EAGLES KEEP POISE AFTER SPITTING INCIDENT, LONG DELAY--DEFEAT COWBOYS IN OPENER
- Al Thompson
- 6 hours ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 11 minutes ago
Coaches will tell you that pre-snap penalties are drive killers in the sport of football.
Eagles Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jalen Carter may be the first Eagles player to commit a pre-game penalty.
Carter was tossed from the season opener literally before the first play from scrimmage took place.
He was caught spitting at Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott...just after Prescott appeared to spit in the direction of Carter during the commercial break after the opening kickoff.
Carter's ejection nearly ended up a game-killer. The Birds (1-0) adjusted enough to pull out a 24-20 win over the Cowboys in a game at Lincoln Financial Field where the Eagle unveiled their Super Bowl Championship banner in front of 69,879 adoring fans.
Technically, the incident occurred after the one play – the kickoff.
And it was a big one.
After the Birds kicked off to the Cowboys (0-1), KaVontae Turpin returned the ball to the 32 yard-line.
In addition to being ejected, Carter was assessed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.
Six seconds had elapsed in the game.
After the game, Carter was remorseful.
“It was something that happened on my side and it won't happen again,” Carter said at his locker after the game. “I fell bad for my teammates and the fans out there. I'm doing this them, I'm doing this for my family as well. The fans, you heard them show so much love today.
"Not being able to even start the game, it hurt me. It won't happen again, I promise.“
Replays showed Prescott was spitting towards Carter who apparently was trolling rookie right guard Tyler Booker, who is tasked with trying fill the void left by certain first ballet Hall of Fame offensive lineman Zack Martin, who retired after an injury-filled 2024 season.
Prescott, who finished 21 of 34 for 188 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, no sacks and a quarterback rating of 76.6, talked about the incident that he claims was him just defending his lineman.
“Yeah, I probably spit a thousand times throughout the game,” Prescott said after the game. “I mean especially game day, maybe even in general and something I guess I'm not proud of.
“But in that case, he was trolling, I guess you could say, trying to mess with Tyler Booker. I was just looking at him. I was right here by the two linemen and I guess I needed to spit, and I wasn't going to spit on my lineman and I just spit ahead.
“I would say he was back there and was in that sense and he goes, ‘Are you trying to spit on me?’
“At that point, I mean I felt like he was insulting me. I wouldn't spit on somebody. ‘I'm damn sure I’m not trying to spit on you.’
“We're about to play a game. I’m wondering why you're trying to mess with the rookie, and so when I stepped through, I actually say the words like, ‘Why the hell would I -” excuse me, but I'm probably even more colorful. ‘What would I need to spit on you for?’
“He just spit on me in that moment, it was more of a surprise than anything. Refs obviously saw it...threw the flag. I was like, 'Hell yeah, we get 15 yards to start the game off.’
“Didn't realize he was getting ejected. Unfortunate that he did. He is a hell of a player. It changed our plan and our blocking scheme, as I've told you before the week that we're going to protect against him.
“So it helped in that manner. I don't wish for anybody to get out of the game. I'm sure he probably regressed that to some extent. I'm pretty sure he knows that I didn't try to spit on him or wasn't even aiming to spit on him.
“So something that's probably going to get a lot of coverage and a lot of attention that I feel sorry for him in the sense of, yeah, I mean I know how excited each and every one of us are right to kick off the season and the season opener, and hell of a player like that doesn't even get a chance in the first play. Unfortunate circumstances.”
Prescott, who was seen on the sideline later laughing about the incident, was asked how he keeps his composure after getting spit on.
“Yeah, I was more surprised,” Prescott said. “I mean honestly it hit me more on my collar I guess, than straight skin thankfully. But yeah, I was just more surprised. I mean like I said, I was insulted that I even thought I tried to spit on him. So then for him to react and spit, I'm sure it's not something he's proud of.”
EAGLE HEAD COACH CHIMED IN ON THE INCIDENT
Nick Sirianni was asked to address the Jalen Carter-Dak Prescott incident. The fifth-year coach seemed more concerned that his team committed nine penalties for 110 yards.
“Yeah, obviously, we had some personal fouls today,” Sirianni said at his post game press conference. “I want these guys to play with great energy, great tenacity while doing it, within the rules of the game. “So we'll address that. We talked about that, obviously, at halftime because I felt like that's a really good offense and every one of their drives in that first half that resulted in points were all penalties.
“Now, a PI, that's different,” Sirianni continued. “That's in the heat of the game. Those are going to happen. But I know we had one with Nolan (Smith) and one with JC, and that creates short fields for an offense. Again, we want to be there. We want to have great energy, tenacity, all those different things, but we've got to do it within the rules of the game, and we will address that.
"We'll go through that, but we've got to get better in that scenario. We need that guy on the field. He's a really good player.”
Sirianni was asked what specific action he may take with regards to Carter's actions.
“I'm going to keep all our conversations and all my disciplinary things in-house, but we have to fix it as coaches.
“Again, I will keep everything in-house, and you won't ever get that from me. Everything will always be handled in-house. Just like private conversations that I have with players. None of that will ever be out to you guys. I'm sorry.”
THERE WAS AN IMPORTANT GAME PLAYED THURSDAY NIGHT
Once the game started, the offenses on both teams seemed unstoppable. The first two drives by both teams ended with touchdowns.
On the opening drive, Prescott ran a 53 yard, six-play drive that ended with a Javonte Williams rush to the left for 1 yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
The Eagles then rolled down the field on ten plays, 70 yards. Jalen Hurts scored from the four. Now it's 7-7.
On the ensuing play, the Cowboys committed two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. Their drive started at their 12-yard line.
But the Ceedee Lamb show was in full gear. In the first quarter, he has three catches for 76 yards. At the half, Lamb had four catches for 86 yards.
Aided by an Eagles 34-yard pass interference penalty by Quinyon Mitchell, Williams would score from the one again to go up 14-7 early in the second quarter.
Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo did not target DeVonte Smith or A.J. Brown in the first quarter.
But Jalen Hurts would scores again...this time from the eight-yard line, tying the score 14-14 with 6:46 left in the half.
Will the defense get a stop?
Finally the Birds get some kind of stop...41-field goal by Brandon Aubrey to give the visitors a 17-14 lead.
But Hurts led the Birds on an eight-play drive, highlighted by a 51-yard hookup from Hurts to Jahan Dotson. Saquon Barkley scored from the ten. Birds go up 21-17 with 51 seconds left in the half.
Prescott led Dallas on a 51-second drive to end the half that ended with an Aubrey 53-yard field goal.
The Eagles made the score 24-20 on a Jake Elliott 58-yard blast with 8:30 left in the third quarter.
HOUR LONG DELAY – DEFENSE RULES THE REST OF THE GAME
After the Eagles long field goal, the Cowboys looked like they may take the lead again. Prescott took over at the Cowboys 29-yard line.
He drove Dallas to the Eagles 23-yard line.
On third and 22, Prescott passed to tight end Jake Ferguson in the end zone. The ball was on the money...but Ferguson dropped the ball. Field goal, right?
Safety Reed Blankenship was in full flight to the ball and clobbered Ferguson after he dropped the ball and was called for unnecessary roughness.
Now it's first and ten at the Birds 11-yard line. Prescott hands off to former Eagles running back Miles Sanders who fumbled...Quinton Mitchell recovers at the Eagles 16-yard line.
The ensuing drive failed, but the turnover marked the end of scoring for the day.
Blankenship was asked if he had a chance to stop and avoid hitting the Cowboys tight end and avoid the penalty.
“I don't ever want to disrespect the game in anyway,” Blankenship said at his locker. “I want to play as hard as I can. It's a bang, bang play. I'm not in the business of hurting people but at the end of the day, that's defense. It's a tough life on the defensive side when stuff like that happens. Like I said, I wasn't trying to hurt anybody. I'm just playing as hard as I can.”
With 4:44 left in the third quarter, the game was delayed for one hour and three minutes.
Blankenship was asked how he and his teammates dealt with the delay. He said they shifted to Super Bowl mode.
“We've been through this kind of stuff before,” Blankenship said at his locker . “Twice in my career, we've had long, not delays, but long breaks going to Super Bowls and stuff. We know what it takes, how to prepare. You can chill for a little bit, relax...the strength guys did a great job getting us back up, and everybody starts locking in. We've been there before...you can't control it. Stuff happens”
Neither team seemed to be able to move the ball after the teams resumed play. One negative is that Eagles Pro Bowl guard Landon Dickerson has some back issues possibly from the delay and could not continue with about six minutes left in the game.
Brett Toth filled in the for Dickerson.
Dallas had one last gasp in the final two minutes of the fourth when, on fourth and three from their 45-yard line, Prescott fired a pass about 30 yards downfield, targeted for Lamb, who was well guarded on the play, but saw the ball drop right into his hands, only to drop the pass...his third drop of the night.
STATS
Hurts was 19 of 23 for 152 yards, no touchdown passes or interceptions. He was sacked once. His QB rating was 94.2.
The Eagles rushed 38 times for 158 yards as a team. Hurts led the way with 62 yards on 14 carries and two TDs. Barkley rushed 18 times for 60 yards and a score.
Tight end Dallas Goedert caught seven passes fir 44 yards to lead the Eagles. Barkley snagged four catches for 24 yards.
Dallas rushed 22 times for 119 yards as a team with Williams leading the Cowboys with 54 yards on 15 carries.
Defensively the Birds were led by linebacker Zack Baun who recorded nine tackles (six solo), a tackle for loss and a defended pass.
These weren't just stats for Baun. With six minutes left in the third quarter, Baun tracked down former Eagles running back Miles Sanders from behind after he had broken free and looked like he was headed to the end zone.
But Baun tackled him at the the Eagles eleven yard-line. Four plays later, the Birds got their first and only turnover of the game. His play saved the game for sure.
Despite some missed opportunities, cornerback Adoree Jackson came up with seven tackles (five solo) and a defended pass.
Prescott had six of his passes knocked down.
The Cowboys were led by linebacker Kenneth Murray and safety Malik Hooker who both recorded nine tackles with four solo.
HURTS ON A.J. BROWN ONLY GETTING ONE TARGET
Eagles All Pro receiver A.J. Brown was only targeted once. He barely played in training camp because of a hamstring issue.
Brown caught an eight-yard pass on the last drive that helped seal the win. Hurts was asked if the Cowboys did anything schematically to limit the opportunities to get Brown and Devonta Smith (just three catches, 16 yards) the ball.
“I wouldn't say so,” Hurts said. “I think they were just doing a really good job of matching things in coverage.
“There are some things we got to be better at and great job by him staying patient and in the big moment, making a play, the most important play of the game in my eyes, and then we were able to get ourselves in a position to convert that third down and wind down the clock. So great play by him.” *
Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com
Comments