JUST CHILL: Cowboys grades vs. Eagles

JUST CHILL: MY COWBOYS REPORT CARD VS. EAGLES

PASSING OFFENSE: B-plus – Tony Romo completed 18 of 27 passes for 195 yards before going down iin the third quarter with a fractured clavicle. Give Brandon Weeden some credit. He played mistake free and guided the team to victory, completing seven of seven passes, including a 41-yard touchdown to Terrance Williams. The receivers played winning football without Dez Bryant for the first time.

RUSHING OFFENSE: D-minus -- It’s easy to pick on DeMarco Murray and his horrible start with the Eagles after leaving the Cowboys for more money in the off season. The Cowboys are not tearing it up on the ground themselves. The Cowboys have 189 yards rushing in the first games combined and leader Joseph Randle has 116 yards and averaging 3.4 yards per carry. Murray is running to nowhere with the Eagles. But the Cowboys are not better on the ground without him so far.

PASS DEFENSE: A – The Cowboys didn’t record any sacks, but they got a lot of pressure and the secondary is playing lights out. Sam Bradford completed 22 of 37 passes for 224 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Jordan Matthews had six catches for 80 yards, but he was largely held in check. Cornerbacks Mo Claiborne, Brandon Carr and Tyler Patmon are getting it done.

RUSH DEFENSE: A -- That run defense against the Eagles was a thing of beauty. The Cowboys defense held the Eagles rushing offense to 7 yards on 17 rushes to mark the second-lowest rushing yards allowed in a game in team history since 1991 – the furthest back this stat can be tracked – and the lowest amount since the 1 yard Dallas held the Colts to against Indianapolis on Dec. 21, 2014. The Cowboys held DeMarco Murray to 2 yards on 13 carries, a .15 yard-per-carry average, the second-worst yard-per-carry average on a minimum of 10 rush attempts forced by a Dallas defense in team history. The lowest came on Nov. 4, 1985 against the St. Louis Cardinals running back Ottis Anderson, who averaged minus-0.91 yards-per-carry, rushing 11 times for minus-10 yards. Sean Lee led the way. Per Pro Football Focus, Lee had the best run-stop percentage in the NFL on Sunday with nine solo stops among 13 tackles. He also had an interception.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A – Chris Jones had six punts with an average of 45.8. Danny McCray had a blocked punt that Kyle Wilber returned for a touchdown. Lance Dunbar had a 31-yard kickoff return.

COACHING: A – Jason Garrett has the Cowboys continuing to play well in the face of adversity. They lost Dez Bryant in the second half of the season opener against the New York Giants and still came back to win. They lost quarterback Tony Romo in the second half of Game 2 against Philadelphia and still held on to victory. There is no panic in this team. The defense was the story of the game against the Eagles with the second-best rush defense team history.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 11:57 AM with the headline "JUST CHILL: Cowboys grades vs. Eagles."