Vic Fangio's defense already has Eagles fans sounding the alarm

There was not a lot going right for the Philadelphia Eagles' defense to start their game against the Dallas Cowboys, but they somehow managed to ride the wave and help pull out a 24-20 win on Thursday.

The first five drives were mostly negative for the Eagles' defense, with the Cowboys scoring touchdowns on each of the first two drives of the game. Dallas followed it up with two more drives, each ending in a field goal.

Philly got lucky on the opening drive of the third quarter as the Cowboys went 61 yards before Miles Sanders fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by the Eagles. After that point, Dallas had 23, 16, and 27-yard drives that ended in back-to-back punts and a turnover on downs on the final drive, thanks to a couple of key drops by Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb.

The Eagles' final team stats on defense will be a mixed bag. They allowed 307 total yards. Dallas converted seven of 11 third-down attempts and allowed an average of 5.4 yards per carry.

What was wrong with the Eagles' defense against the Cowboys?

Let's start with the penalties and undisciplined plays that are not like the Eagles. Jalen Carter began it with his ejection for spitting in the direction of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Nolan Smith Jr. had two personal foul penalties for a combined 30 yards. Overall, the Eagles' defense had seven penalties for 100 yards. That's not great.

The run defense suffered without Carter in the game. Over five yards a carry was allowed, resulting in 119 rushing yards. Philly was lucky they ran it just 22 times, or the damage could have been worse.

Another big concern is the secondary. Adoree' Jackson struggled mightily to stop the pass, and even Quinyon Mitchell allowed some receptions himself. While the secondary held Prescott to under 200 yards, there were too many easy completions given.

To top things off, the pass rush was basically non-existent. Moro Ojomo was the only one who got a quarterback hit in the game, but the Eagles did not produce a single sack in the win.

Credit Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's unit for making some massive stops in the second half and holding Dallas to zero points, but many of the issues exposed in this game cannot happen to good teams like their opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs, next week. The damage will be far worse.