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PHILADELPHIA — In the aftermath of the Eagles' most lopsided loss of the season, a 38-21 setback to the Dallas Cowboys, the locker room offered a study in contrasts. On one side, running back Saquon Barkley and left guard Landon Dickerson embodied accountability and frustration, both having battled through injuries only to fall short. On the other, key defensive players declined to speak, their silence as telling as any words.
Barkley, who missed two games with a hamstring injury, played through a back injury suffered on the second snap of the game. He was seen pacing the sideline, encouraging teammates, before facing reporters with a somber tone. "I truly love this game, and I feel like if you're able to go, sometimes you gotta push your body to the limit," Barkley said. "And I'm trying. It's just not responding the way I want it to respond right now."
Dickerson, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, returned after missing five games with a knee injury and was visibly emotional. He called his performance "(expletive) frustrating" and took full responsibility. "These guys work their (butt) off to come in here and compete every day, and yeah, I wasn't good enough," he said. At 6-foot-6 and 329 pounds, Dickerson was near tears as he spoke, a stark display of the anguish that should accompany such a defeat.
Yet that same anguish was absent from the defensive side. The Eagles failed to record a single sack or quarterback hit on Dak Prescott, who threw for 212 yards and three touchdowns. They also allowed running back Javonte Williams to gash them for 155 yards on 25 carries. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter, edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, and cornerback Riq Woolen all declined interview requests, leaving their performances to speak for themselves—Carter managed just two tackles, Greenard was invisible, and Woolen was beaten for a touchdown by CeeDee Lamb.
Key Analysis
The Eagles' offense, which had been the primary culprit through the first six games, finally found a rhythm against Dallas. A 9-minute, 16-second drive to open the second half culminated in Tanner McKee's 4-yard touchdown pass to Makai Lemon, giving Philadelphia a 21-20 lead. But the defense immediately surrendered a scoring drive, and the offense stalled on its next possession, leading to a punt and another Cowboys score. The sequence underscored the team's inability to complement one another in critical moments.
With the loss, the Eagles fall to 2-5, matching the worst start of head coach Nick Sirianni's tenure. In 2021, Sirianni used a flowerpot metaphor to illustrate growth; that team rallied to a 7-3 finish and a playoff berth. This season, the flowers have wilted. Injuries have certainly taken a toll—right tackle Lane Johnson retired abruptly, center Cam Jurgens was traded, wide receiver DeVonta Smith has been sidelined multiple times, and quarterback Jalen Hurts is out for the season with blood clots. But Sirianni refuses to use those absences as an excuse. "I'll never use (injuries) as an excuse because at the end of the day, all that matters is if we won or lost," he said.
General manager Howie Roseman has already begun reshaping the roster, trading Jurgens for a 2028 second-round pick and A.J. Brown for a 2028 first-rounder. More moves could come before the Nov. 10 trade deadline, with pending free agents like tight end Dallas Goedert, Woolen, and defensive tackle Moro Ojomo, as well as edge rusher Nolan Smith, all potential candidates. The real decisions, however, will come after the season, when the futures of Sirianni and first-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion will be evaluated. Roseman may also consider drafting Hurts' eventual successor, accelerating a timeline originally set for 2028.
Sirianni remains defiant, insisting, "We've got 10 more games, and then we'll see after that. No one's writing off anything." But the signs of surrender—particularly on defense—suggest that the writing may already be on the wall.
Originally reported by yahoo.