Zone Read: Eagles-Cowboys, the Day After

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CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN…

1. What was going on with Jenkins and Bryant pre-game?

Here’s the video footage from warmups:

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Said Jenkins: “We were talking about our plans for Christmas. He invited me over, and I told him he could just come to my place. …We were trying to work out the logistics.”

After the Thanksgiving Day game, Bryant sounded off and said he couldn’t wait to play the Eagles again. On Sunday night, he backed up his words with a three-touchdown performance.

2. What happened on the opening kickoff?

The Eagles won the toss and chose to receive. But Dan Bailey’s kick ended up being short. Josh Huff was the return man, and Brad Smith was in front of him. Neither player fielded the ball.

“It all falls on me at the end,” Huff told reporters. “As a returner back there, I’m supposed to communicate, and I’m supposed to make the calls. The wind just caught it. There was nothing we could do about it. You just have to move on. That itself gave Dallas all the momentum, and we had to fight back, claw back, and we just came up short.”

The turnover gave the Cowboys’ offense the ball at the 18 yard line. They needed five plays to get in the end zone, courtesy of a DeMarco Murray 1-yard run.

Special teams have been great for the Eagles all season long, but that botched play hurt them.

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THE NUMBER THAT MATTERS: 34

That’s how many giveaways the Eagles have on the season. It’s the most in the NFL.

On Sunday night, they turned it over four times. There was the special teams turnover to start the game. And with the Eagles down 28-24 in the third, Mark Sanchez had Zach Ertz wide open in the middle of the field on 3rd-and-7, but his throw was off-target, bounced off of Ertz’s hand and was intercepted.

“The safety is diving for the ball, but that ball has to be right on the six of Ertz,” Sanchez said. “He’s running from my left to right, so that ball has got to hit him right on the six. It opened up perfect. It was a great call and great execution except for the throw. It’s unacceptable.

“There is no excuse for missing Ertz over the middle and then trying to force the ball late at the end. I can’t commit two turnovers like that. I didn’t play well enough to win, and that’s why we lost.”

Meanwhile, with the Eagles down eight in the fourth quarter, Brent Celek took a hit after a 14-yard completion and fumbled.

“I don’t know,” Celek said. “I don’t know how I fumbled. Obviously, I fumbled, but I just have to hold onto the ball. There’s just no excuse. I’ve got to hold onto it. I wasn’t extending the ball. I guess it just got knocked loose. I should’ve held onto it. Even looking at the replay, he didn’t do anything crazy to rip it out or anything. I don’t know.”

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THE BEST OF 140

Colts don’t really have much to play for next week. Already have division won, & highly unlikely to catch Broncos or Pats for 1st round bye. — Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) December 15, 2014

He’s right. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like the Colts are going to rest their starters. But Indianapolis has already clinched the NFC South. To earn a bye, the 10-4 Colts would have to overtake either the 11-3 Broncos or the 11-3 Patriots. But they would need to make up two games because both New England and Denver beat Indy earlier this season and own the tiebreaks. In other words, the Colts need one of those two teams to lose both their remaining games. Highly unlikely. The Eagles, of course, need the Colts to beat the Cowboys next week.

“Eagles QB can’t hit a TE on the corner route” could be a 40 minute long video this year. — Noah Becker (@Noah_Becker) December 15, 2014

You might have undersold it, Noah. I think we could probably get to an hour.

That backside screen is the ugliest play in football. How can they keep calling it with its miserable failure rate? — EaglesRewind (@EaglesRewind) December 15, 2014

The last time the Eagles ran a successful running back screen to LeSean McCoy or Darren Sproles, I had far fewer grey hairs, and the size of my Manu Ginobli-like bald spot was a lot smaller. Those screens have been a complete disaster all season long.

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