Cowboys come from 21-0 behind to edge Eagles 24-21
By Elwyn Henderson
The Dallas Cowboys, fresh off their road win against the Las Vegas Raiders last Monday night, entertained the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium in Arlington hoping to get their fifth win of the season against their arch rivals in the NFC East.
The visiting Eagles won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Jake Elliott kicked off and after the return Dak Prescott and the offense moved the ball to midfield where they faced a 4th and 9. The chose to go for the first down and Prescott’s pass to Javonte Williams was just wide out of his reach and the Eagles set up at .
Jalen Hurts led his unit down the field with a number of passes to star receiver AJ Brown and the drive culminated when Hurts hit Brown on a 16-yard TD pass with 8:41 left in opening frame. Elliott’s PAT kick was good and Philly led 7-0. The drive was 7 plays, 49 yards and took 3:10 off the clock.
After the kickoff Dallas began their next drive at their 24. The offense had a quick three-and-out and Brian Anger punted the ball away to the Eagles who set up shop at their 23 for their second possession of the game. The Dallas defense did their job, forcing a Braden Mann punt. Unfortunately, Ryan Flournoy came around the right end in an attempt to block the punt and tripped Mann, giving the Eagles 15 yards and new life.
The penalty ended up costing Dallas dearly as Jalen Hurts moved the Eagles offense down the field and finished the drive off with a 7-yard TD run with 57 seconds left in the first quarter. The drive was just 6 plays and took 6:05 off the clock. Elliott’s extra point try was good and Philly led 14-0.
Elliott’s ensuing kick did not land in the landing zone so Dallas began their third drive at their 35.
On the first play of the possession Javonte Williams broke free on a 20-yard run and the Cowboys began a drive that looked very promising until KaVontae Turpin fumbled the ball away at the Eagles 34 and the defense recovered.
The visitors moved the ball the 66 yards into the end zone in 6 plays over 3:10. The score came on a 1-yard TD run by Hurts on a tush-push with 11:32 left in the first half. Elliott connected on the extra point and Dallas was a 21-0 deep hole deficit.
The ‘Boys appeared to be making a comeback as they moved down to the 2 on their next possession and facing a 3rd and goal Prescott was intercepted by Reed Blankenship in the end zone ending the threat with 5:01 left in the first half.
The Cowboys did manage to get a three-and-out and after Mann’s punt Prescott brought the offense back out at their 35.
The team finally managed to find the end zone with just 21 seconds left in the first half. The score came on a 1-yard TD pass from Prescott to George Pickens. The drive was 6 plays, 72 yards and took 2:31 off the second quarter clock. Brandon Aubrey booted the extra point and the Cowboys deficit was down to 21-7.
After the kickoff the Eagles ran one play and the half ended with the visitors set to receive the second half kickoff.
Neither team came close to lighting up the scoreboard until Brandon Aubrey attempted a 51-yard field goal with 6:34 left in the third quarter. Unfortunately, the kick went wide left and was no good, leaving the score sitting at 21-7.
The Cowboys held defensively on the next Philadelphia possession and when the offense got the ball back Prescott hit Cee Dee Lamb on a deep pass down the middle to put the home team in position to get another TD. They did just that when Prescott hit Luke Schoonmaker with 2:02 left in the third quarter from the Eagles 4. Aubrey’s extra point try was good and Dallas closed the deficit to 21-14. The drive was a 7-play, 89 yard affair that took 2:16 off the third quarter clock.
Philly began their next drive at their 32 after the kickoff. They managed a couple of first downs and then the Cowboys defense forced a 56-yard field goal attempt by Mann that was no good with 13:09 left in the game and Dallas went back on the offensive at their 46 with a chance to get a game-tying touchdown.
Prescott hit George Pickens on a deep pass down the left side and the ball was quickly at the Philly 11. Two plays later Prescott ran into the end zone from 7 yards out with 11:40 left in the game pulling the ‘Boys to within 1. Aubrey’s extra point was good and the game was tied 21-21, erasing a 21-0 Eagles lead at halftime. The drive was 3 plays, 54 yards and took just 1:29 off the clock.
On the next Eagles possession Kenneth Murray recovered a fumble at the Dallas 33 and what looked as though would be an Eagles score turned into Dallas getting the ball back with a chance to take their first lead of the game.
Sadly, thanks to a holding call Dallas had to punt the ball away. Fortunately, on the return the Eagles player was hit hard by Alijah Clark and Trent Sieg recovered for the Cowboys and they were in excellent position at the Philadelphia 7.
On the first play Williams ran for 5 to the 2. Prescott ran the ball around right end for no gain, bringing up 3rd and goal. A Prescott pass fell incomplete in the end zone. Dallas went for the TD on 4th down and Prescott’s pass fell incomplete and the Eagles took over at the 1 with 3:48 left in the game.
The visitors moved the ball for one first down and then on a key third down Hurts was sacked, forcing a Mann punt that went to the Dallas and the Cowboys had one last chance to win the game in regulation.
On a 3rd and 2 Prescott hit Jake Ferguson on a pass down to the Eagles 48 and the Cowboys were in position to try a field goal to win the game when the final seconds ticked off. Prescott hit Pickens on a 2nd and 10 down to the Philadelphia 22 and the 93,068 fans in attendance felt confident they would go home with a dramatic come from behind win to stay in the playoff hunt.
After 3 plays Aubrey came out to attempt a 42-yard field goal to win the game. Aubrey’s kick was good and Dallas got a walk-off field goal to win 24-21 and moved to 5-5-1 on the year. The loss dropped the Eagles to 8-3 on the season. With the win Dallas remains in the playoff hunt with a huge game coming up in 4 days on Thanksgiving Day when they host Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Coach Brian Shottenheimer was asked after the game what he said to the team when they were down 21-0 shortly before halftime.
“Yeah it’s what we’ve talked about from the beginning. You know, you’ve heard me say it 1,000 times. You can’t win the game in the first quarter, second, third, but you win the game in the fourth quarter. Man, we just talked about that. We shot ourselves in the foot. I told them that, but I told them to believe. Believe in each other; believe in the fact that we’ll find a way to do it. And I think today really epitomized a lot of things that those guys have been believing and doing, and it’s great to get that win against a damn good football team.”
When Dak Prescott came out to meet with the media after the big win he was asked his thoughts on the comeback the team made to get the victory.
“It was needed. Never blinked, never had any doubts and 1000% believed from the beginning. There were times when I was telling the guys to believe and then there was a moment in the fourth quarter where Book [Tyler Booker] was like believe and I go, ‘I know’. We’re done with the believing, we believed long enough and got ourselves back in this game and now you have to know. That’s just a testimony to this brotherhood, sticking together. Going down 21 to the defending national Super Bowl Champs in a division game is tough. I’m sure there were fans thinking this game was over, and they’re [the Eagles] were going to run off. Defense, I can’t give them enough credit. We wouldn’t have won this game without the opportunities they gave us over and over again. It was awesome moments when they would get a stop or something would happen. Whether it was Quinnen [Williams] or Donovan [Ezeiruaku] or one of those guys telling me ‘we got you.’ And then when they did stop them, they’d tell you ‘we told you.’ It was just a continuation of what we did last week and just sticking together. Like I said, it’s about the brotherhood. Once again, we’re always going to do it for Marshawn Kneeland and he was felt tonight. I’m sure he was right there playing alongside with us.”
