The offense gained just one first down on the next five possessions, and while the defense came up with some terrific moments – a Reed Blankenship interception in the end zone and a four-down stop on a Dallas possession that started at the Philadelphia 8-yard line following a Xavier Gipson fumble on a punt return – Dallas chipped away. First, a Dak Prescott touchdown pass to George Pickens at the end of the first half gave Dallas life at 21-7 and then Prescott and Dallas drove 89 yards on seven plays and added another touchdown pass to Brevyn Spann-Ford late in the third quarter closed the gap to 21-14. A three-play, 54-yard drive that Prescott ended with an 8-yard run into the end zone tied the game, 21-21, in the fourth quarter.
**3\. The Dallas passing game was too much on this Sunday**
The No. 1 passing offense in the NFL showed its strength after those early struggles and hit the Eagles down the field. Pickens had nine catches for 184 yards on nine targets. CeeDee Lamb had four catches for 75 yards and had three drops. Tight end Jake Ferguson gained 60 yards on five catches. Dallas had three pass plays of 40-plus yards and four more plays of 20-plus yards. It didn't help that safety Reed Blankenship – who made a diving end zone interception to end a Dallas threat inside the 10-yard line – left the game with a thigh injury. And Adoree' Jackson left with a head injury, forcing Cooper DeJean to play outside and Michael Carter to play the nickel and the Cowboys took advantage of favorable matchups.
**4\. 14 penalties, 96 yards**
This is so uncharacteristic of the Eagles. On Sunday, the Eagles committed a season-high number of penalties and they hurt – an illegal formation penalty in the third quarter erased a big completion to tight Dallas Goedert and having too many men on the field cost the defense a Nakobe Dean interception. A Fred Johnson hands-to-the-face penalty wiped out a completion to DeVonta Smith that would have given the Eagles a first down at the Dallas 12-yard line in the fourth quarter with the game tied, 21-21. Things like that added up and, eventually, cost the Eagles the football game.
**5\. A team that doesn't turn the ball over turned the ball over**
Philadelphia had just four giveaways in the first 10 games of the season, winning eight of those games. Sunday, the Eagles gave it away twice. Barkley was down on himself after the game following the first fumble of his season – he caught a Hurts pass and had the football punched out from behind inside Dallas territory.
"They made a good play," Barkley said. "I've gotta be better. I let the team down in the moment. Those things sting."
Gipson caught a punt at the 1-yard line and tried to return it, but lost control of the football and Dallas had control at the 8-yard line. The Eagles did a tremendous job keeping Dallas out of the end zone, but the offense had the football backed up at its 2-yard line with 3 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter with the game tied, 21-21.
**6\. On that final offensive possession, the Eagles couldn't finish a drive**
The Eagles moved the ball out of danger on that last drive, with Hurts throwing to Brown (8 catches, 110 yards) for 11 yards. Then Hurts went to Smith for 16 yards to the 29-yard line. But the drive stalled after that. A completion to Barkley was stopped for no gain. On second down, Barkley caught a Hurts pass and slipped on the turf after gaining 8 yards. On third down, Hurts was sacked for a loss and Braden Mann – who had a great game, averaging 56 gross yards and 49.7 yards in net – punted.
**7\. It was a three-phase loss**
You win as a team and you lose as a team. And on this day, the special teams struggled as well. Gipson had the error on the punt return and Jake Elliott, great all season, pushed a 56-yard field goal attempt wide. There were too many penalties in the return game.
**8\. Bright spots? There were some ...**
This one hurts, no doubt. But it WAS just ONE loss and the Eagles will learn from it and be better from it. The offense got the passing game going and Brown was really a weapon. Smith had 6 receptions and 89 yards. Hurts completed 27 of 39 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown and ran for a pair of scores. But what was troublesome was the lack of consistency after the red-hot start. It is something the Eagles will continue to work on.