Are Eagles 'licking their chop...

FRISCO, Texas — There was the overtime pick-six heard ’round the world.

But before it, there were the 192 rushing yards the Dallas Cowboys defense allowed. There were 21 unanswered Jacksonville Jaguars points in the second half, no sacks of Trevor Lawrence in the final three quarters or overtime.

So as much as quarterback Dak Prescott’s “frustrating” stat line became a pressing storyline outside the building, a far more pervasive concern pervades Cowboys headquarters.

Cowboys defenders are asking themselves: What has gone wrong the past two weeks? How have two teams whose records pale in comparison to Dallas’ taken the Cowboys to the wire?

“We talk about being one of the best defenses in the league,” safety Jayron Kearse said Tuesday from his locker. “And the past two weeks, we haven’t shown it at all. You are what you put on tape. At this point, we haven’t gotten the job done.”

‘Our offense should not put up 34 points and we lose the game’

It oversimplifies matters to say the Cowboys didn’t take the 1-12-1 Houston Texans and 6-8 Jacksonville Jaguars seriously the past two weeks. Sure, they left a Thanksgiving win over the New York Giants knowing how important the Christmas Eve matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles would be. But the majority of Dallas’ roster has stepped up to the task, be it an offense leading a 98-yard, game-winning drive in the final three minutes against the Texans or defenders who successfully secured three takeaways in the 40-34 OT loss to Jacksonville.

But Kearse didn’t mince words when speaking about the defensive effort and communication the past two weeks. He wondered whether some teammates came out “flat.”

Across the season, the Cowboys defense still ranks favorably. They’ve allowed the seventh-fewest points in the league (19.2), eighth-fewest yards (324.6) and third-fewest passing yards (191.6). Even their weakest-link run defense (24th) began settling in November.

But the past two weeks? Dallas has allowed 31.5 points per game, 415 total yards per contest and 262 passing yards. Across the league, no team has allowed more than 26.6 points or 399.2 yards per game this season. Only three have allowed more than 262 passing yards.

“He’s a good tackler. He can make a play on the ball,” Quinn said of Joseph. “You don’t want to see anyone get beat on a double-team that goes for a big one because that really comes down to your eye discipline. You’ve got to hope that when you make some of these mistakes, you don’t see the repeating of them.”

‘Licking their chops’

This week, the Eagles are watching that film.

Head coach Nick Sirianni said his team will prepare two versions of its game plan to face Dallas’ defense, one for MVP candidate Jalen Hurts and the other for backup quarterback Gardner Minshew. The 13-1 Eagles have not ruled Hurts out officially, but there is an expectation that they’ll rest his sprained throwing shoulder so it better heals before the playoffs. Hurts was listed as a non-participant in Tuesday’s walkthrough.

Either quarterback will benefit from an array of weapons, highlighted by receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, running back Miles Sanders and tight end Dallas Goedert, who caught two touchdowns from Minshew in last year’s Jets game and was activated from injured reserve this week.

Minshew would enter behind one of the league’s stoutest offensive lines, too — and against a defensive line whose fire has at least somewhat subsided in December.

The Cowboys defense will have their work cut out for them either way. Coaches and players alike expect teams to bully them with the running game and misdirection plays until they adequately respond.