Dallas Cowboys: 3 Takeaways vs. Eagles in Week 11

1. The defense will never be the same without Sean Lee

Each and every time Sean Lee goes down, we get a brutal reality check with the defense. They have never been the same without him, and they do not have the personnel to find a way to make up for his loss. Lee has too much of an impact on everything they do, and we have to accept that this defense will not recover from the loss of him.

Against the Eagles, the defense actually did a great job in the first half. They contained the Eagles, and gave the offense plenty of opportunity to take a hold of the game. The second half came around and broke everything down. The offense did them no favors by staying on the field, but the Eagles running game just broke down the Cowboys run defense, and that will continue to happen without Lee.

Lee is not only the one who makes all the plays for himself, as he is also the one who makes up for the mistakes of others. His ability to tackle in the open field is as good as it gets, he is always glued to the ball, and his incredible speed for a linebacker. The Cowboys can use him in so many different ways, and that allows him to make up for a lot of other potential mistakes.

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Once Lee leaves the lineup, we see more of those mistakes. Against the Eagles, it was just a matter of time before an offense that strong exploited the weaknesses. Without Lee, strong offenses should be able to eventually exploit this defense in every game. It is a lot harder without Elliott, but the Cowboys are more equipped to get an extra impact from their offense than they are from their defense.