Are Eagles so much better than the Cowboys?

About 3 weeks ago, I was presented with a topic of discussion with a fellow football dork and wondering with Dallas' offseason moves, are they any closer to challenging in the NFC East for a playoff run. This brought up comparisons to the rest of the division including the Eagles who finished also like the Cowboys at 8-8.

I felt that Dallas was a better team overall than the Eagles but ofcourse well behind the eventual superbowl champs Giants.  I have been examiing every Eagles game from the 2011 season to either confirm or reject my claim.

Here are my results broken down 4 games at a time.

Weeks 1-4 vs Rams, Falcons, Giants and 49ers

 Recall that most NFL fans already had the Eagles had a preseason Super Bowl favorite especially with Vince Young remark referring to Eagles as a "Dream Team".  But the Eagles had some concerns about their offensive line prompting them to select Baylor guard Danny Watkins in the first round of the draft and their young linebacker corp on the defense.

I begin with the Eagles first defensive play from scrimmage, week I against the Rams.  This is 1st and 10 and notice how extremely wide the ends play on the Eagles front.  This instantly gives the offense an advantage on running plays as the offensive tackles can easily bait those ends upfield taking them out of the play or bypass the ends and go directly to that inexperienced LB corp.  Watch happens as the play develops.


 The play is a run to the (offensive) right off the right tackle between the tight end or the C gap (Red Arrow). Notice how easily the ends are neutralized by the TE on one side and the LT on the other. Also take note that #97 Cullen Jenkins, another prized free agent signee has outside leverage on the guard to the hole. The RB Steven Jackson should read that and cut it back to the giant hole off the LG.

That's exactly what he does making the proper read as Jenkins fills the hole by himself. Problem is no one is left backside to stop the cut-back resulting in a 47-yard TD to open the season. The "analyst" on the broadcast said the TD was the result of weakside LB over pursuit and not getting off the block to make the tackle. I think the LB shares partial responsibility but I put more blame on the DT in the A-gap on the center's outside shoulder. He gets out of position by 3 yards and Trent Cole, the end, getting so easily pinned to the outside thanks to their extremely wide spread which we saw pre-snap.



Not much else went right for the Rams from then on as Jackson was hurt running for the opening score. Sam Bradford was also knocked out of the game in the 2nd half as the Eagles rolled to a 31-13 win.