PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles finally found some offense Monday night. Unfortunately, they seemed to have misplaced their defense.
The Dallas Cowboys piled up 416 yards and handed the Eagles their fifth straight loss, 38-21, at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Eagles (2-5) briefly reclaimed the lead in the third quarter. Then Dallas (3-4) scored 18 unanswered points. Philadelphia’s longest losing streak since 2016 is becoming something considerably worse than an early-season slump.
Here are five things learned Monday night:
1. The defense is now part of the problem
For weeks, Vic Fangio’s defense kept the Eagles competitive while their offense sputtered. Against Dallas, the defense did most of the sputtering.
The Cowboys entered ranked 31st in rushing yards. They piled up 204, including 155 by Javonte Williams. Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes without an interception. Dallas scored on its first five possessions and converted eight of 13 third downs.
“We need to fix that, because when an offense is able to run the ball like that, it opens up the whole offense,” linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. said. “We got to stop the run.”
The Eagles have invested heavily in their defense, yet couldn’t stop the run, pressure Prescott or get off the field. What had been their strength suddenly looks like another weakness.
2. The offense showed life, but not enough
For the first time in weeks, the Eagles resembled a functioning offense. At least for stretches.
Saquon Barkley and Dameon Pierce scored rushing touchdowns. Tanner McKee directed a 17-play, 84-yard drive that consumed more than nine minutes, finishing with a 4-yard touchdown pass to rookie Makai Lemon.
It was the Eagles’ first third-quarter touchdown of the season. It also gave them their final lead, 21-20.
McKee completed 23 of 35 passes for 211 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The Eagles gained 321 yards, their first game with more than 300 since Week 2. But they went scoreless in the fourth quarter.
“I think you have a standard for yourself and you have an expectation for yourself every time you step on the field,” McKee said. “I say for yourself … but also as an offense and as a team. Every time you step on the field, you want to play to that standard and execute that way.
“We practice really hard, our meetings are tough and we want to make practice harder than the games. I think we need to tweak it up even more, which we will and obviously we’ll make corrections, we’ll watch the film and we’ll get better from it.”
First-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion can point to some progress. But progress means little when it produces another defeat.
“You just never quit, you never give up,” Barkley said. “You just keep fighting, no matter what, whatever the situation is, how it looks. I feel like we have the men in the locker room to do it. We put ourselves in this situation and we’ve got to dig ourselves out of it.”
Running back Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates a touchdown during the first quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
3. Barkley’s return brought another injury scare
Barkley returned after missing two games with a hamstring injury. For a few glorious moments, he looked like the player who rushed for more than 2,000 yards two seasons ago.
He broke loose for 29 yards and scored on an 8-yard run. But the celebration was short-lived. Barkley later left with a back injury, finishing with 62 yards on seven carries.
Pierce added 47 yards and a touchdown before he, too, left injured.
Without Jalen Hurts, expected to miss the rest of the season because of blood clots in his lungs, the Eagles can ill afford to lose Barkley again.
Sirianni wouldn’t use injuries as an alibi, though they continue to stack up.
“That’s life in the NFL,” he said. “I’ll never use that as an excuse.”
4. The Eagles still cannot finish games
The Eagles led three times. Each time, Dallas responded.
After McKee’s touchdown pass to Lemon gave Philadelphia a 21-20 advantage, Prescott answered with a touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb and ran in the two-point conversion. The Cowboys never trailed again.
The Eagles have lost five straight for the first time under Sirianni.
“I feel like I’ve been here before,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “I was here in 2020. Was here in ’21.”
Sirianni also recalled 2021, when the Eagles started 2-5 but recovered to make the playoffs.
“I think back on the 2021 season — the way we finished that year propelled us into the Eagles we’ve been the last four years,” he said.
That team demonstrated it could improve. This one hasn’t.
Wide receiver Ceedee Lamb (88) of the Dallas Cowboys catches a touchdown pass against cornerback Riq Woolen (2) of the Philadelphia Eagles during the third quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
5. The pass rush has disappeared
The Eagles spent much of the offseason strengthening their pass rush. Seven games into the season, they’re still looking for one.
Philadelphia failed to sack Prescott or register a quarterback hit Monday night. Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, who signed extensions worth a combined $230 million, were largely invisible.
Jonathan Greenard and Jalyx Hunt have battled injuries, while Nolan Smith was sidelined with a concussion. But injuries explain only so much.
“We knew it was kind of going to be this game,” Davis said of Dallas’ ground attack. “Their coach challenged them and they took it to heart and they ran the ball.”
The Eagles couldn’t stop it. Nor could they pressure Prescott when he dropped back.
“When you’re not getting pressures, you’ve got to try to simulate them in some way,” Sirianni said.
Nothing worked. And that’s a dangerous predicament for a defense being counted on to carry an undermanned offense.