PHILADELPHIA — The Dallas Cowboys made things more interesting than they had any right to, but the Philadelphia Eagles ultimately stayed perfect on Sunday night, improving to 6-0 by beating their division rivals, 26- 17.
The Eagles used a monster second quarter to carve their way to victory, with 20 of their points in that span. Philadelphia intercepted Cooper Rush three times on the night, holding him off 18 of 38 passes for 181 yards and a score in addition to the trio of picks.
Dallas came back into the game in the third quarter and early in the fourth behind a heavy dose of running play and game passing, but a 13-play, 75-yard Eagles touchdown that took 7:37 on the l The clock ended up pretty much tidying things up. If that didn’t, then Rush’s third interception – which happened on the next drive – certainly did.
Jalen Hurts didn’t go through the air much (15 of 25 for 155 yards), but he did a good job of neutralizing the pass rush with his legs and the threat of his takeoff leading to several quality runs by ball carriers. , especially Miles Sanders. He also found AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith for touchdowns on well-crafted Nick Sirianni plays.
Philadelphia retained the lone possession of the NFC East’s No. 1 spot with the win, while the loss dropped Dallas to 4-2 and third, behind the Giants.
Why the Eagles won
They took advantage of an opponent who made multiple mistakes and relied on game design to win the battle against an aggressive defense. As mentioned earlier, Rush was intercepted three times. The Cowboys also turned the ball over in second-quarter tries. On several occasions, they have executed play option plays or run pass options designed to take advantage of the Cowboys’ aggressive passing rush and bring players like AJ Brown into the flat for run-after-catch opportunities. .
Why the Cowboys lost
They turned it around, they took too many penalties, they didn’t have the offensive firepower to keep up with the Eagles, and they couldn’t stop the run or RPO play on big third downs. Rush, who had yet to throw an interception this season, was knocked out three times. Dallas was penalized 10 times for 72 yards. Rush averaged 4.8 yards per attempt. Philly controlled the ball for 34:30 and converted several key third down opportunities.
Turning
We’re going with two pieces that might have gone under the radar. First, there was the final game of the first quarter. The Eagles and Cowboys were tied 0-0 and Philly was third and 12 on the Dallas 18-yard line with 46 seconds left in the period. Hurts completed an 8-yard pass to AJ Brown, then the Eagles rushed to the line and pretended they were going to play a play on fourth and fourth, even though they didn’t have to break the ball before the end of the quarter. Hurts’ hard count drew Dante Fowler Jr. offside, bought the Eagles a first down and led to a Miles Sanders touchdown in the opener of the second quarter.
After Philly took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, the Cowboys had a chance to take the lead. At third-and-9 from their own 26-yard line, Rush completed a pass to CeeDee Lamb in the middle. At first it looked like Lamb had gained enough yardage for the first down, but the linesman then changed the spot and scored it short. Rather than peek at the replay and challenge it (Lamb had clearly gotten the first down), the Cowboys quickly approached the line and called a bootleg for Rush, who pitched coverage and incomplete. The Eagles then extended their lead to 17-0.
Highlight Play
The most beautiful individual game of the night could have been this jukebox from Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson to enter the end zone. The best-crafted play came from the Eagles, with DeVonta Smith feigning a pick route, then advancing into the end zone, where Jalen Hurts found it for an easy score.
But for highlights, we have to follow Rush’s three picks from Philly. The first two came on forced throws to receivers who weren’t open, while the third came on a play where Rush was tagged as he let go of the ball.
And after
The Eagles enter their Week 7 goodbye as the only undefeated team in the NFL. When they return in Week 8, they will host the Steelers. The Cowboys are 4-2 and return home next week to face the Detroit Lions, in what could be Dak Prescott’s first game after breaking his thumb in Week 1.
