The Eagles handed the Cowboys a lifeline on Monday night.
What looked like a strong start in Philadelphia has already started to crack, and the latest blow was a 27-7 beatdown at the hands of a Bears team starting its third-string quarterback, Case Keenum. Jalen Hurts was healthy.
Jonathan Greenard was back from a pec injury. None of it mattered.
Philadelphia got rolled in front of the whole country on Monday Night Football.
That result changes the shape of the NFC East. Dallas sits in third place after three weeks, but the door to the division title is wide open because the Eagles have not looked like the juggernaut they were billed as before the season.
The warning signs were there even before Monday. Philadelphia barely escaped an upset against the 0-3 Tennessee Titans in Week 2, and the week before that, Washington pushed them to the edge in a game that was one two-point conversion away from overtime. The 2-0 record looked clean on paper, but it never told the full story.
The offensive issues have been obvious to anyone watching. According to Sheil Kapadia of The Ringer, Monday night was Philadelphia’s worst offensive performance of the last four seasons by EPA per drive. On nine possessions, the Eagles punted four times, turned it over three times, and scored one touchdown.
The defense, meanwhile, has not been the safety net it was supposed to be. Through three games, Philadelphia ranks 23rd in EPA per play and total EPA, and 20th in success rate, per Sumer Sports. The numbers are ugly both against the pass and the run: 23rd in dropback EPA and 27th in EPA per rush.
That matters because the schedule is about to get much tougher. The Eagles have already faced Washington, Tennessee, and the Bears with their third-string quarterback. Coming up are the Cowboys twice, plus the Rams, Seahawks, 49ers, and Jaguars.
Nobody is calling Philadelphia a bad team. They’ll still be a hard out most weeks. But right now, they do not look nearly as dangerous as their talent suggested they would before the season.
That is where Dallas comes in.
The Cowboys gave away a win on Sunday afternoon, but the bigger picture still looks encouraging. If the defense keeps taking even small steps forward, the offense should be good enough to keep them in the hunt against anyone.
Baltimore was expected to handle Dallas in Rio, and the game still showed just how good the Ravens are. Even with a first-time head coach and a 30-year-old offensive coordinator, Dallas dragged itself back from a two-score deficit and was only two yards from pulling off the win.
The Cowboys still need to beat Philadelphia at least once, and they have to start finding ways to finish close games. Brian Schottenheimer cannot afford a repeat of Sunday.
But after three weeks, the race in the NFC East looks a lot less settled than it did before kickoff in Week 1. If anything, the Cowboys and Eagles look far closer than anyone would have guessed.
In Other News...
Jerry Jones Just Turned Cowboys Loss Into An Accountability Fight
The Cowboys left Maracan Stadium with more than just a loss to the Ravens. A sequence of shaky play-calling helped turn a promising stretch into a field goal, and the late-game clock management only added to the frustration as Dallas tried to regroup from a trip that exposed some familiar issues on offense. With the Texans up next, the attention around the defeat has already shifted from what happened on the field to who should answer for it.
Jerry Jones made sure the conversation did not stay on the scoreboard. The Cowboys owner and general manager publicly questioned the coaching staff's decisions, while offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer accepted responsibility for a key third-down call. For a team trying to steady itself before another divisional test on the calendar, the bigger question now is whether this becomes a one-game critique or the start of a broader accountability push. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Safety Crisis May Force A Move Faster Than Expected
Early in the 2026 season, the Cowboys are already dealing with a thin safety room after injuries have hit Malik Hooker, P.J. Locke and Jalen Thompson. The result is a depth chart that suddenly looks vulnerable, and it has pushed Dallas toward evaluating outside help before the problem gets any worse.
Several names are already in the mix as the team weighs its next step, including Caleb Ransaw, Cole Wisniewski, Donovan McMillon and free agent Donovan Wilson. However the Cowboys choose to patch the spot, the urgency is real, because safety is one of the few areas where an early-season injury pileup can force a move faster than a team planned. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Rookie Defender Made A Strong Case In Brazil
The Cowboys trip to Brazil ended with a crushing loss to the Ravens on a last-second field goal, but the game still offered a useful early look at several rookies on Dallas defense. Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence, Jaishawn Barham and LT Overton all had moments that stood out in a game that gave the staff plenty to evaluate beyond the final score, especially with the spotlight on how the young players handled a high-pressure setting far from home.
There were encouraging flashes in the groups performance, and at least one of those rookies made a strong case with the kind of play that tends to catch coaches attention quickly. Still, the outing also showed the usual rookie growing pains, with each player leaving Brazil having given Dallas reasons to feel better about the future and reasons to keep coaching the details moving forward. [Read more 🡒]