The Philadelphia Eagles suffered their second consecutive blowout loss to an NFC contender, falling 33-13 in Dallas on Sunday night.
The dismal outings marked the second consecutive 20-plus point defeat after Philly getting pulverized by the San Francisco 49ers 42-19 in Week 13. It marked the first back-to-back losses by 20 or more points since Weeks 11-12, 2015, when Chip Kelly was the Eagles coach.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts went 18-of-27 passing for 197 yards and 30 rushing yards and generated his first game with zero touchdowns as the Eagles offense put up two measly field goals and fumbled three times in seven non-end-of-half drives.
The signal-caller believes the recent struggles are merely a cold, not a symptom of a more severe illness.
"It's something that we're going through, not necessarily stuck in," Hurts said via the team's official transcript. "We've to be able to learn from it and we will. There's and eagerness too just to continue to press on."
Philly hasn't played a complete game in weeks, and all season has seemed a tad off. The Eagles barely eked out wins in previous contests, needing comebacks to beat Buffalo and Kansas City following the bye week.
Nick Sirianni's club has overcome inconsistent play in one aspect or another to stack wins all season. At times, the defense has gotten lit up. At others, the offense turned it over or couldn't gain traction. Early in the season, the other side of the ball picked up the other. The past two weeks, both sides cratered.
"We've got to internalize that and we've got to make sure that the adversity that we're facing right now, we're able to get through and make sure we get better from it," Sirianni said.
It's not panic time in Philly, despite the embarrassment to a division rival. Philly still sits at 10-3, and while they lost the lead in the NFC East for now, they still control their future in the division.
Looking at the larger picture, the Eagles came through their toughest five-game stretch 3-2. The final two being blowouts stings, but it's not a terrible outcome given that they could have conceivably gone 0-5.
"I think the biggest thing for this team now is really find out who the dudes are," veteran defensive tackle Fletcher Cox said. "I've been part of teams where the dudes in the locker room do something about it, and I've been on teams where it kind of crumbles. But now it's time to see the real leadership ... leaders on this team, myself included, step up and do something about it."
The Eagles face Seattle next Monday night in prime time before finishing against the Giants, Cardinals and Giants again.
