The good, bad, and ugly from a disappointing Eagles Week 12 loss vs. Cowboys

What does one say? How does one quantify what we witnessed from the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Dallas Cowboys in Week 12? Last year's win in Arlington ended the Birds' six-game road slide vs. their rivals. Sunday's loss begins a new losing streak.

Philadelphia scored touchdowns on its first three drives. They wouldn't score again during their next eight. Dallas pitched a second-half shutout and erased a 21-point lead to win this game by a 24-21 final score.

This isn't the end of the world. They face the Chicago Bears on Black Friday. That will allow them to wipe away the stain of this bitter loss very quickly.

The only thing one can hope for after this is that this refocuses the team. For now, however, this feels eerily similar to the collapse vs. the Washington Commanders in Week 16 last season and the blown lead vs. the Denver Broncos in Week 5. This one definitely touched all of the emotions, but it also feels worse than those other two losses, much worse.

The 'good' from the Eagles' loss in Week 12 vs. the Cowboys

CeeDee Lamb continues to drop passes that hit him in the hands. That's good. Come on, everyone. It's hard to find good news after that game.

Brandon Aubrey missed a field goal. That doubles as his second miss of the season. The Eagles' offense got into a groove early. We also saw Jalen Carter trying to keep an emotional Andrew Mukuba from drawing a personal foul penalty after the Eagles fumbled a fourth-quarter punt.

The defense had some challenging moments in this one, but it again bailed this team out time and time. Their stand following the fumbled punt gave the Eagles a new lease on life for a while, but at some point, this unit needs assistance from the offense.

The bad from Philadelphia's loss

Well, there isn't enough time to list everything that went wrong during the most recent Eagles collapse, but here are a few of the lowlights. It is sickening to see an offense with this many playmakers struggle, and what's becoming increasingly evident is that this isn't primarily the players' fault. This seems more a result of Nick Sirianni and/or Kevin Patullo retreating into a shell and playing the game to avoid mistakes.

Experience has taught us that's a horrible way to play the game. Philadelphia's risk-averse strategy seemingly wants to rely on its special teams unit and defense. This strategy also disrupts the offensive unit's rhythm. After scoring on its first three drives, Philadelphia wouldn't score again for the rest of the contest.

Philadelphia ran 12 plays in the third quarter and punted three times—their first two drives of the second half ended with a missed field goal and a fumble.

They fumbled a punt, but the defense held serve. It didn't matter. The Eagles' offense would be forced to punt again after five plays. We all know how it ended, and now thoughts turn to a Chicago Bears team that has gone 8-1 after starting 0-2.

The ugly

Reed Blankenship hauled in an interception, but he left the game with a thigh injury and didn't return. Xavier Gipson left the game on a medical cart. No one ever wants to see that.

Philadelphia committed 14 penalties and turned the ball over twice during the fourth quarter. Offsetting penalties in one particular instance erased what may have been remembered as one of the most impressive defensive plays of the regular season.

Offsetting penalties erased what may have been the most impressive defensive play of the day (and there were several).

The offense was flagged for an 'illegal man downfield penalty'. Philadelphia's defense was flagged for having too many players on the field. The latter call is on the Eagles' coaching staff for the substitution error.

You hate to see that level of play erased by an unnecessary penalty, but the Philadelphia Eagles still had plenty of chances to win this one. They have no one to blame but themselves for failing to do so.

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: The good, bad, and ugly from the Eagles' Week 12 loss vs. Cowboys