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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Ivan Lambert

Eagles ahead of the NFC East in Week 3

The Eagles were the only NFC East team to look good in Week 3.

The Commanders were drilled at home by the Bills 37-3. While the Cowboys and Giants both lost on the road. The Cowboys defense was run over literally by the Cardinals 28-16, while the Giants couldn’t keep up with the 49ers 30-12. The Eagles went on the road and exhibited they were clearly the better team than the 2-0 Bucs, winning 25-11

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  •  Eagles 3-0
  • Cowboys 2-1
  • Commanders 2-1
  • Giants 1-2

Eagles: Quarterback Jalen Hurts made NFL history when he recorded his 29th rushing touchdown in only his 48th game. Even more noticeable is the fact that Hurts was a backup for the first 12 games of his career. Hurts and Cam Newton are the only NFL quarterbacks to rush for 10 or more touchdowns in multiple seasons. Hurts is the only one to do so in consecutive seasons. Hurts also connected with AJ Brown on nine receptions for 131 yards. D’Andre Swift accumulated 130 yards on his 16 rushing attempts.

Defensively, the Eagles limited the Buccaneers to only 174 total yards. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield was held to only 146 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception.

Cowboys: It was a rough week for the Cowboys. They spent the early part of the week talking about how they should be respected more as a dominant team. Then, they lost cornerback Trevon Diggs to a season-ending knee injury during practice.

Running back Tony Pollard gained 122 yards on 23 carries. However, the defense permitted Joshua Dobbs (hardly a proven NFL QB) to complete 80 percent of his passes. While the rushing defense allowed RB James Conner  98 yards on only 14 carries, including a touchdown. Dobbs added a 44-yard run, and the Cardinals embarrassed the Cowboys with 222 rushing yards.

Commanders: It was ugly. One of the worst games in the Super Bowl era for the franchise. The Commanders were sacked nine times, had five turnovers, including four Sam Howell interceptions and the defense did not sack Bills quarterback Josh Allen one time in 32 dropbacks. The Bills registered 15 quarterback hits. How long does Sam Howell survive at this rate? Washington only registered one quarterback hit.

There was plenty of blame to go around, both offensively and defensively. In particular, perhaps the game was a wake-up call for Eric Bieniemy as he further realized Howell is the first starting quarterback Bieniemy has had as an OC not named Mahomes. He knows he will need to make more adjustments immediately.

Giants: The Giants miss their stud athlete/running back Saquon Barkley. The Giants again went without a 100-yard rusher for the 13th consecutive game. Barkley went over 100 rushing yards in four games last season, all wins for the Giants. His open-field ability is elite and greatly helps Daniel Jones in the passing game.

Linebacker Micah McFadden led the team with 10 tackles and four tackles for a loss against the 49ers. Defensive tackle Leonard Williams had a good game with six tackles, two QB hits, and a half-quarterback sack to his credit.

 

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