Cowboys fall to Eagles, 34-6
By Elwyn Henderson
The 3-5 Dallas Cowboys without quarterback Dak Prescott following him tearing his hamstring in Atlanta a week earlier returned to AT&T Stadium in Arlington Sunday to entertain their NFC East hated rival, the 6-2 Philadelphia Eagles.
On Salute to Service Day members of the military displayed the full-field US Flag as trumpeter Freddie Jones played the National Anthem.
Dallas won the toss and elected to receive. Jake Elliott’s kickoff to begin the game and his kick went into the end zone for a touchback and Cooper Rush led the Dallas offense onto the field at his 30, replacing the injured Prescott.
It was a quick three-and-out for the Pokes and Bryan Anger punted the ball away from his 32. The kick was fair caught at the Philly 30 and Jalen Hurts brought the Eagles offense to the field for the first time.
After giving up one first down the Cowboys defense forced a punt from the Eagles 45. Braden Mann’s kick went into the end zone and Dallas went back on offense at their 20 following the touchback.
On the first play of the series Rush fumbled the ball away and the Eagles recovered at the Dallas 17.
It took the visitors just 4 plays to get into the end zone as Hurts ran in from the 1 with 7:05 left in the first quarter. Elliott booted the PAT and Philadelphia took a 7-0 lead. The drive was 4 plays, 17 yards and took 1:47 off the clock.
KaVonte Turpin took the kick 8 yards deep in the end zone and returned it to the 40 and Rush led the offense back to the field, hoping for a better result than the previous possession.
Rush drove the team down to the Eagles 28, but on a 4th and 4 Brandon Aubrey booted a 46-yard field goal with 3:10 left in the opening frame and Dallas closed the gap to 7-3. The drive was 9 plays, 32 yards and took 3:55.
Aubrey’s kickoff was returned to the 33 but there was a holding call on the return moving the ball back to the 23. Hurts drove his unit down the field and it looked as if they were going to score again, but Trevon Diggs intercepted a pass in the end zone intended for Dallas Goedert and the threat was averted.
Sadly, the offense could only pick up 5 yards in 3 plays and Anger had to punt the ball away from his 25. The ball was returned to the 22 and Hurts and company were back on offense again. The defense got the job done and forced a punt and Dallas got the ball back at their 20.
The Cowboys moved down to the 7 with a first and goal but Ezekiel Elliott fumbled into the end zone and Cooper DeJean recovered for the Eagles with 3:04 left in the half.
The Eagles returned the favor when Hurts fumbled and Dallas recovered the ball at the Philly 6. Micah Parsons, returning from an injury forced the fumble and Marist Liufau recovered the ball just ahead of the 2-minute warning. The Eagles stiffened on defense and forced a 23-yard Aubrey field goal with 1:48 left in the half, getting Dallas to within 1 at 7-6. The drive was 4 plays, 1 yard and took 20 seconds.
Philly marched right back down the field thanks to a long run up the middle by Hurts and a couple of timely passes. The drive ended with 23 seconds left in the first half when Hurts hit Goedert for a 14-yard TD pass. Elliott’s point after was good and the Eagles took a 14-6 lead. The drive was 7 plays, 84 yards and took just 1:25.
Dallas got the ball back one more time in the half at their 30. Three incomplete passes later by Rush and Anger punted the ball with 9 seconds left till halftime. Hurts took a knee and the somewhat boring game reached the half.
The Eagles got the ball to begin the second half and were forced to punt but the Cowboys returned the favor on their possession. After a long return Hurts and his troops set up shop on the Dallas 37. It took 7 plays and 2:07 for the visitors to find the end zone again. The score came on a 7-yard pass from Hurts to Johnny Wilson with 8:52 left in the third quarter. Elliott’s kickoff was returned to the Dallas 30 by Turpin and Rush and the offense set up on their 30.
It was a quick three-and-out and Anger came back in to punt away once again. The returner was dropped at the Eagles 17 where Hurts led his offense back on the field with 7:13 left in the quarter.
The visitors moved the 83 yards in 7 plays over 4:17 and the drive ended when Hurts ran in from the 8 with 2:56 left in the third quarter. Elliott added the extra point and the game was officially over with the Eagles leading 28-6.
Dallas didn’t add another point in the game but Philadelphia added 2 more field goals before the final buzzer. Elliott drilled a 39-yard field goal with 14:50 left in the game and finished things off with a 38-yard field goal with 10:32 left in the game.
A somber Coach Mike McCarthy addressed the media after the 5th straight loss at home this season.
“I thought the defense came out, played very well in the first half. You know, they just had the one touchdown there at the two-minute spot. We gave them the ball on the first turnover. To me, the game was about the giveaways. It’s unacceptable. Our last two home games, we’ve had 10 giveaways. You can’t win games at any level like that. To be in there at halftime in a one score game, to go out there and turn that ball over three times – we need to make some adjustments. The same thing happened against Detroit, the game gets away from you and you can’t get back into it. I’m disappointed, I’m sure as everybody is.”
Cooper Rush faced the media after the defeat and he was disappointed with how the team performed in the game.
“Just didn’t play well enough. We ran it well in the first half. We just didn’t capitalize some times down in the red zone. [We had a] couple good, long drives, defense gets a turnover and we don’t capitalize. It can snowball fast when you don’t take care of the ball as well. Like you said, we already spotted them one early in the first quarter and then [another one] going in the end zone. Turnovers will always kill you and we had a chance with the defense playing well to overcome those coming out of halftime. We just didn’t.”
Things don’t get any easier for the Cowboys as next Monday night, November 18th the talented Houston Texans invade AT&T Stadium and they will be out for blood as they blew a 23-6 halftime lead and lost on the final play of the game Sunday night against the Detroit Lions, 26-23. Then the following Sunday they travel to Washington to take on former Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn’s Commanders in another NFC East matchup.
This season can‘t end quickly enough for the Cowboys and their fans. They are sinking deeper in the toilet bowl with every game.