This season has been WILD! The Dallas Cowboys outlasted the Jalen Hurts-less Eagles 40-34 in a classic NFC East shootout to stay alive in the division title race and for the NFC crown.
This season has certainly not lacked in dramatic, last-second deciding wins. And this game was no different.
This is probably the most evenly matched the Cowboys and Eagles are going to be throughout the remainder of the season as the Eagles were without MVP candidate Jalen Hurts, which made for lots of excitement and a hint of nervousness in AT&T Stadium.
Coming into this game, all the Eagles needed to do was to beat the Cowboys in any fashion to secure their first division title since the 2019 season, while the Cowboys needed to beat the Eagles and then win their last two games to just stay alive in the division race.
Clearly, the Cowboys are going to come into the playoffs as the 5th seed as the Eagles won’t lose their last two games, but they didn’t play like a team with a determined destiny as they came out flying…and so did Philly.
Both Dak Prescott and Gardner Minshew, the Eagles backup QB, had great games with hundreds of passing yards between them. In fact, they both combined for 702 passing yards and 6 touchdowns (5 passing, 1 rushing) as both of their offenses combined for a whopping 861 yards of total team offense. And that’s with both running games having subpar games.
Regardless of whether it was Myles Sanders (21 CAR, 65 yards, 1 FUM) running for the Eagles or Tony Pollard (9 CAR, 19 yards) or Ezekiel Elliott (16 CAR, 55 yards, 1 TD) for the Cowboys, both rushing attacks were stuffed by the dominating defensive fronts.
I’d argue that the Cowboys running attack was the better of the two as it had more collective scrimmage yards (115 vs. 87), Elliott scored the only rushing TD by a running back, and Tony Pollard had an additional 61 receiving yards coming out of the backfield. Plus, Myles Sanders did have that fumble right before the 2-minute warning that set up the Cowboys and Brett Maher to score the all-decisive field goal to give them a 40-34 lead.
Nonetheless, the real story of this game was, like I said, the passing attacks…and the two defenses.
Now, in a game where there was 800+ yards of total offense and 74 points scored, it should come as no surprise that the quarterbacks and receivers of both teams had monster games.
On the Dallas side of the ball, Dak Prescott bounced back from his 2-interception performance at Jacksonville with 27/35 completions for 347 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT, while CeeDee Lamb had 10 REC for 120 yards and 2 TDs, Tony Pollard had the aforementioned 6 REC for 61 yards, T.Y. Hilton had a huge 52-yard reception on 3rd and 30+, and Dalton Schultz had 3 REC for 43 yards.
It was probably the best or second-best performance this Dallas offense has had all season long (the Minnesota blowout might be better).
As for Philly, the offense was surprisingly efficient without league MVP candidate Jalen Hurts leading the way. Despite throwing two interceptions (which weren’t really his fault), Gardner Minshew had a great game with 24/40 completions for 355 yards and 2 TDs.
A massive part as to why Minshew was so successful out there was due to the fact that AJ Brown (6 REC, 103 yards) and DeVonta Smith (8 REC, 113 yards, 2 TDs) proved their Top-10 elite WR status with a combined 226 receiving yards and 2 TD performance. Even though the Dallas defense actually played really well, the secondary just couldn’t contend with the two-headed Philly receiving monster that is the Brown-Smith duo.
I’m sure the Titans are really regretting giving up A.J. Brown for just a 1st round pick right about now.
Anywho, it may come as a surprise that I said two defenses that gave up a collective 74 points and 800+ yards of offense played well, but it’s true. This game could legitimately have been 57-50 if it wasn’t for the Cowboys and Eagles defenses standing on their heads.
The Eagles defense went through that Cowboys offensive line like a hot knife through butter as they racked up 73 tackles, 6 sacks, 5 TFL, 3 PD, 9 QB hits, and scored a Pick 6 TD, with T.J. Edwards (14 tackle), Fletcher Cox (2 tackles), Haason Reddick (4 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 QB hits), Kyzir White (6 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 1 QB hit), Josh Sweat (3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 PD, 2 QB hits, 1 DEF TD), and Avonte Maddox (3 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 2 PD) in particular standing out.
Reversely, the Cowboys defense wasn’t as capable of getting after Minshew as they ‘only’ had 61 tackles, 2 TFL, and 5 PD, but the Cowboys D made up for it with turnovers. And a lot of them.
Anthony Barr (7 tackles, 1 FUM REC) and Jayron Kearse (3 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT, 1 FUM REC) recovered two fumbles, while Kearse (again) and DaRon Bland (5 tackles, 1 PD, 1 INT) picked off Minshew twice to rack up 4 Philly turnovers! Plus, Micah Parsons (3 tackles) and Dorance Armstrong Jr. (1 tackle) were instrumental in getting Myles Sanders to fumble the ball prior to the 2-minute warning which eventually gave the Cowboys a 40-34 lead.
Still, all of those achievements paled in comparison to the stop the defense got in the final seconds.
With Minshew and the Eagles offense driving all the way from their own 30-yard line to the Cowboys redzone in under a minute, the Dallas defense forced four straight incompletions (with the final one coming on a pass to AJ Brown in the endzone) to preserve the 40-34 win and send the Dallas fans into celebration.
Sure, this game might not have too much significance past this week as the Eagles (13-2) are sure to win at least one of their final two games against the Saints and Giants, but I can’t deny that the Cowboys (11-4) and Philly made this a Christmas Eve game to remember.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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