December 29, 2024

Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Cowboys game

Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee were both great in the Eagles' division-clinching win and the team's first season sweep of Dallas since 2011.

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Eric Hartline/Imagn Images

Kenny Pickett

In Week 17, the Philadelphia Eagles beat the crap out of the Dallas Cowboys for the second time this season. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.

1) The 'Bullpen' Award 🐂: Kenny Pickett

Pickett relieved Hurts during the Eagles' Week 17 loss to the Washington Commanders. He did some good things, but he probably did more bad things (as shown here). After the loss, there was a lot of hand-wringing locally over what the Eagles needed to do to hide Pickett's deficiencies to beat the Cowboys.

But Pickett was much better against the Cowboys than he was in relief of Hurts a week ago. Before getting knocked out of the game with an injury to his ribs, Pickett completed 10 of 15 passes for 143 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, and a QB rating of 119.6. He was poised and much more accurate.

Pickett has had the benefit of playing for good teams, but he now has a career 15-10 record.

**2) The 'Ceedy Duce' Award 2️⃣: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson**

Or "deuce" or whatever.

A week after getting ejected for saying mean things to Commanders players, and flipping the double bird to the away fans, Gardner-Johnson picked off two passes. His first pick was on a promising Cowboys opening drive, and he returned it for a score.

CJ Gardner-Johnson PICK-6!!!

📺: #DALvsPHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/3WSZb2eQzk
— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024

Asked at what point he thought he had a chance for a pick-six, Gardner-Johnson replied, "As soon as I got my hands on that m*****f*****."

The Eagles were +4 in the turnover column on Sunday, and are now +10 on the season. They were -10 last year.

3) The 'Rare Company' Award 💎: Saquon Barkley

Barkley carried 31 times for 167 yards, and went over 2000 yards on the season. His record-breaking run:

SAQUON BARKLEY. 2K RUSHING YARDS. pic.twitter.com/HDS8Jy1MRK
— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024

Barkley is the ninth player in NFL history to go over 2000 yards in a single season:

NFL single-season rushing leaders	Yards
Eric Dickerson, Rams, 1984	2105
Adrian Peterson, Vikings, 2012	2097
Jamal Lewis, Ravens, 2003	2066
Barry Sanders, Lions, 1997	2053
Derrick Henry, Titans, 2020	2027
Terrell Davis, Broncos, 1998	2008
Chris Johnson, Titans, 2009	2006
Saquon Barkley, Eagles	2005
O.J. Simpson, Bills, 1973	2003

Barkley likely would have otherwise sat out the entire fourth quarter in a blowout win, but the Eagles kept feeding him until he passed the milestone mark. That was a risky choice by the Eagles' staff, but Barkley escaped with the achievement unscathed.

Barkley passed LeSean McCoy for the team's single-season rushing record weeks ago, but on Sunday he also passed McCoy for most yards from scrimmage in a single season.

Eagles single-season yards from scrimmage leaders	Yards from scrimmage
Saquon Barkley, 2024	2283
LeSean McCoy, 2013	2146
Brian Westbrook, 2007	2104
Wilbert Montgomery, 1979	2006
Wilbert Montgomery, 1981	1923
Brian Westbrook, 2006	1916

Eagles fans at the Linc chanted "MVP" throughout the fourth quarter. Barkley won't win the MVP award. That'll go to a quarterback who had a less impressive season.

4) The 'Redemption' Award 🙏: DeVonta Smith

A week after dropping a pass that likely would've sealed an Eagles win, Smith had a big game, catching 6 passes for 120 yards and 2 TDs. With DaRon Bland matched up all day against A.J. Brown, Smith had favorable matchups against CB7 Andrew Booth, and the Eagles took advantage.

Touchdown No. 1 was Kenny Pickett's best throw as an Eagle. He stepped up to avoid the rush and floated an accurate pass to an open Smith:

In between his two TDs, Smith hauled in a deep ball from Pickett, which was originally ruled a TD but was overturned on review.

PICKETT TO DEVONTA FOR A 49-YARD SHOT.

📺: #DALvsPHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/VWPSGf84n3
— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024

The Eagles would eventually Brotherly Shove Pickett in for a TD.

Touchdown No. 2 was a pick play on a quick in route that Smith took to the house with a nice run after catch:

Great day for DeVonta, tough day for Booth.

5) The 'Hands of Glue' Award 🖐️: Grant Calcaterra and A.J. Brown

Calcaterra made a great one-handed catch in the second quarter.

That was on 3rd and 8. If he doesn't make that play, the Eagles are punting with a tie score. Instead, they finished that drive with a TD.

A.J. Brown also made an incredible catch, even if it didn't count:

AJ Brown almost made the sickest grab 😱

📺: #DALvsPHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/UUIDvCyT4a
— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024

He's so good.

Brown did have one that counted on a pretty back-shoulder throw from Tanner McKee.

GO BACK TO AJ BROWN.

Great throw by Tanner McKee.

📺: #DALvsPHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/ZeW6Syi6nF
— NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024

That was McKee's first career TD pass, and Brown launched it into the stands, lol.

Brown returned to the Eagles' sideline to find a bunch of his teammates with their arms up, like "WHAT THE HELL, A.J.?!" Brown immediately regretted his understandable mistake and would eventually make good on it.

Nick Sirianni instructed a ball guy to find the fan, and Brown would give him a game-worn, signed jersey in exchange for the ball, which he returned to McKee.

Promise kept. A.J. Brown hooks up #Eagles fan Patrick with a signed game-worn Jersey for returning Tanner McKee’s first TD ball. pic.twitter.com/NuXbyn8b2j
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 29, 2024

That's pretty cool.

6) The 'Mormon Missile' Award 🚀: Tanner McKee

After Pickett went out with his rib injury, McKee came in and threw dimes. He finished 3/4 for 54 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs, and a QB rating of 156.2.

McKee has had stellar showings in each of the last two Eagles preseasons, and he was ready to play when he got his opportunity in a real game. (We'll likely have more on him this week.)

We learned from multiple members of the Eagles' offensive line that they call him "The Mormon Missile."

7) The 'Sweep' Award 🧹: The Eagles, over the Cowboys

The Eagles didn't just sweep the Cowboys this season. They blew them out twice, by a combined score of 75-13. The Cowboys were missing most of their best players, including Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Zack Martin, Trevon Diggs, DeMarcus Lawrence, DeMarvion Overshown, and other notable role players. It was never their season.

Still, the Eagles haven't swept the Cowboys since 2011, so beating them twice no doubt felt good for a number of the older vets on the roster. The only current Eagles player on that 2011 roster was Brandon Graham.

MORE: Quarterback factory leads Eagles to divisional crown

8) The Adjustment Award: Vic Fangio and the Eagles defense

The Cowboys gained 105 yards on their first two drives, scoring a TD on one of them, and were having success moving the ball against the Eagles' defense, you know, the CJGJ pick-six aside.

Thereafter, the Eagles' D clamped down, allowing just 153 yards and shutting out the Cowboys the rest of the way.

9) The 'Dawg' Award 🐶: Sydney Brown

After a special teams play, Brown got jumped by a pair of Cowboys, and he dumped one of them over a railing not unlike a hockey player dumping an opponent over the boards.

Brown was ejected, but received a standing ovation from the Philly faithful.

Sydney Brown doing the Eagles’ “calm down” celebration to cheers while walking to the tunnel after being ejected. pic.twitter.com/xGEQoeneX2
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) December 29, 2024

Brown is one of the most mild-mannered players on the team in the locker room, but, uh, don't mess with him, I guess.

10) The NFC East Champs Award: The Eagles

Oh yeah, we should probably mention that the Eagles wrapped up the NFC East and the 2 seed, at a minimum. They can still earn the 1 seed if all of the following occurs: