Eagles stuff Cowboys as time runs out to win thrilling NFC East showdown
PHILADELPHIA — In the end, the Dallas Cowboys needed that evasive fourth-quarter touchdown.
They needed the two-point conversion they missed in the fourth quarter.
And they needed Dak Prescott’s pass to CeeDee Lamb as time expired to travel five yards farther.
The Eagles won 28-23 on Sunday in a game of lead changes, suspense, strong quarterback play and a heaping pile of penalties.
Prescott finished the game 29-of-44 for 375 yards and three touchdowns. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts finished 17-of-23 for 207 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 36 rushing yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles improved to 8-1 and now hold a three-game lead in the NFC East.
The game delivered on the promise that dangled from a matchup of the teams with a deep rivalry, ample playoff implications and relatively full strength. (This was only the second contest ever between Hurts and Prescott, and the first since Hurts’ career took off.)
Eagles start fast, aggressive
The Eagles struck first, forcing a three-and-out before stringing together a 13-play, 77-yard touchdown drive to take an early lead. Already in this drive Philadelphia went for it on fourth down twice, converting on both. Philadelphia was quick to convert on a "Brotherly Shove," and Hurts found tight end Dallas Goedert hugging the sideline for 15 yards on fourth-and-3. Eagles running back Kenneth Gainwell ultimately scored the first touchdown of the game, somersaulting into the end zone from 12 yards out.
The Cowboys rallied via a pair of touchdowns sandwiching an Eagles three-and-out.
Credit shifty receiver KaVontae Turpin as the key spark to an offense that Prescott was mostly operating with receiver CeeDee Lamb and tight end Jake Ferguson. Turpin returned a kick 48 yards to set up the Cowboys’ first scoring drive, and caught a 5-yard touchdown at the edge of the end zone on the next drive.
A methodical Eagles drive culminated in Hurts’ latest ground score. But when Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey set an NFL record with most made field goals without a miss to start a career (19), Dallas carried a 17-14 lead into halftime.
Rookie Luke Schoonmaker comes up short for Dallas
Then, Philadelphia scored a pair of touchdowns to start the second half. A knee injury that left Hurts limping before halftime wouldn’t ultimately slow him. After undergoing no imaging at halftime, per Fox sideline reporter Erin Andrews, Hurts picked up a first down with a 4-yard scramble, nailed D’Andre Swift 11 yards downfield and found DeVonta Smith on a picture-perfect 29-yard back shoulder touchdown.
Hurts capped off the next scoring drive — an 11-play, 6:18 march — with a touchdown to receiver A.J. Brown.
After that, the Cowboys repeatedly came close to pacing Philadelphia but always fell short.
Dallas thought it was scoreboard-bound with a little less than 11 minutes remaining, when Prescott tucked the ball on third-and-goal and dove over cornerback Darius Slay Jr., before Slay and linebacker Zach Cunningham Jr. ultimately stopped Prescott a yard short.
The Cowboys thought again that perhaps they’d altered the scoreboard the next play when Prescott found rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker at the goal line. Officials ruled Schoonmaker’s grab a touchdown. Then came the routine review that all scoring plays undergo.
The Cowboys were this close to scoring on 4th down and cutting the Eagles lead 👀 pic.twitter.com/jutFXsbmS2
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 6, 2023
Schoonmaker’s left knee fell outside of the end zone before his right knee fell in it. The Cowboys turned the ball over on downs less than a yard from the end zone, with 10:07 to play.
The Eagles successfully moved away from danger with a Brotherly Shove to gain 2 yards. But Philadelphia didn’t manage a first down before it ceded possession. The Cowboys marched downfield on the Prescott-to-Jalen-Tolbert drive. The second-year receiver caught a 32-yard pass during the drive and ultimately a 7-yard touchdown from a scramble-drill Prescott.
Prescott tried to power the keeper on the two-point conversion through a lightly defended right lane. But he stepped out of bound early; the Cowboys continued to trail by five points.
With 4:42 to play, the Cowboys began driving for the final time. They moved 79 yards in 46 seconds but Prescott’s final heave to Lamb fell short 5 yards.
Lamb led all receivers with 191 yards on 11 receptions. Four different Eagles scored touchdowns as Hurts and Gainwell arrived by ground, Brown and Smith by air.
The Eagles now hold a steady lead on the division. The two teams will face off again in Dallas on Dec. 10.
