November 05, 2023
Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles outlasted Dak Prescott and the Cowboys.
If you're a fan of any team other than the Philadelphia Eagles or Dallas Cowboys, you probably enjoyed their matchup on Sunday evening. If you're an Eagles or Cowboys fans, you probably felt nauseous for a while after the clock finally ticked down to zero. In the end, the Eagles escaped with a 28-23 win, but holy crap it did not come easy. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.
Let's just be real ā the Eagles got a ton of breaks in this game, and that's why they won.Ā
ā¢ They fumbled three times on offense, and recovered all three of them.
Eagles avoid an absolute disaster here. D'Andre Swift collides with A.J. Brown, forcing a fumble. Rookie lineman Tyler Steen was on the spot for the recovery. pic.twitter.com/F0tpGevkPg
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 6, 2023
That is incredible luck to be able to recover all three of those fumbles.
ā¢ The Cowboys were this š¤ close to scoring a touchdown that instead resulted in a turnover on downs because Luke Schoonmaker's knee hit the ground juuuuuust before the ball broke the plane of the end zone.
GAME. OF. INCHES. š±
— Mundo NFL (@MundoNFL) November 6, 2023
Luke Schoonmaker se queda a media yarda del touchdown y los Eagles recuperan en 4to down.#MundoNFL #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Jjqv5euL7H
ā¢ And finally, while trying to run for a two-point conversion, Dak Prescott stepped out of bounds before he dove for the pylon.Ā Those points ended up being extremely meaningful.
The Eagles have had their share of games in which a lot of breaks did not go their way. Luck turned back in their favor in a big way against the Cowboys.
Dak Prescott was 29 of 44 for 374 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs. He connected with CeeDee Lamb 11 times for 191 yards, and TE Jake Ferguson 7 times for 91 yards and a TD.
The Eagles' defense often looked helpless trying to defend the Cowboys' passing attack, as Lamb and company were frequently wide open. The Eagles' defense was especially frustrating when they got the Cowboys into long downs and distances, as they (eventually) converted three third downs of 10 yards or more.
The Eagles' slot corners were unable to cover Lamb, the linebackers and safeties couldn't handle Dallas' tight ends, and James Bradberry really struggled in this game.
The Eagles have a lot to fix on the back end of their defense.
Hurts took a big shot on his already injured knee from DeMarcus Lawrence during the second quarter:
Jalen Hurts limps off the field after Micah Parsons sack #eaglesvscowboys pic.twitter.com/6JHrHeHEol
— Tanner Phifer (@TannerPhiferNFL) November 5, 2023
Ouch. He struggled to get to the sideline after the hit, but he never showed any weakness and he never missed a snap. He continued to run with the football when necessary on his gimpy leg, even though he couldn't even slide. He also continued to deliver from the pocket, most notably this outstanding dime to DeVonta Smith for a third-quarter TD.Ā
JALEN HURTS TO DEVONTA SMITH š
— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2023
šŗ: #DALvsPHI on FOX
š±: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/d4RDZpcMkc pic.twitter.com/hdlrCir7KF
Hurts, postgame:
āFor this team, for this city, Iāll do anythingā -@JalenHurts pic.twitter.com/V4jLTRFq4z
— Chris O'Connell (@CoconnellFox29) November 6, 2023
Those aren't empty words. Hurts is a true, badass leader.
On the Cowboys' second-to-last drive of the game, Brandon Graham had sacks on consecutive plays. The first was on an inside move against Cowboys RT Terence Steele:
Brandon Graham with the HUGE sack! pic.twitter.com/4n4PbOu7Wq
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) November 6, 2023
He then beat Steele again inside and shared a sack with Jalen Carter.
Jalen Carter and Brandon Graham team up for another sack! pic.twitter.com/kEazV3H9jW
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) November 6, 2023
And as noted above, Prescott stepped out of bounds before diving for a two-point conversion. That doesn't happen if Graham doesn't hustle his ass off and chase Prescott from behind.
On the Cowboys' final drive, with the Eagles' clinging to a five-point lead, and roughly 99.9 percent of Eagles fans expecting the game to end in a loss, Josh Sweat made the most consequential play of the game.
JOSH FREAKING SWEAT!!! pic.twitter.com/1eGqWMx2Yv
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) November 6, 2023
Once again, Steele was the victim, as Sweat dusted him around the edge for a mammoth sack.
This was not the Eagles' pass rushers' best day, as Prescott often had a ton of time to throw, but as they do so often, they made monster plays with the game on the line. Usually, the Eagles' closer is Haason Reddick, but Graham and Sweat will borrow that title for this game.
On the Eagles' opening drive, Sirianni went for a 4th and 1 at his own 32, and (surprise) the Eagles successfully converted on a Brotherly Shove. Later on that drive, he went for a 4th and 3 from the Dallas 27. Again, the Eagles converted, this time on a 15-yard completion to Dallas Goedert.
There probably isn't a coach in the NFL who would go for a 4th and 1 at his own 32 on his offense's opening drive of the game. That's the Nick Sirianni that Philadelphians can be proud of.
Late in the fourth quarter, however, Sirianni's courage shriveled up when his offense had the ball with 1:17 to play, and the Cowboys had all three of their timeouts. A first down would have ended the game, but Sirianni instead chose to run it on three consecutive plays, bleed out the Cowboys' timeouts, and then punt it away.
I don't know what game Sirianni watched all evening, but as noted above, the Eagles couldn't stop the Cowboys' passing attack all day, and as an added bonus the officials were handing out pass interference / illegal contact / defensive holding calls (on both teams) all day like candy on Halloween. I don't know how he decided that betting on his defense over his offense was the better play, but he is extremely fortunate that Sweat bailed him out, because it would've been a rough two weeks had the Cowboys scored on their final drive and won this game.
This was a physical game, and a bunch of Eagles got hurt.
Goedert suffered a forearm injury that looked pretty bad. He headed directly to the locker room after he got hurt.Ā
Other Eagles who got banged up: Hurts, Jordan Davis, Darius Slay, James Bradberry, and Nakobe Dean.
So... we'll see.
The bye week is coming at an advantageous time for the Eagles, coming off of this emotionally and physically draining game. They will likely be getting Cam Jurgens back from injured reserve, and the long list of players with nicked up bodies will have a chance to recuperate.Ā
Waiting for the Birds on the other side of the bye will be the Chiefs, in Kansas City, and then the nasty part of the Eagles' schedule will continue.
THE GAUNTLET
ā¢ Week 9: Cowboys: W
ā¢ Week 10: BYE
ā¢ Week 11: At Chiefs
ā¢ Week 12: Bills
ā¢ Week 13: 49ers
ā¢ Week 14: At Cowboys
ā¢ Week 15: At Seahawks
But for now the Eagles can take a breath and feel good about their league-best 8-1 record.
An updated look at the NFC East standings:
| NFC EastĀ | RecordĀ | DivisionĀ | GBĀ |
| EaglesĀ | 8-1Ā | 3-0Ā | -Ā |
| CowboysĀ | 5-3Ā | 1-1Ā | 2.5Ā |
| CommandersĀ | 4-5Ā | 0-3Ā | 4Ā |
| GiantsĀ | 2-7Ā | 1-1Ā | 6Ā |
As you can see, the Eagles now have a 2.5-game cushion over the Cowboys. But they are also now in great shape on the tiebreaker front. The first three tiebreakers for the division are as follows:
With the Eagles' head-to-head win over the Cowboys on Sunday, they at least clinch a tie on that tiebreaker (duh). But also, they are now 3-0 in NFC East games, with a sweep over the pesky Commanders already in their pocket. They have three divisional games left ā one more against the Cowboys in Dallas, and two against the wretched Giants, who they already own anyway.
Should the Cowboys beat the Eagles in the rematch Week 14 and both teams sweep the other two NFC East doormats, it'll go to common opponents, where the Eagles already have a big win in the bank against the Dolphins. An updated look at theĀ NFC East's common opponents outside of the division, and results so far:
| Common OpponentĀ | PHIĀ | DALĀ | WASĀ | NYGĀ |
| 49ersĀ | Ā | LossĀ | Ā | LossĀ |
| CardinalsĀ | Ā | LossĀ | WinĀ | WinĀ |
| Ā Rams | WinĀ | WinĀ | Ā | Ā |
| Ā Seahawks | Ā | Ā | Ā | LossĀ |
| Ā Bills | Ā | Ā | LossĀ | LossĀ |
| Ā Dolphins | WinĀ | Ā | Ā | LossĀ |
| Ā Jets | LossĀ | WinĀ | Ā | LossĀ |
| Ā Patriots | WinĀ | WinĀ | WinĀ | Ā |
That Cowboys loss to the Cardinals is just... yuck.
Anyway, with this win over Dallas, the Eagles have put themselves in a very dominant position in the NFC East.
In so many of these "10 awards" articles after games, there are a lot of legitimate gripes to nitpick... after Eagles wins. They're not always pretty, and they've rarely been comfortable this season, but they consistently find ways to get the job done.
"Winning" is a skill. And the Eagles have it.
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