Highlights and lowlights from Philadelphia’s Week 10 win.
This answered the pleas for a “style-points” win. The Eagles stomped on an injury-riddled, inferior Dallas Cowboys team the way they should have Cleveland and Jacksonville in previous weeks.
The Eagles splattered Dallas, 34-6, and backup quarterback Cooper Rush, playing for the injured Dak Prescott, at AT&T Stadium on Sunday for their fifth-straight victory. The Eagles’ win gives them sole possession of first place in the NFC East with a 7-2 record, a half-game better than the 7-3 Washington Commanders, who the Eagles will host on Thursday night.
In the process of winning, the Eagles also made a striking point in denying the depleted 3-6 Cowboys from making the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Jalen Hurts completed 14 of 20 for 202 yards, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for two scores, while the defense had five takeaways and held Rush to a scant 45 yards passing and the Dallas offense to 146 total yards, with an average of 2.6 yards a play (1.5 yards average per pass).
The Eagles’ five takeaways (4 fumble recoveries/1 INT) matched the most ever by the Eagles in a game at Dallas.
On a personal note, Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 66 yards on 14 carries, beat Dallas for the first time in his career, after going 0-5 against the Cowboys when he was a New York Giant.
The Eagles did what they were supposed to do against an inferior team. Let’s see where this team truly is on Thursday night against Commanders’ electric rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and a team that will punch back.
There was a healthy dose of good, some bad, and a pinch of ugly, in the Eagles’ dominant 34-6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
The Good
Things were so bad for the Cowboys that Bryce “just call me Reggie White” Huff made another guest appearance, with a strip sack on the Cowboys’ last play of the third quarter. It resulted in an Eagles’ field goal and a 31-6 lead.
The Eagles’ third quarter. In a word “dominant.” The Eagles scored 14 points, amassed 116 total yards of offense, and had eight first downs to zero points for Dallas, three yards of offense and one turnover. Through three quarters, Dallas had 45 yards passing on 23 attempts, averaging 1.9 yards a throw.
Right guard Mekhi Becton and right tackle Lane Johnson pulling and pushing away Dallas linebacker Damone Clark (Becton) and cornerback Jourdan Lewis (Johnson) on Hurts’ 8-yard TD run with 2:56 left in the third quarter. The score put the Cowboys out of their misery.
Hurts’ arcing 44-yard completion to A.J. Brown on the first play of the Eagles’ third drive of the second half. It led to the Eagles scoring a touchdown for the second time on their first three drives of the second half.
Rookie safety Cooper DeSean, already with a fumble recovery in the end zone, taking Dallas’ first punt of the second half for 31 yards to the Cowboys’ 37. DeSean’s return set up Hurts’ five-yard TD pass to Johnny Wilson, his first NFL touchdown catch, to give the Eagles a 21-6 lead with 8:52 left in the third quarter.
Linebacker Nakobe Dean’s open-field takedown of Dallas running back Rico Dowdle on the Cowboys’ second play of the second half for a yard gain on a second-and-nine at the Dallas 12. Dean keeps getting better in coverage.
Hurts showing great poise and vision in averting the Cowboys’ pressure on a second-and-one at the Dallas 14 to find tight end Dallas Goedert in the end zone for a 14-6 Eagles’ lead with 23 seconds left in the half. Hurts sidestepped blitzing linebacker DeMarvion Overshown to survive the first heat wave, looked up and saw Goedert curling back to him for the score. Responding strong to losing a fumble inside the Dallas five on the previous drive, Hurts completed five of six on the Eagles’ sixth drive, including a 24-yard run. Hurts completed 11 of 13 in the half for 152 yards and a touchdown. He also turned the ball over twice, breaking his streak of four games without a turnover.
The Eagles’ red zone defense. The Cowboys had seven snaps in the red zone and had to settle for two field goals in the first half.
Defensive tackle Jalen Carter manhandling Dallas center Cooper Beebe on the Cowboys’ third-and-goal at the three with just under two minutes left in the first half. Carter stood up Beebe, read the direction of the play and simply shoved Beebe aside to take down Dowdle at the Dallas five. The Cowboys had to settle for a field goal.
Linebacker Zach Baun taking down Ezekiel Elliott for a one-yard loss on a first-and-10 at the Cowboys’ 25 on Dallas’ fifth drive. On the same series, Baun slammed down Dowdle for no gain on a first-and-10 at the Dallas 41. Later, on that same drive, Baun stuck a shoulder into Elliott at the Eagles’ four, jarring the ball loose for DeJean to recover it in the end zone. Baun has really turned into something, made more impressive considering he never played inside linebacker before this season. By halftime, Baun had a team-high seven tackles, two solo and one tackle for a loss. Baun also had a fumble recovery on the Cowboys’ final play of the third quarter. He finished with a team-high eight tackles, three solo.
The Eagles first quarter. Hurts was five-for-five, completing passes to four different receivers for 65 yards, while the Eagles outgained Dallas, 97-35, in picking up seven first downs to the Cowboys’ two. For the second-straight game, the Eagles scored in the first quarter. They are closing the gap. The Eagles have now only been outscored 33-14 in the first quarter this season.
Brown’s 30-yard reception—down the middle of the field—on first-and-10 on the last play of the first quarter. It placed the ball at the Cowboys’ 12 to open the second quarter.
Hurts finding Barkley flaring out on a third-and-six from the 13 to preserve the Eagles’ second drive of the game. Barkley did a great job disguising the play, getting bunched in the middle, then slipping through the backwash of the Dallas pressure. Hurts flicked Barkley the ball in the open, and the MVP candidate did the rest, getting it to the one, where Hurts snuck in for a 7-0 Eagles’ lead with 7:05 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles’ defense over their first two drives. On the Cowboys’ second play of the game, DeJean came up to force CeeDee Lamb outside, where he was met Nolan Smith for a one-year loss. On the Cowboys’ second drive, defensive lineman Milton Williams pounced on a botched Dallas snap that resulted in a fumble recovery and the Eagles’ 7-0 lead.
The Bad
Cornerback Darius Slay getting flagged for interference on a third-and-three at the Cowboys’ 32 on Dallas’ fourth drive. It prolonged the Cowboys’ drive, which eventually ended in Elliott’s fumble in the end zone with 3:04 left in the half.
Hurts holding the ball too long on a second-and-nine at the Dallas 48 on the Eagles’ fourth drive. It was the Cowboys’ third sack of the game, an eight-yard sack that came from Overshown at the Eagles’ 45. It derailed the Eagles’ momentum on their fourth drive, which resulted in a punt with 9:21 left in the half.
The Ugly
The Eagles went into halftime leading 14-6, but giving up five sacks for minus-46 yards in one half is ugly—anyway you want to look at it. It could have been worse, had Hurts not avoided a few more Cowboy blitzes.
Hurts turning the ball over for the ninth time this season. After going four-straight games without a turnover, he turned the ball over twice in the second quarter. His second-quarter fumble marked his fourth lost fumble this season, and the interception was his fifth. The fumble led to Dallas’ second field goal with 1:48 left in the half.
Hurts throwing his first interception in five weeks, since Week 3. Cowboys’ corner Trevon Diggs made a great play on Hurts’ pass intended for Goedert in the end zone. It was Hurts’ fourth turnover in the red zone this season (third interceptions in the end zone).
The Eagles kickoff coverage on KaVontae Turpin’s 47-yard return in response to the Eagles’ first score. There was a complete breakdown on the left side of the coverage. It led to the Cowboys’ first points of the game, a Brandon Aubrey 46-yard field goal with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles’ first drive. Just when it looked like the Eagles would break away from this issue, and when they looked like they were moving the ball early against the Cowboys, an avalanche of miscues arrived. After three first downs, one on a Dallas illegal contact penalty on Diggs, the Eagles proceeded to go 23 yards backwards, which included two sacks for a combined 18 yards.
