Could we have a great team on our hands? The ¶¶ÒõÊÓÆµ rivals from Philadelphia just might think so.
A slow start certainly made the Cowboys job a lot tougher, but the group showed the resiliency of a contender to battle back from 21-point deficit and pull out an impressive 24-21 victory over the Eagles, tying the biggest comeback in franchise history.
Who'd have thought it? Because, in truth, this wasn't much of a game for Cowboys fans … until it was. Thanks to turnovers, penalties and generally poor play, Dallas fell behind by three touchdowns in the first half and generally appeared lost in this NFC East showdown. But as the Dallas defense settled in, the offense started heating up.
After an impressive showing last week against the lowly Las Vegas Raiders, the Cowboys defense was facing a much tougher test in this one. And the unit struggled to slow down Jalen Hurts and company in the early going. They took care of business in the second half, though, as after the Eagles quarterback led his team to three touchdowns through the first 20 minutes of play, he never got cross the goal line again. He threw for 289 yards in the game with two rushing scores and a touchdown pass for a 99.2 rating.
Dallas basically shut down Saquon Barkley and the Eagles ground game, allowing just 63 rushing yards, although wideouts A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith proved difficult in the aerial attack, finishing with 110 and 89 receiving yards, respectively.
Of course, that was nothing to what the Cowboys offense had going. Dak Prescott put the team on his hefty shoulders, throwing for 354 yards with two touchdowns for a 103.2 passer rating. Prescott's 9-yard pass to George Pickens on the team's first possession of the third quarter also allowed him to move past Tony Romo (34,183) for the most passing yards in Cowboys history (34,378).
Pickens, by the way, was again a human highlight reel, hauling in 146 yards and a touchdown while CeeDee Lamb and tight end Jake Ferguson chipped in 75 and 60 yards.
Overall, the Cowboys outgained Philadelphia, 473 to 339, converted 42 percent of their third-down tries and reached the end zone on three of their five trips into the red zone.
First Quarter
The Cowboys' reworked defense didn't pass its first test against the Philadelphia offense, although the visitors started with good field position. Dallas began the game with the ball, but failed to convert on fourth-and-3 at the 50-yard line.
On their ensuing first series, the Eagles then needed just seven plays to reach the goal line with Hurts completing six of seven passes for 47 yards. The last of those was a 16-yard strike to Brown to give the visitors an early lead.
Unforced errors were the issue for the Cowboys on Philadelphia's next series. They first appeared to get off the field when the Eagles were forced to punt from their own 24-yard line. But despite Ryan Flournoy tipping the punt with his finger, he was called for roughing the kicker, providing Philly a new set of downs.
Then on third-and-10 at the Dallas 48-yard line, Hurts threw incomplete, but Jadeveon Clowney was called for defensive offsides, again allowing the Eagles to keep their drive going. Given those gifts, Philadelphia was able to add another seven points, Hurts using a quarterback draw to slip 7 yards up the middle for the touchdown to up the advantage to 14-0 after the first 15 minutes of play.
Second Quarter
Unfortunately, things just went from bad to worse. The Cowboys caught a break when Lamb was ruled down before fumbling, but on the very next snap, KaVontae Turpin took a handoff in the backfield and without being touched by a defender tripped and then fumbled himself.
This time the Eagles recovered the miscue at their own 34-yard line, but despite a holding penalty promptly pushing them back to first-and-20, Philadelphia soon upped their lead to 21 points. Thanks to the tush push, Hurts got his second score of the game, but the big blow during the series came when the quarterback threw a 41-yard bomb to Smith on a third-and-12 at his own 48.
Desperately needing a touchdown, the Cowboys found themselves with a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line after an impressive 12-yard catch and run from Ferguson. But a false start on left tackle Tyler Guyton immediately pushed them back 5 yards, and then on the ensuing play, Prescott tried to connect with Lamb, who was streaking across the end zone. Instead, Eagles safety Reed Blankenship dove in front of the wideout to intercept the throw, ending the threat.
Despite that dagger, the Dallas defense finally got a stop, and with their last possession of the half, the Cowboys were able to finally get on the board as well. Turpin made up for the earlier mistake with a nice 48-yard catch with Ferguson again putting his team on the 1-yard line with a leaping 17-yard grab. Prescott would then throw a quick out to Pickens for the score, the home side going into the break now down 21-7.
Third Quarter
With the Dallas defense beginning to settle in, forcing a pair of punts to start the second half, the Cowboys offense got going on its second try of the third quarter. But although the team got to the Philadelphia 33-yard line, Brandon Aubrey's 51-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, no good.
But Prescott and his troops came right back with another drive into enemy territory. His 48-yard pass to Lamb down the right sideline did most of the damage, but they also benefited from a pass interference call that set Dallas up on the Eagles' 4-yard line. That left it to Prescott to find tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford in the back of the end zone to pull the Cowboys to within seven points, 21-14.
Fourth Quarter
As the clocked ticked over into the final frame, the Eagles were on the move again, reaching the Dallas 38-yard line. But Jake Elliott pushed his 56-yard field goal attempt to the right, no good, which thankfully kept it a one-score game.
And immediately, Prescott found Pickens deep on the left side, the receiver making a leaping grab over two defenders for a 43-yard catch to the Eagles' 11-yard line. Two plays later, Prescott scrambled from the 8 and dove into the end zone to tie the game, 21-21.
However, fans were on edge when Philadelphia started marching and crossed the 50 again. But on second-and-17 at the Dallas 38-yard line, Barkley took a short pass and turned upfield, only to have defensive end Sam Williams knock the ball loose from behind, leaving linebacker Kenneth Murray the opportunity to fall on the prize.
While the Cowboys would be forced to punt, rookie gunner Alijah Clark then showed amazing effort in getting downfield and laying a big hit to help knock the ball loose from Philly return man Xavier Gibson. And there was veteran long snapper Trent Sieg stepping into the spotlight and recovering the fumble at the Eagles' 8-yard line.
Surprisingly, though, Dallas couldn't get across the goal line as Prescott's passes to Lamb and Ferguson on third and fourth down fell incomplete.
But the Cowboys defense did its job once more, forcing another punt that gave the offense possession with 1:35 left in the game, which was plenty of time for Prescott. He hit Ferguson for 19 yards during the drive and then found Pickens on a slant over the middle for a big 24-yard gain that put Dallas on the Philadelphia 23-yard line.
A kneel down and a spiked ball then set up Aubrey for a 42-yard field goal with 3 seconds left. And sure enough, he split the uprights to secure an unbelievable come-from-behind victory, 24-21.
The ¶¶ÒõÊÓÆµ earn a close 24-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium.








































































































