The NFC East might not be very good yet again. The Dallas Cowboys have let it be known they plan to win the race.

The Cowboys were 1-1 in two close road games coming back to Texas for their home opener. The Eagles were 1-1 too. The teams were not equal on Monday night.

The Cowboys blasted the Eagles. Dallas won 41-21, and that was after a garbage-time Philadelphia touchdown cut the Cowboys' lead. It was an absolute blowout.

Now the Cowboys are 2-1, with Washington and Philadelphia tied at 1-2 and the Giants at 0-3. The division is far from over but Dallas is the only team that has shown any life.

Cowboys start fast, finish well

The Cowboys came out strong. It was evident right away they were the better team.

Dallas got a long pass to CeeDee Lamb to set up a 1-yard touchdown run from Ezekiel Elliott. Then Jalen Hurts threw an interception. The Eagles' defense scored on a weird fumble recovery in the end zone by Fletcher Cox, but that barely slowed down the Cowboys. Even Prescott being stuffed on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line didn't matter. The Eagles were never really in the game.

The Cowboys led 20-7 at halftime and if the Eagles were going to make a game of it, that hope died when Hurts threw to his left, receiver DeVonta Smith fell down and Trevon Diggs had an easy pick-six. That made the score 27-7 shortly into the second half.

The Eagles gave the Cowboys some nervous moments in the third quarter, but with 11:26 left in the fourth Prescott scrambled and hit Cedrick Wilson in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal for a 2-yard touchdown pass that made the score 34-14 and put the game away.

Cowboys in first place of NFC East

The Cowboys are flawed, but maybe less flawed than the rest of the NFC East.

The Washington defense hasn't appeared this season, and WFT won't win many games if the defense isn't very good. The Giants are a mess in many ways. The Eagles looked good in a Week 1 win over the Falcons, but they've given back all that momentum. Hurts looked shaky on Monday night, the offense never got into rhythm and the defense that had played well for two weeks got shredded.

Still, give the Cowboys credit. Their running back tandem of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard controlled the game. Prescott didn't have to do much because the Cowboys established the ground game early and the defense held down the Eagles.

It was a complete performance. It's not like the rest of the NFC East will have many of those this season.