagles, which is why he may feel disappointed in missing one of his two field goal attempts on Sunday. He can be given a pass, as the kick was from 49 yards out, and all of the best kickers will miss one from that distance from time to time. Regardless, Sturgis proved himself to be a valuable special teams asset for the Eagles this season, and this game did nothing to change that.
Punter Donnie Jones punted the ball four times, totaling 200 yards in punt yardage and downing one kick inside the 20-yard line with no touchbacks. Byron Marshall returned a pair of kickoffs for a total of 36 yards, and the Eagles had no punt return opportunities on three Dallas punts.
Coaching: B
The Eagles were expected to win Sunday's game with the Cowboys using the game to take things relatively easy and rest key players before entering the NFC Playoffs in two weeks (after a bye week). That said, we can give credit to Doug Pederson for coming up with whatever was needed to end the season with a win even under these circumstances. The four penalties for 61 yards was not good, but the Eagles did well on third down conversions and never shied away from sticking with what was working between Wentz and Ertz just to try and get others involved too much. The defense turned in a good effort as well, even if they had the advantages on the field for the bulk of the game.
What's Next?
The Eagles can now put the 2016 season behind them and begin the work on improving the team in 2017. The NFL Draft in the spring should be pivotal to finding some help for some positions of need, be it running back, wide receiver or in the defensive secondary. The Eagles should have plenty of players to scout in the upcoming college all-star games and the NFL scouting combine before the draft.
Ending the season on a two-game winning streak will be sold as building momentum into the offseason, but that will be nothing more than coach speak from the franchise in the coming weeks and months. The 2016 season showed the Eagles have plenty of work to do in order to build a winning team for years to come.
