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After the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss to their division rival, the Dallas Cowboys, in Week 14, many fans on social media took issue with a retweet from Eagles star cornerback Darius Slay. Fans claimed the tweet from @Eaglesfans9 was shared by Slay just 15 minutes after the game when, they say, the team captain should’ve been agonizing with his teammates instead of complaining about a questionable pass interference call from late in the first quarter.
On the play in question, Slay covered Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup on a pass from quarterback Dak Prescott. The pass was short, hitting the turf before Gallup could catch it. Though we can’t see the whole interaction, there appears to be minimal contact between the receiver and the defender, but a flag was thrown and pass interference was called.
Fans Didn’t Like How Soon After the Game Slay Went to Social Media
Some fans took issue with the timing of the tweet. The assumption was that the team would discuss what went wrong in postgame meetings, not take to social media to air their grievances about the officiating.
“My guy wasted no time going to Twitter,” one fan posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“Darius are you seriously going to ur phone right away to rt this . Have shame brother .,” another fan posted.
Kyle Pagan of Crossing Broad, a blog covering Philadelphia sports, also took Slay to task.
“The #1 seed and the division lead is gone. Can we let the wounds heal a little before we’re going to our phone to search our name and retweet your PI?” Pagan wrote.
Crossing Broad also posted on X, “Darius Slay RT’d this right after losing by 20.”
Earlier in the season, running back Kenneth Gainwell was reprimanded in a postgame press conference for his use of social media. Head coach Nick Sirianni called out Gainwell for sending a direct message during halftime of a game.
“These guys have some time away from us when we get into the locker room where they sit down at their locker,” Sirianni said. “They do whatever is going to take their mind and just calm it. This is part of these guys’ lives.
“And so, yes, of course we talked to him about that, to be locked in and focused and not worried about outside noise. He knows he made a mistake responding back to that person,” Sirianni said.
The Past Two Games Have Exposed the Eagles’ Weaknesses on Both Sides of the Ball
During their two-game losing streak, the Eagles’ secondary has been exposed. In Philadelphia’s 42-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13, the Eagles gave up 310 passing yards. Against the Cowboys, Prescott had 271 yards and 2 touchdown passes.
Now the Eagles and Cowboys are tied atop the NFC East at 10-3 with four games to play.
Fans are worrying that their team might be imploding as they head into the last stretch of the season. There’s a concern that the Eagles aren’t good enough to beat the best teams, and then there’s a general concern that age and injuries are catching up with an older defense late in the year.
With linebacker Nakobe Dean sent to IR in Week 9 and fellow linebacker Zach Cunningham missing time with a hamstring injury in Week 13, the Eagles’ defensive play has suffered. Philadelphia did make the big signing of pro-bowl linebacker Shaq Leonard this week. Though appearing on the injury report and missing practice earlier in the week, Slay and Cunningham both were able to get on the field against the Cowboys. Watching the game, though, this team isn’t hitting on all cylinders like they did earlier in the year.
Sirianni will have to get the birds turned around as they enter Week 15, where they face the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. The Seahawks (6-7) have struggled with key injuries, namely a lingering groin injury to starting quarterback Geno Smith.
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