The Philadelphia Eagles gave up a 21-point lead as they fell to the Dallas Cowboys 24-21 in what was a rather embarrassing loss. Considering how poor Philly’s offense has been over the last few games, this defeat was coming. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who had another poor game, shared his thoughts on his poor form.

“I’ve been kinda non-existent this year. I’ve gotta figure it out for the team,” Barkley said. “We gotta do a better job of putting teams away. We didn’t do that, and I didn’t help. I’m tired of the excuse of people trying to stop the run game. I don’t really subscribe to that. Just got to be better. Got to make plays. I’m not playing well. I’ve got to play better. That’s really it.”

This was one of his roughest outings of the season for the Eagles’ RB. Dallas erased him on the ground. He had just 10 carries for 22 yards. Yes, he caught seven passes for 52 yards, but even that included his first lost fumble of the season, and it came at the worst possible moment.

In the second half, he had just four carries for nine yards. For a player who carried the Eagles’ offense last year, the drop-off is jarring. This season, he’s at 684 rushing yards and four touchdowns, averaging 3.7 a carry. He’s fourth in the league in attempts, but only 14th in yards. A year removed from a 2,000-yard campaign, Barkley has topped 100 yards just once.

Some might try to explain it away by saying this isn’t a run-heavy team anymore. That’s not really true. The Eagles are 29th in passing yards per game (199.5) and 17th in rushing (115.2). They’re still leaning into the ground game relative to the rest of the league; they’re just getting nowhere with it.

Saquon Barkley’s expectations were enormous after the season he had a year ago, but pinning this loss solely on him would be unfair. The entire offense blacked out in the second half.

The Eagles’ offensive stumble in the second half

The Eagles’ offense came out looking unstoppable, jumping to a 21–0 lead with touchdowns on their first three drives. At that point, you expect the momentum to carry, maybe even break the game open. Instead, everything just stalled. After going up three scores, Philadelphia managed only 107 total yards and never crossed the Cowboys’ 38-yard line again.

And the mistakes didn’t help. The Eagles had just four turnovers through their first 10 games, a big reason behind their 8-2 record. On Sunday, they gave it away twice, including Saquon Barkley’s fumble.

Even with all that, there was still a little flicker of hope on the final possession. Jalen Hurts got them moving, hitting A.J. Brown for 11 yards and then DeVonta Smith for 16 more to get out of bad field position. But that’s where it ended. Three downs, no gain, and it ended with a punt.

Well, this has been the pattern all season. For stretches, the Eagles look like the group that made a Super Bowl run not long ago. Then, without warning, they morph into an offense that struggles to put together first downs, let alone close out games.

Whether that’s a confidence issue or something deeper in the operation is a question only Nick Sirianni and his staff can fully answer.