OFFENSE GOES COLD, COWBOYS RALLY FOR WALK OFF 24-21 WIN OVER EAGLES
- Al Thompson
- 16 minutes ago
- 7 min read
ARLINGTON: The theme among the players and head coach Nick Sirianni after the Eagles epic collapse against and inspired Dallas Cowboys team was they weren't any good at the things that don't take talent.
The Eagles lost 24-21 on a 42-yard Brandon Aubrey walk off field goal, falling to 8-3 on the season.
The Eagles are now the No. 2 seed in the NFC behind the Rams (9-2).
The Eagles offense in the first half was masterclass, the second half? They should have called Perry Mason to find out what happened the offense.
“We have to be better at the things that don't need talent,” head coach Nick Sirianni said after the game. That's on me. My message has to be better.”
The Eagles defense came out of of the chute ready to play. The Cowboys first drive ended with the home team turning the ball over on downs.
The second Dallas drive was an extended three-and-out.
The Cowboys (5-5-1) third drive went to the Eagles 31-yard line, when wide receive KaVontae
Turpin took the ball on a run play, rushed one yard to the left for three-yard loss, then he fumbled. Zack Baun recovered the ball for no gain
The Eagles offense also came to play, at least to start the game. The Birds scored touchdowns on their first three possessions.
The Eagles looked like their Super Bowl self...finally...or so it seemed.
But after Jalen Hurts Tushed Pushed from the one-yard line to make the score 21-0 with 11:35 left in the second quarter, the Eagles never saw the Cowboys logo again.
The Cowboys got on the scoreboard
The Eagles had just 32 yards rushing as a team in the first half (10 carries).
Hurts was 13 of 19 for 164 yards and a TD pass at the half. He rushed for two scores. They weren't running the ball but they were scoring.
After a rough start, Dak Prescott was 13 of 17 for 159 yards at the half with one TD pass, and one interception by Reed Blankenship in the end zone with 5:07 left in the second quarter.
He got Dallas on the scoreboard 24 seconds left in the first half when he finished a six-play, 72-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown pass the George Pickens.
The Cowboys rushed for 52 yards on 14 carries at intermission.
Eagles came out flat their opening drive of the second half and punted. Braden Mann punt went 58 yards. KaVontae Turpin returned punt for 1 yard.
The Eagles defense never lost its drive and sense of urgency throughout the game.
On the Cowboys first drive of the second half, Nakobe Dean sacked Prescott for a six-yard loss, forcing the home team to punt.
The Eagles failed to move the ball past midfield, but got another terrific punt by Mann.
The Cowboys to start their next drive from their own four.
That drive stalled at the Eagles 33-yard line.
The Eagles got a huge break when Aubrey missed a 51-yarder on the drive...a chip shot for this guy.
PRESCOTT KEPT GETTING HOTTER
There was no way the Eagles could survive missing so many scoring opportunities when playing one of the top offensives in the NFL.
The Cowboys would make the score 21-14 with 2:02 left in the third on a four-yard pass from Prescott to tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford.
The Eagles kept killing drives with penalties and missed opportunities.
Jake Elliott missed a 56-yard field goal under perfect conditions.
That handed Dallas the ball at their own 46.
It took three plays including a 43-yard strike from Prescott to Pickens to tie the score 21-21 with 11:40 left in the fourth quarter. Prescott rolled eight yards to the end zone.
The Eagles could not capitalized on a butchered drive by Prescott.
With 5:25 left in the fourth quarter, the Eagles defense force the Cowboys to punt. Eagles punt returner Xavier Gipson field the ball at the Eagles two-yard line.
He moved the ball forward ten yards before safety Alijah Clark stripped him of the ball and recovered by long-snapper Trent Sieg.
The Cowboys took over at the Eagles eight-yard line.
The Birds somehow – with three defensive starters out of the game with injuries (Andrew Mukuba, Blankenship and Adoree' Jackson) – kept the Cowboys from scoring a single point, the final three plays were from the two, one and one.
The Eagles offense took over inside their own five, were able to make some plays, moved the ball to their own 37-yard line at the two-minute warning.
On third-and-two, Hurts took a 13-yard sack that ended the drive.
The Cowboys drove down and kicked a 42-yard walk off field goal.
Tight end Dallas Goedert caught two passes for 20 yards. He was asked about how the second half unraveled for them and there wasn't one particular place the Eagles were bleeding.
“It wasn't just one thing, it was a combination of a lot of little things,” Goedert said at his locker. “We shot ourselves in the foot. We'd be driving, get a penalty here and there...little things that we have to clean up.
"We've been saying that for a while. It's the little things here and there. It got us today. They made more plays than we did. We're going to watch the film, correct it. We've got a game here in five days, we've got to ready and be better for that.”
Goedert was asked how frustrating it was for him, especially after the goal line stance.
“Yeah, we're backed up there, we get a couple first downs, start moving the ball and feeling good...then we get to a third-and-short...unable to convert.
“Those are the ones were we've got to find ways to seal the game, at the end of the game. I mean when we're up 21-0, 21-7 and we get the ball to start the second half, we've got to find a way to put the game away.”
Saquon Barkley, who finished with just 22 yards on ten carries plus a costly lost fumble in the fourth quarter, was asked how much the mistakes that didn't need talent affect the game.
“It played into it a lot,” Barley said. “Ball security takes no talent. I work my ass off on that during my career...taking care of the ball. I just let the team down in that moment. But being in this profession, you're going to make plays and you'll have mistakes.
"You've just got to respond, go back to the drawing board and, it's a short week and get ready for the next team.”
Hurts echoed the “don't screw up the things that take no talent” theme after the game.
“We played well in the first half,” Hurts said. “But we didn't play anything close to our standards in the second half with the things that take no talent. Just controlling the things you can on offense...the things that take no talent. Lot's to learn from and we've got a short week to respond.”
Hurts was asked if the offense improved this week.
“Whatever it was, it wasn't enough.”
The Eagles committed a whopping 14 penalties for 96 yards.
Pro Bowl guard Landon Dickerson talked about what he likes to talk about the most...the obvious.
“First and ten is a lot easier than first and 25,” Dickerson said. “I think for us, the O-line wise is communication when you are on the road. We're on silent count. We just have to lock in a little better than that.”
Dickerson said he didn't remember what happened on the third-and-short sack at the end of the game that gave the ball back to Dallas and turned out to be the winning drive for them.
Dickerson was asked if having a game in just five days will help get rid of the sting.
“I guess," Dickerson said sitting in his locker. "It sucks...go in fix stuff and go on to the next one.”
Goedert was asked the same thing. Is having the Bears in town this Friday better than having to wait a full week to play again?
“Yeah, for sure,” Goedert said. “The sun will come up tomorrow, it's going to sting a lot today. But we've gotta get to get back to work. We're still sitting in a good spot...8-3 obviously this loss hurts, but playing Dallas in Dallas is always going to be a tough division game, no matter the situation. The way we started the game, we'd like to find a way to finish it.”
STATS AND MORE QUOTES
Jalen Hurts finished 27 of 39 for 289 yards, a touchdown pass, no interceptions, just one sack and a rating of 99.2. Hurts also rushed for 33 yards on seven carries and two more scores.
A.J. Brown had a big day, hauling in eight catches for 110 yards and a score.
DeVonta Smith caught six passes for 89 yards including a circus 41-yard catch that set up the Eagles third and last touchdown.
Barkley remains almost irrelevant in the offense. Last year's offensive MVP rushed ten times for 22 yards. He caught seven passes for 52 yards.
“We made too many mistakes as a whole,” Barkley said at his locker after the game. I had a mistake there. We needed to want it more.
“They did a really good job adjusting,” Barkley continued. “We just made to many mistakes. Hat's off to them.”
Zack Baun as usual led the Eagles with nine total tackles (three solo), a defended pass and a fumble recovery.
Reed Blankenship recorded eight tackles (three solo), an interception and a defended pass.
Dak Prescott was 23 of 36 for 453 yards, two touchdown passes, an interception, one sack and a QB rating of 103.2. He also rushed for an eight-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
George Pickins lit up the Eagles for nine receptions for 146 yards and touchdown.
Javonte Williams rushed 20 times for 87 yards.
Nakobe Dean speaks:
“We came out and stopped them from scoring,” said Dean, who finished with six total tackles (two solo), a sack and quarterback hit. “Defensively we pride ourselves, no matter what, we've got to stop them from scoring. We were able to do that.
“The standard we play as a defense, we're not will to give nobody nothing. It's definitely tight quarters in the end zone. It ups it. We played good ball in the red zone that time. We stopped them there but we could have played better overall as a whole defense.”
Final thought from Sirianni.
“We're going to have a shitty ride home.”
Yup*
Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com
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