2022 Week 6 Recap: Eagles 26, Cowboys 17 (by Ross Jacobs)
The Eagles jumped on top of the Cowboys right from the start and capitalized on some early turnovers and a failed 4th down conversion to grab a quick 17-0 lead. It looked like the game might get completely out of hand, but the Cowboys slowly but surely ground their way back into the game. They clamped down on Hurts and the Eagles offense and didn't allow them to do much until the 4th quarter where Philly finally put things away. Even with everything going wrong early, the huge turnover differential in Philly's favor, Dallas was able to fight their way back into it and make it a close game towards the end, all with Cooper Rush at QB.
If Dallas had Dak here they might have won. I've been thoroughly impressed with how well they are playing, especially the defense. This really is a very strong team, a top 10 team and a legitimate threat to the Eagles. Philly has the tiebreaker right now and an extra win up but things can change fast. A few weeks ago I was absolutely sure they would walk away with this division but after watching this game I don't think it's so clear. The Cowboys are going to make it interesting for sure. It's strange to think about but these might be the two best teams in the NFC....
Fantasy Player Notes:
– Jalen Hurts started out the year on fire, the QB3 through the first 3 weeks but from weeks 4-6 he was QB5, still good but not at the tiptop like some people thought. In the past three weeks he only has one start over 20 points, (1/2) in RC's new lingo. He's just (4/2) for the entire season.
So what happened? Why have his numbers been down over the last three weeks? Two reasons: total passing attempts and rushing TDs . It really is as simple as that.
In the 4 games where he scored over 21 points he's averaging 33.5 attempts/g. In the 2 games where he was below 21 points (Jax and Dal), he only averaged 25 attempts/g.
In the 4 games where he scored over 21 points he scored 5 rushing TDs. In the 2 games under 21 points he only had 1 total rushing TD.
It's going to happen occasionally, nothing to worry about. Even his “bad” weeks are still pretty good. I do think expectations got a little out of hand after the first few weeks with everybody thinking they would be airing it out every week and Hurts could challenge Josh Allen for QB1. That seems unlikely at this point due to the nature of these two teams. The Bills will go as far as Allen can carry them. It's all on him. He has to throw a tremendous amount to win games. The Eagles have the luxury of going with a ground heavy attack when needed and that can hold Hurts back every now and then. I do think Hurts can pass Lamar and finish as the overall QB2 by the end of the year though.
– I didn't see a real preference between AJ Brown and Devonta Smith here. They are both matchup dependent WR2's. Smith is still a little undervalued because everyone thinks Brown is the alpha. It looks 50/50 to me.
– How does Dak coming back affect the Cowboys offense? Obviously it should be an uptick in both volume and efficiency. The offensive line is starting to gel a little which helps too. I think all this points to a bump for everyone across the board. A better pass game not only provides volume for the receivers but it creates more scoring opportunities for the RBs as well.
– Lamb's issues are well documented but he should be a WR1 with Dak, 1.5 at the least. Gallup could get into WR2 territory. Even Brown might be usable in the Flex or as a spot start. Zeke and Pollard are just like a million other RBs right now, TD dependent for a good week. You're going to get about a dozen carries and 2-3 catches from both and they need the TD to get into the top 20 each week. It's something.
– With Dalton Schultz out it's been a rotation between the two rookie TEs Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot. Hendershot has usually been the more productive but my eyes have been saying Ferguson is the better play. I think this game might have validated that opinion and launched Ferguson into the lead.
Not only did he outproduce Hendershot but he did so showing off a level of athleticism that we hadn't seen yet. His TD catch in particular was very impressive. He caught a pass in the flats with a defender closing quickly behind him but Ferguson knew where he was without looking, stopped on a dime and reversed his momentum the opposite direction from what you would expect, shook the defender with a little hop back juke, evaded a second defender and walked into the endzone. It was a very quick sequence of moves and doesn't look like much in real time but it's not often you see a 250lb TE move like that, making a defender miss in such close quarters. I'm not remotely claiming Ferguson is like Travis Kelce, but the awareness to know where the defender was without looking and the ability to stop, juke, and accelerate again reminded me a lot of Kelce's run after the catch abilities.
Here's the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Ck3mnLxns
Snap Counts of Interest:
70 = Goedert
63 = Smith
61 = Brown
42 = Watkins
44 = Sanders
17 = Gainwell
62 = Lamb
61 = Brown
51 = Gallup
41 = Elliott
27 = Pollard
41 = Hendershot
34 = Ferguson
