The Dallas Cowboys have officially responded.
America’s Team marched into the City of Brotherly Love on Monday night and the Dallas Cowboys emerged victorious over the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously the state of the Eagles team is one very far removed from what they hoped it to look like this season, but a win is a win and the Cowboys were in sore need of one.
To be clear Monday night’s victory was not without areas to address. The defense still looked suspect and the game was only as close as it was because they allowed Tanner McKee and co. to thrive a bit. Still, they stood tall when it absolutely mattered the most.
Sunday saw the New York Giants beat the Houston Texans so pressure was really mounting on the Cowboys to get this done. Now that they have the NFC East appears like it is going to be a race between Dallas and New York, and given that the two are set to meet in Week 18 at AT&T Stadium that is a bit of fun.
We needn’t look that far down the road, though. For now the Cowboys are winners and up next is an old school NFC East rival in the Arizona Cardinals… and we all know how those games have gone as of late.
Again… tonight we breathe. The Dallas Cowboys (3-4) are winners and they can say with fullness that they earned the right to be called that on Monday night.
Below you will find our recap of the game as it unfolded.
The Eagles won the toss and deferred. GOTI was up first.
Dallas started by running the ball with Javonte Williams and rode him a bit. Unfortunately Dak Prescott was a bit off when he took to the air and missed CeeDee Lamb for what would have been a huge gain.
The Cowboys wound up settling for a Brandon Aubrey 55-yard field goal on 4th and 8. Philly was called for an illegal formation as the ball went through the uprights so Brian Schottenheimer could have taken it and considered going for it on 4th and 3, but he kept the points to take the early lead 3-0.
Whatever good vibes were in existence after that did not last long. The Eagles went 70 yards in 4 plays thanks to Saquon Barkley, and he capped it off for the lead-taking touchdown to make it 7-3.
This next drive had the chance to say a lot about the Cowboys in terms of responding.
They handled it well! Javonte Williams and Tyler Goodson helped things move on the ground, but it was Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb who cashed in to re-take the lead at 10-7.
The Eagles tried a tush push on their next drive on their side of midfield, and for a moment it appeared that the Cowboys stopped them. Unfortunately Quinnen Williams was found to have committed a neutral zone infraction, his second frustrating penalty of the night to that point.
The quarter came to a close with Philly coming close once more.
As the second quarter began it appeared as if the Eagles were going to wind up scoring another touchdown. Dallas did stop them on third down near the goal line, but LT Overton was called for roughing the passer and the drive had new life.
Shortly after… the Eagles were back in the endzone. This time it was Dameon Pierce and Philly lead once again, 14-10.
The Cowboys offense returned, both literally and figuratively. Coming off of having scored in both possessions and a touchdown on their most recent… they kept their foot on the gas.
Javonte Williams was heavily involved, but more than anything Dallas handled Philadelphia’s blitzing in a way that seemed impossible over the previous two weeks. The team even converted a fourth and short to keep things alive, and they turned it all into points with an incredible touchdown from Dak Prescott to George Pickens.
It was then that a miracle happened… the Dallas Cowboys defense forced a punt. To be clear it happened after they committed a penalty when a punt would have happened sooner, but it was a punt nonetheless. Baby steps.
Unfortunately Philly was able to down the ball at Dallas’ 2-yard line which made things tough to start. The Cowboys were barely able to move it at all and punted to Philly. A penalty on their return put the ball on their 39-yard line with 1:39 remaining and two timeouts in their pocket. This felt particularly treacherous with them set to receive the second half kickoff.
Thankfully the Eagles had to punt themselves. Dallas took over at their own 13 with 1:14 left and a pair of timeouts to work with.
Ultimately the Cowboys did come away with points, but only a field goal. It looked like they were going to score a touchdown, but unfortunately time got the best of them which is why they had to settle. They took a 20-14 lead into halftime.
What happened next was very impressive if we are being fully honest.
It did happen against the Cowboys defense so perhaps that warps your perception, but the Eagles absolutely out-classed them to start the second half.
Philadelphia came out of the gate and put together a 17-play drive that absorbed 9:16 of game clock. It was as perfect of a drive as they could have had in the game given all circumstances, and they obviously capped it off with a touchdown. It was Tanner McKee finding Makai Lemon to give the home team the lead once more, 21-20.
The Cowboys deserve credit for responding in this game becuase they really and truly did. With the prospect of the game slipping away from them… the offense locked in.
Everybody was involved as the Cowboys matriculated down the field (who doesn’t love saying that?), but it was Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb who capped it off with another beautiful touchdown.
Given that the touchdown made things 26-21 the Cowboys chose to go for two.
Brian Schottenheimer dialed up an excellent play call. Credit where it is due.
The Cowboys kicked off with a full touchdown lead (28-21) and just a bit left in the third quarter.
Philly ran a couple of plays and took it to the fourth.
Right after the fourth quarter began the Eagles punted the ball away. Dallas had possession and a touchdown lead. Things were looking promising.
The offense did move right along, partly due to Javonte Williams. They were unable to cash all the way in, but they did come away with 3 points to make it 31-21 with just over 9 minutes to go. Things felt good.
Things soon felt very good. It was a tall order for Philly at that point in time, but they were driving a bit.
And then DeMarvion Overshown really put things on ice.
Right as the Cowboys began their next possession Javonte Williams set a new career high for rushing yards in a game. His previous was 135.
Javonte wound up punching in the last touchdown to really put this one on ice. It was a proper end to things for that reason.
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