It’s never a dull day upfront in the trenches. Injuries continue to come and go as the Eagles gained Jason Peters back but were without Lane Johnson this past Sunday night. With Johnson’s injury, Jordan Mailata slid over to right tackle and Peters took his spot at left tackle.

This was practiced throughout the week so it didn’t come as a surprise. Herbig remained at guard alongside Matt Pryor who was at right tackle last week for the injured Johnson. 

You can check out Week 7’s notes here:

Jason Peters often receives the brunt of my criticism during his time starting and rightfully so. However, this past week he played with some effort and looked how he should. It wasn’t great but it definitely got the job done.

Dallas’ D-Line has been one of the bottom tier groups in the league outside of Demarcus Lawrence who primarily was against Jordan Mailata. Peters held his ground and didn’t stand out in a negative light. 

Around halfway through the game Peters went down with an injury but was able to play through it. With Mailata’s potential and current level of play Philadelphia shouldn’t turn away from him. Despite that, I wouldn’t be shocked if Pederson goes with Peters. It isn’t the correct decision but the Eagles will likely want to justify Peters’ unneeded hissy fit raise.

Back to Mailata, he definitely had the most difficult night of the five. Facing Lawrence, Mailata was bested early on. Demarcus hit him with a quick swim move inside to get right to Wentz. After that, Mailata did a fantastic job of containing him and overall limiting the Cowboys pass rush.

Dallas ended with 4 sacks on the night, 3 were actual sacks. Wentz was running out of bounds and Aldon Smith was credited with the sack. Another one of the sacks came from an unexpected late cornerback blitz due to Wentz’s extended hold on the football. Outside of Mailata’s early sack, the only other blown protection came on a huge 4th down.

Brian Baldinger explained it best above. The defensive tackles do a reverse stunt and Leighton Vander-Esch screams into the B Gap. Matt Pryor and Jason Kelce should’ve passed off the defensive tackle better so Pryor could slide onto Vander-Esch, but they were unsuccessful.

With this blitz, unless you’re a perfect group miscommunications are likely to happen. Wentz should have been able to get off that throw but regardless the line didn’t give him an ideal amount of time.

In the run game, Philadelphia was fantastic. A beautiful combination of a strong o-line and a weak defensive line allowed Boston Scott incredible holes and he finished with a career-high in yards. 

Going into the bye week, this is a crucial time for the Eagles to get healthy. After the bye, Lane Johnson should be fully healthy with hopefully Isaac Seumalo. Nobody has heard anything about Seumalo’s injury so there isn’t any exact timeline on when his return will be.

Looking at Week 10, the Eagles will once again face the New York Giants. This shouldn’t be an issue but Leonard Williams gave Mailata a bit of trouble last week so that is something to keep an eye on.

Mandatory Credit: AP Photo: Derik Hamilton