Blogging The Boys
The gap between the Cowboys and Eagles is as big as ever after Philadelphia won their second Super Bowl on Sunday.
Poetic justice. This is not just the name of a song by Super Bowl LIX halftime performer Kendrick Lamar. It is also one way to describe the ending of the 2024 season from the perspective of a Dallas Cowboys fan. The team that reclaimed the NFC East division title over the Cowboys was hardly content with just their fourth straight playoff appearance, taking it all the way to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, and hoisting the Lombardi trophy by toppling the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22. The Philadelphia Eagles put a stamp on the season by being the absolute best team when it mattered the most, beating another division rival in the Washington Commanders to get there, and leaving the Cowboys’ “all in” effort that saw them on the couch for the entirety of the postseason at 7-10 as something of a new low for America’s Team.
The cherry on top is that in a lot of ways, the Eagles won their second ever championship by being great at a lot of things the Cowboys have either prided themselves on in the past (without similar results of course), or are looking to be great at under Brian Schottenheimer, or both. This was the last game for former Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore in the same role for the Eagles. He leaves as a Super Bowl champion to pursue his first head coaching gig with the New Orleans Saints, after also interviewing for the Cowboys opening that went to Schottenheimer.
Moore’s offense was a masterclass in being simple but executing at an elite level all season and trusting Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, and Saquon Barkley to win their individual matchups. This alone doesn’t guarantee the fact the Cowboys missed out on hiring their own homegrown talent as their next head coach, but the overall excellence from Nick Sirianni as head coach, Moore as OC, and Vic Fangio as defensive coordinator that steered the Eagles to a Super Bowl by being prepared between the lines, and playing to this advantage on gamedays, certainly leaves the Cowboys behind in yet another way.
Let’s take a look at a few other ways the Eagles beat the Cowboys at their own game to knock off the two-time defending champion Chiefs in New Orleans.
The Eagles defense sacked Patrick Mahomes six times and did not allow a play of more than 11 yards until the third quarter with a 34-0 lead already in hand. Kansas City only crossed midfield twice in this game, both in the second half while trailing big.
Vic Fangio’s defense did all of this without blitzing a single time, a magnus opus performance for the 66-year old NFL-lifer to get his first Super Bowl ring. The Eagles were able to win the line of scrimmage with just four all night, allowing them to...
