ARLINGTON, Texas — It was a wildly entertaining Christmas Eve, filled with 702 passing yards and five turnovers.
It was a game where the Eagles led and then the Cowboys led and then the Eagles led and then it was tied and then the Eagles led. Then halftime came.
It was 40-34 at the end. Again.
It was the game Cowboys fans have wanted, have begged Santa to bring them ever since Philadelphia got off to that hot start and beat Dallas way back in October. It was all anyone could ask for — it even included a 52-yard, third-and-30 catch by T.Y. Hilton in a Dallas uniform — except for one thing.
Because of the outcome in Jacksonville last Sunday, a 40-34 horse of a different color, the Cowboys are two games behind the Eagles instead of just one with two more to play. Dallas owns the tiebreaker, but for this game to have consequences beyond securing the top wild-card spot, the Cowboys have to beat Tennessee and Washington while hoping the Saints and Giants pull major upsets in Philadelphia.
With or without Jalen Hurts on the sidelines, that’s not likely to happen. Still, the Cowboys provided fans with the one gift that was available for delivery this holiday season.
Hope.
And it comes almost entirely now from the offense, one that staggered at times and, yes, surrendered an early touchdown to Philadelphia on a phenomenal pick-six by defensive end Josh Sweat. After that, Dak Prescott picked apart the Eagles secondary while taking six sacks. The team used a nice supply of takeaways from the defense to put a 40 on the scoreboard against the best team in the NFL, one that is obviously playing a big man short without Hurts.
I don’t know that even with all those takeaways — huge game-saving plays by rookie DaRon Bland and training camp addition Anthony Barr — one leaves this game with strong, positive vibes about the Dallas defense. The unit that carried this team to success in September and October needed prayers answered to prevent backup Gardner Minshew from chewing up this team in the final two minutes for one more Eagles rally. Philly was stopped at the Dallas 19, but this came after Minshew had thrown for 355 yards without being sacked all afternoon.
The defense has surrendered points and yards to Jacksonville and then to a former Jacksonville quarterback in consecutive weeks that have to be alarming. Sure, the takeaways saved the day but it can’t be that great a consolation that the defense survived a shootout against a backup quarterback who completely lacks the running option that Hurts brings to the offense.
After that early pick-six, Prescott was at his best, producing not just his first 300-yard passing day of the season but going after the Eagles’ fine cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry with success. Prescott threw three touchdown passes, two of them to CeeDee Lamb who has completely transformed as a No. 1 receiver in the second half of the year. Lamb got 11 targets and caught 10 passes for 120 yards.
”He’s a hell of a receiver, and he’s young, and he’s just getting started,” Prescott said.
The Cowboys needed every yard from Lamb because the Eagles‘ A.J. Brown and Heisman winner DeVonta Smith each had 100-yard days against the Dallas secondary.
Whether it means much in the playoff chase or not, the Cowboys beat the Eagles Saturday. That’s what counts. It was a confidence-building victory, one that will be hard to duplicate in the final weeks against Tennessee or Washington. The Cowboys would love to win those games, of course, especially the first one that will at least keep some heat turned up on the Eagles.
”I think it’s clear what’s in front of us,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “We play Thursday and Philadelphia plays (New Orleans) on the weekend. We need to go win in Nashville.”
The Eagles will get whole again when Hurts recovers from his shoulder injury even if he doesn’t suit up until the second weekend of the playoffs in late January. Meanwhile, Prescott needs to build on the big-play success he achieved against the Eagles while limiting the turnovers that have plagued him in 2022.
”I love Dak Prescott, everybody does,” said McCarthy, who may not have spoken to every Cowboys’ fan in making that assessment.
“He’s a tremendous leader. He’s in a unique situation where he has been playing lights out but his one critical play has been a big play for the other team.”
Prescott has been intercepted 12 times in 10 games. He threw four interceptions in his entire rookie season.
”The most important thing is he needs to keep firing,” McCarthy said.
The Cowboys fired away Saturday, and they didn’t hit on all cylinders every play. But they rallied in time to drop the Eagles to 13-2, and they at least raised a touch of doubt in the minds of Philly fans along with elevating hopes for their own.
